Wood v. State

632 S.W.2d 734, 1982 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 837
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 3, 1982
Docket67486
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 632 S.W.2d 734 (Wood v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wood v. State, 632 S.W.2d 734, 1982 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 837 (Tex. 1982).

Opinions

OPINION

TEAGUE, Judge.

This is an appeal where appellant was convicted in the trial court of two counts of an indictment which charged him with receiving two separate items of stolen property. After conducting a pre-trial hearing on appellant’s motion to suppress evidence, which the trial court denied, and pursuant to a plea bargain agreement between appellant and the prosecuting attorney, and after appellant entered pleas of guilty,1 the trial court assessed appellant’s punishment at 10 years in the penitentiary on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. Appellant was sentenced, after waiving the time for filing of a motion for new trial, and gave notice of appeal on the same day.

[736]*736Appellant’s first ground of error posits that the trial court erred in denying his pre-trial motion to quash the indictment.2 The appellant’s motion to quash asserted that the indictment inadequately described the corporeal personal property that was alleged to have been stolen. Appellant contends that such descriptive terms as “One truck tractor,” (Count One), and “One automobile,” (Count Two), do not comply with Art. 21.09, V.A.C.C.P., which provides:

If known, personal property alleged in an indictment shall be identified by name, kind, number, and ownership. When such is unknown, that fact shall be stated, and a general classification, describing and identifying the property as near as may be, shall suffice. If the property be real estate, its general locality in the county, and the name of the owner, occupant or claimant thereof, shall be a sufficient description of the same.

We find that Gaines v. State, 501 S.W.2d 315 (Tex.Cr.App.1973), is dispositive of appellant’s complaint as to Count Two of the indictment. There, this Court held that even in the face of a motion to quash, the descriptive averment of “one automobile of the value of over $50.00” was sufficient to apprise that defendant of the nature of the charge against him. See also Ward v. State, 446 S.W.2d 304 (Tex.Cr.App.1969); Davis v. State, 130 Tex.Cr.R. 252, 93 S.W.2d 729 (1936); Snyder v. State, 118 Tex.Cr.R. 652, 39 S.W.2d 885 (1931).

As to appellant’s complaints regarding the descriptive averment of “One truck tractor,” (Count One), our research has not at this time revealed a “white horse case.” However, a review of the cases, in conjunction with a personal property descriptive averment which is generic, reveals that a descriptive averment of personal property is adequate if it alleges (1) quantity; (2) the general type of property, as long as it is more specific than merely stating “property” or “merchandise;” (3) “ownership” of the property; and (4) if necessary, the jurisdictional value of the property. See also, Thomas v. State, 621 S.W.2d 158 (Tex.Cr.App.1981), regarding the discussion therein of the terms “effective consent” and “owner.”

We first review the cases concerning property descriptions, characterizing the sufficiency or insufficiency of the alleged description of the property by the following titles:

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION HELD SUFFICIENT NOTWITHSTANDING A MOTION TO QUASH WAS FILED

See, “merchandise, exact name, number, and kind unknown,” Gentry v. State, 608 S.W.2d 643 (Tex.Cr.App.1980); “seven rifles,” Welch v. State, 543 S.W.2d 378 (Tex.Cr.App.1976); “two suits,” Bruner v. State, 509 S.W.2d 620 (Tex.Cr.App.1974); “One oxygen container and the contents thereof, to wit: oxygen,” Kirkland v. State, 489 S.W.2d 298 (Tex.Cr.App.1972); “one televi[737]*737sion set,” Mays v. State, 428 S.W.2d 325 (Tex.Cr.App.1968); “one tire” and “one wheel,” Hendley v. State, 313 S.W.2d 296 (Tex.Cr.App.1958); “one automobile tire,” Young v. State, 139 Tex.Cr.R. 509, 141 S.W.2d 315 (1940); “pistol,” Smith v. State, 131 Tex.Cr.R. 322, 98 S.W.2d 806 (1936); “one head of cattle,” Stubblefield v. State, 131 Tex.Cr.R. 67, 95 S.W.2d 418 (1936); “one bale of seed cotton,” Bell v. State, 84 Tex.Cr.R. 160, 205 S.W. 986 (1918); Tolbert v. State, 84 Tex.Cr.R. 159, 205 S.W. 987 (1918); “one suit of clothes,” Baldwin v. State, 76 Tex.Cr.R. 499,175 S.W. 701 (1915); “one lubricator, two oil cups, (etc.),” Schenk v. State, 76 Tex.Cr.R. 564, 174 S.W. 357 (1915); “$4 in money, 2 knives, & one ring,” Campbell v. State, 61 Tex.Cr.R. 504, 135 S.W. 548 (1911); “one watch & one pocket knife,” Grissom v. State, 40 Tex.Cr.R. 146, 49 S.W. 93 (1899); “on (sic) horse,” Barner v. State, 20 S.W. 559 (Tex.Cr.App.1892); “one five dollar bill in money,” Green v. State, 28 Tex.App. 493, 13 S.W. 784 (1890); and “money,” Ellingsworth v. State, 487 S.W.2d 108 (Tex.Cr.App.1972); Byrd v. State, 456 S.W.2d 931 (Tex.Cr.App.1970).

