Woodman v. State

491 S.W.3d 424, 2016 WL 1357365, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3461
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 5, 2016
DocketNO. 14-15-00032-CR, NO. 14-15-00033-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 491 S.W.3d 424 (Woodman v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Woodman v. State, 491 S.W.3d 424, 2016 WL 1357365, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3461 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

Tracy Christopher, Justice

This is an appeal from two convictions arising out of an auto-pedestrian accident. In three issues, appellant challenges the trial court’s rulings on two motions for a continuance, two requested changes to the jury charge, and a motion for new trial. Finding no reversible error with respect to any of appellant’s issues, wé affirm the trial court’s judgments.

BACKGROUND

’ Appellant got behind the wheel of her SUV, sped down a major city street, and collided with a car that was waiting to turn from the center lane. The other car was pushed aside during the collision, and appellant continued driving. She crossed into the oncoming lanes of traffic, jumped a curb, and accelerated down the sidewalk, where she hit two pedestrians. One of the pedestrians died as a result of the impact, and the other "sustained serious bodily injuries.

The State charged appellant with manslaughter and aggravated assault. The State’s theory of the case was that the accident resulted from appellant getting high on opiates. The defense’s theory was that appellant had suffered a seizure while driving.

At trial, the State produced evidence showing that, on the day before the accident, appellant had actually suffered a seizure. It was the first seizure of her life, and it occurred when she was indoors, without prior symptoms. Appellant was admitted to the hospital for an overnight observation. During her stay, she made repeated complaints of severe head and neck pain, and she sought medication to alleviate that pain. Medical staff administered several doses of morphine intravenously. In between the morphine doses, appellant received Percocet, which is a brand name for Oxycodone, another opiate painkiller.

The last dose of morphine was administered to appellant at 3:00 p.m. on the day of the accident. Appellant was discharged at 5:00 p.m., when the morphine was expected to have its peak effect. Medical staff testified that appellant appeared normal at the time of discharge, and she left the hospital in a taxi. Two hours later, at 7:00 p.m., the accident occurred.

After hitting the pedestrians, appellant moved back onto the street and continued to drive. She crashed between two poles a few hundred yards away from where the pedestrians were struck. Bystanders rushed to appellant’s aid and pulled her out of . the vehicle. She had a dazed and confused look on her face, but she was able to converse, and she told the bystanders that she was fine physically. She also said that she had hit a pothole and lost control of her vehicle. There were no potholes in the street, however, and a mechanic who examined the wreckage of the SUV testified that there should have been no mechanical issues that precluded appellant from braking.

Appellant "refused to be examined by first responders, Nevertheless, first responders observed that appellant was not quite normal. Her pupils were constricted, which indicated that she had opiates in her system. She was “on the nod,” meaning she was swinging between states of alertness and drowsiness, another sign of opiates. And she was not exhibiting any signs of stress or adrenaline, which are common after accidents.

Police administered three field sobriety tests, and appellant showed clues of intoxi[427]*427cation on each of them. Police then arrested appellant and transferred her to the county jail.

At the jail, appellant consented to have her blood drawn. The jail’s nurse recommended that appellant should be taken to the hospital because appellant had low oxygen saturation levels. Once at the hospital, appellant informed another nurse about her prior hospitalization and the circumstances of her accident. Appellant also told this nurse that she had taken six to eight pills of Percocet after being discharged from the hospital — although, she did not reveal the precise time when this medicine was taken. According to the nurse, a normal dose of Percocet is only one or two pills.

A toxicologist testified that appellant had a concentration level of 0.23 milligrams of oxycodone per liter of blood, which translated to “a very, significant amount” of Percocet, more than twice the recommended dose for a person taking that drug for chronic pain. The toxicologist also testified that there were trace amounts of morphine in appellant’s blood, but no traces of‘alcohol.

Appellant did not testify, but during closing statements, her counsel made several arguments in her defense. Counsel argued that the evidence supported a finding that appellant had suffered a second seizure. Many of the eyewitnesses testified that they heard the SUV revving, rather than braking, and counsel explained that appellant’s leg could have been locked on the accelerator because of a seizure. Counsel also argued that appellant’s confusion after the accident was consistent with a condition that typically follows a seizure.

Addressing the toxicology evidence, counsel suggested that appellant could have taken the Percocet after the accident, rather than before it. Counsel emphasized that the State never proved the exact time when appellant ingested the Percocet. Counsel also referred to the- toxicologist’s testimony that appellant possibly consumed the Percocet at 7:15 p.m.

The jury rejected these defensive theories and convicted appellant on both counts. Punishment was assessed" At twenty years’ imprisonment on the. manslaughter charge, and thirteen years’ imprisonment on the aggravated assault charge. A fine of $10,000 was- also assessed in each offense.

THE MOTIONS FOR CONTINUANCE

One week before the start of trial, the State tendered to defense counsel a copy of appellant’s hospital records, which the State had received three or four days earlier. The records spanned 1,095 pages, and many of them predated appellant’s seizure event.

On the day after receiving the records, counsel filed a written motion for continuance, in which he asserted that the records were too voluminous to digest. The trial court set the motion for a hearing the very next day. After hearing arguments from both sides, the trial court denied the motion for continuance.

On the following day, the State received an additional record from the hospital. The record was a “Safety Event” form, which was prepared by the hospital as part of an internal investigation two days after the accident. Thé State immediately tendered a copy of the form to defense counsel. Four days later, on the morning of trial, counsel orally moved for a continuance. Counsel argued that he was entitled to know who was. involved in-the creation of the form, and to see the notes of the persons supporting the conclusions made in the form. The trial -court denied the motion for .continuance, explaining that the hospital’s 'conclusions were based on medi[428]*428cal records that had already been provided to the defense.

In her first issue on appeal, appellant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by denying her two motions for continuance. The State counters that this issue has not been preserved. We agree with the State.

The Code of Criminal Procedure provides: “A criminal action may be continued on the written motion of the State or of the defendant, upon sufficient cause shown; which cause shall be fully set forth in the motion.” Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 29.03.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
491 S.W.3d 424, 2016 WL 1357365, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodman-v-state-texapp-2016.