Williams v. State

883 S.W.2d 317, 1994 WL 393808
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided November 30, 1994·No. 05-92-01582-CR·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinions

OPINION

KINKEADE, Justice.

Deric Williams appeals his conviction for forgery. The trial court assessed punishment, enhanced by prior convictions, at twenty-five years’ confinement in the state penitentiary. In one point of error, Williams contends that the trial court erred in failing to suppress his written statement. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The trial court held a hearing to determine the admissibility and voluntariness of Wilhams’s written statement. At the hearing, John L. Jones, a special agent with the United States Secret Service, testified that on February 7, 1992, he received a call from the Irving Police Department about some counterfeit $100 bills. When Jones went to the police department to pick up the bills, he spoke with Williams. Jones orally informed Williams of his Miranda rights and gave Williams a document advising him in writing of those rights. Williams read the document [318] and signed it. Jones identified State’s Exhibit No. 1 as the document that he gave to Williams containing the list of rights and his waiver of those rights. Jones testified that Williams freely and voluntarily gave up those rights. Williams never asked to stop the interview at any time. Jones also said that Williams never requested a lawyer.

Jones took Williams’s voluntary statement. Jones identified State’s Exhibit No. 2 as the statement he took from Williams. Jones also testified that State’s Exhibit Nos. 1 and 2 were prepared at the same time. Jones wrote Williams’s statement for him. After Jones finished writing the statement, he read the contents of the statement to Williams. Williams made one correction and signed the statement.

On cross examination, Jones admitted that nothing in the statement indicated that it could be used as evidence against Williams in court. He also admitted that the statement did not say that any statement that Williams made could be used against him at trial. Jones testified that he did not take a statement from Darren Sanders, the person who allegedly manufactured the counterfeit bills. Jones stated that he did not offer Williams anything to make the statement, and, although he filed forgery charges against Williams, he did not file counterfeit charges against Williams. Jones also testified that he did not tell Williams that the forgery charges would be dropped if he made the statement. Jones did not remember whether Williams was handcuffed when he made his statement.

Williams testified that he signed State’s Exhibit Nos. 1 and 2. He said that Jones did not offer him anything to make the statement. Williams testified that after he signed the statement, Jones represented to him that the charges against him would be dropped. He admitted that he did not ask for an attorney. He also admitted that he knew that he had a right to remain silent. Williams testified that he was handcuffed at the time that he made the statement. He denied that anyone forced him or threatened him to make the statement. On cross examination, he testified that his handcuffs were removed at some point so that he could sign the statement.

The statement that Williams signed began with the following recitation:

I have been advised by Special Agent John L. Jones that under the provisions of the Constitution I cannot be compelled to be a witness against myself and knowing that anything I may say may be used against me, I wish to make the following statement of my own free will and accord, without coercion or threats, and without promise of immunity. I know that I have the right to remain silent; talk to a lawyer and have him present while I am questioned. I know I can decide at any time to stop the questioning and not make any statement. I also know that if I cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent me. This statement is a voluntary act on my part, prompted by my desire to tell the facts, and I do not expect to gain any reward or special consideration by reason of having made this statement.

Williams challenged the admission of his written statement on the grounds that it failed to meet the requirements of article 38.22 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Specifically, Williams made the following objection and argument against the admission of the statement:

Your Honor, we would direct the Court’s attention to article 38.22 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure on specifically section two subsection A and subsection one and two of subpart A which more or less delineates the particular, I guess, admonishments or warnings that need to be included on the face of any statement before it is admitted into evidence. It clearly states that in subpart A-l that he must be told that he has the right to remain silent and anything he says may be used against him at his trial. And subsection two says he’s got to be warned that any statement may be used as evidence against him in court.
For [sic] the face of the document, State’s Exhibit 2, and from the testimony of Officer Jones, that statement on its face is lacking in those two warnings. Now is there — we’ll concede that there is some [319] language telling that it can be used against him, but not that it can used [sic] against him at court or used against him at trial.
Now, as I understand the law regarding these statements in 38.22, substantial compliance is really all that the court needs to admit the evidence for that purpose; however, inasmuch as there are two specific, two identifiable warnings that need to be given, one that he be warned it be given in trial, one that it be used against him in court, and inasmuch as this particular statement on its face is devoid of that language, we are asking that it not be admitted at trial because it fails in that regard. And that is pretty much our argument at this time as to why this particular statement that’s been marked as State’s 2 not be admitted in the trial of this cause.

(Emphasis added.)

The trial court found that Williams’s written statement substantially complied with article 38.22 and was admissible in evidence. The trial court found Williams guilty and sentenced him to twenty-five years’ confinement in the state penitentiary.

SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE

In his sole point of error, Williams contends that the trial court erred in failing to suppress his written statement. He argues that his statement failed to comply with article 38.22 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure in two respects. First, he asserts that his statement does not show on its face that he knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his statutory rights pursuant to section 2(b) of article 38.22. See Tex.Code CRImProgAnn. art. 38.22, § 2(b) (Vernon 1979). He also asserts that his statement failed to substantially comply with certain requirements of section 2(a) of article 38.22. See Tex.Code Crim.ProcAnn. art. 38.22, § 2(a) (Vernon 1979).

Standard of Review and Applicable Law

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Williams v. State, 883 S.W.2d 317, 1994 WL 393808 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

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Williams v. State
883 S.W.2d 317 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)