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION HELD SUFFICIENT — NO MOTION TO QUASH WAS FILED

See, “one ring,” Cox v. State, 560 S.W.2d 675 (Tex.Cr.App.1978); “one pick-up truck,” White v. State, 505 S.W.2d 258 (Tex.Cr.App.1974); “One purse,” Ashford v. State, 502 S.W.2d 27 (Tex.Cr.App.1973); “one automobile,” Ward v. State, 446 S.W.2d 304 (Tex.Cr.App.1969); “ten drill bits,” Wilson v. State, 398 S.W.2d 291 (Tex.Cr.App.1965); “one hundred twenty-five pounds of grain,” Guidry v. State, 172 Tex.Cr.R. 516, 360 S.W.2d 152 (1962); “one camera,” Beland v. State, 160 Tex.Cr.R. 351, 271 S.W.2d 430 (1954); “an automobile,” Hicks v. State, 128 Tex.Cr.R. 595, 83 S.W.2d 349 (1935); “one four-wheel trailer and about 1300 pounds of seed cotton,” Houston v. State, 98 Tex.Cr.R. 280, 265 S.W. 585 (1924); “four cases of oil clothing, six cases of tobacco, (etc.),” Modica v. State, 94 Tex.Cr.R. 403, 251 S.W. 1049 (1923); “one watch, one pair of shoes, and one razor,” Johnson v. State, 42 Tex.Cr.R. 103, 58 S.W. 69 (1900); “on (sic) cattle” (holding “cattle” alone would be sufficient), Matthews v. State, 39 Tex.Cr.R. 553, 47 S.W. 647 (1898); and “U. S. Currency,” Roberts v. State, 172 Tex.Cr.R. 500, 360 S.W.2d 883 (1961); [Not sufficient] “one dollar in Mexican money” (distinguishing U. S. versus foreign money), Wade v. State, 35 Tex.Cr.R. 170, 32 S.W. 772 (1895).

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION HELD INSUFFICIENT AND SUBJECT TO MOTION TO QUASH

See, “barbed wire,” Moore v. State, 532 S.W.2d 333 (Tex.Cr.App.1976); “tires,” Moore v. State, 473 S.W.2d 523 (Tex.Cr.App.1971); “personal property,” Howk v. State, 138 Tex.Cr. 275, 135 S.W.2d 719 (1940); “furniture and equipment,” Luce v. State, 88 Tex.Cr.R. 46, 224 S.W. 1095 (1920); Rodgers v. State, 448 S.W.2d 465 (Tex.Cr.App.1969); “wall paneling” Rhodes v. State, 560 S.W.2d 665 (Tex.Cr.App.1978).

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION HELD INSUFFICIENT — NO MOTION TO QUASH WAS FILED (FUNDAMENTAL ERROR)

See, “property,” Harris v. State, 587 S.W.2d 429 (Tex.Cr.App.1979); “merchandise,” Richard v. State, 563 S.W.2d 626 (Tex.Cr.App.1978) and Willis v. State, 544 S.W.2d 150 (Tex.Cr.App.1976); “corporeal personal property,” Mankin v. State, 451 S.W.2d 236 (Tex.Cr.App.1970); “seed,” Oakley v. State, 167 Tex.Cr.R. 630, 323 S.W.2d 43 (1959); “oil field equipment,” Leos v. State,

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Wood v. State
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Bluebook (online)
632 S.W.2d 734, 1982 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wood-v-state-texcrimapp-1982.