Jacqulin Johnson v. State ( 2013 )


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  •                                Fourth Court of Appeals
    San Antonio, Texas
    MEMORANDUM OPINION
    No. 04-13-00475-CR
    Jacqulin JOHNSON,
    Appellant
    v.
    The STATE of
    The STATE of Texas,
    Appellee
    From the 272nd District Court, Brazos County, Texas
    Trial Court No. 12-00820-CRF-272
    Honorable Travis B. Bryan III, Judge Presiding
    Opinion by:       Catherine Stone, Chief Justice
    Sitting:          Catherine Stone, Chief Justice
    Marialyn Barnard, Justice
    Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice
    Delivered and Filed: November 6, 2013
    AFFIRMED
    Jacqulin Johnson was convicted by a jury of theft of property under the value of $1,500.00.
    On appeal, Johnson contends: (1) the trial court erred by permitting the State to amend her
    indictment on the date trial commenced; (2) the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s
    verdict; and (3) the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of an extraneous offense.
    We overrule Johnson’s issues and affirm the trial court’s judgment.
    04-13-00475-CR
    AMENDMENT TO INDICTMENT
    Johnson’s indictment contained allegations of two prior convictions that elevated her
    offense from a Class C misdemeanor to a state jail felony for jurisdictional purposes. 1 At the
    conclusion of voir dire, the trial court permitted the State to amend the date on which one of the
    prior convictions occurred. Defense counsel objected to the amendment. On appeal, Johnson
    contends the trial court committed reversible error in allowing the amendment.
    Article 28.10 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure prohibits any amendment to an
    indictment after the trial commences if the defendant objects. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art.
    28.10 (West 1989). Because the trial court permitted the State to amend the indictment after trial
    commenced over defense counsel’s objection, we must evaluate the record to determine what
    harm, if any, the error caused. Because this is a nonconstitutional error, we disregard the error
    unless it affected Johnson’s substantial rights. McIntosh v. State, 
    307 S.W.3d 360
    , 365 (Tex.
    App.—San Antonio 2009, pet. ref’d); 
    Flores, 139 S.W.3d at 66
    ; Valenti v. State, 
    49 S.W.3d 594
    ,
    598 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2001, no pet.).
    “The untimely amendment of a charging instrument affects a defendant’s substantial rights
    if the instrument did not inform the defendant of the charge against him sufficiently to allow him
    to prepare his defense, or if prosecution under the erroneous charging instrument would subject
    the defendant to the risk of being prosecuted later for the same crime.” 
    McIntosh, 907 S.W.3d at 365-66
    ; see also 
    Flores, 139 S.W.3d at 66
    (quoting Gollihar v. State, 
    46 S.W.3d 243
    , 248 (Tex.
    Crim. App. 2001)). Johnson does not contend in her brief that the erroneous amendment would
    subject her to the risk of being prosecuted later for the same crime; instead, Johnson argues “but
    1
    “Prior convictions used for jurisdictional enhancements, unlike prior convictions used merely for punishment
    enhancements, must be pled in the indictment.” Flores v. State, 
    139 S.W.3d 61
    , 65 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2004, pet.
    ref’d) (emphasis in original); see also Ex parte Reinke, 
    370 S.W.3d 387
    , 389 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012) (noting prior
    offenses that must be alleged for offense of felony theft are jurisdictional elements of the offense itself).
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    04-13-00475-CR
    for the unlawful amendment, Johnson could have successfully urged a variance between the
    indictment and proof with regard to one of the prior theft convictions.”
    In response to this argument, we first note that Johnson’s ability to urge a variance is not
    the test for determining harm. Instead, the test is whether Johnson had adequate notice to prepare
    a defense. See 
    McIntosh, 307 S.W.3d at 366
    ; 
    Flores, 139 S.W.3d at 66
    . Moreover, even if the
    inability to assert a variance were the test, “[a] variance between the indictment and the evidence
    is fatal to a conviction only if the variance results in actual surprise or prejudices the rights of the
    accused.” 
    Flores, 307 S.W.3d at 66
    . If the record establishes that Johnson had adequate notice to
    prepare a defense, then it also shows the absence of surprise.
    In pertinent part, Johnson’s indictment alleged that Johnson had previously been convicted
    of theft “in that on the 19th day of April, 1998, in the County Court at Law No. One of Brazos
    County, Texas, in Cause No. 599-98, the defendant was convicted of Theft.” The amendment only
    changed the date of the conviction from April 19th to April 9th. “The indictment alleged the prior
    conviction with sufficient specificity by including the correct county, court, offense, cause number,
    month and year, to put [Johnson] on notice to prepare for proof of the conviction.” 
    Valenti, 49 S.W.3d at 599
    . Accordingly, under these circumstances, we hold that amending the typographical
    error in the date of the prior conviction did not affect Johnson’s substantial rights and was
    harmless. See 
    id. SUFFICIENCY OF
    THE EVIDENCE
    In her second issue, Johnson contends the evidence is insufficient to prove the value of the
    wine she was alleged to have stolen. The evidence at trial established that Johnson took one bottle
    from a four-pack of wine from the shelf of a grocery store, drank half the bottle, and placed the
    half-empty bottle on another shelf. Johnson contends the evidence at trial established only the
    value of the four-pack of wine, not the value of the single bottle.
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    04-13-00475-CR
    “When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we consider all of the evidence in the
    light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether, based on that evidence and the reasonable
    inferences therefrom, a jury was rationally justified in finding guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
    Merritt v. State, 
    368 S.W.3d 516
    , 525 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012) (citing Jackson v. Virginia, 
    443 U.S. 307
    , 318-19 (1979)). “The jury is the sole judge of credibility and weight to be attached to
    the testimony of witnesses.” 
    Id. Juries are
    also permitted “to draw multiple reasonable inferences
    as long as each inference is supported by the evidence presented at trial.” Hooper v. State, 
    214 S.W.3d 9
    , 15 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007). A reviewing court determines if a jury’s inferences are
    reasonable “based upon the combined and cumulative force of all the evidence when viewed in the
    light most favorable to the verdict.” 
    Id. at 17.
    With regard to the value of the stolen property, one of the grocery store’s loss prevention
    officers, Jonathon Carrizales, testified that the grocery store was not able to re-package the other
    three bottles in the four-pack and sell them. Instead, the grocery store is required to take a loss on
    the entire four-pack. Carrizales stated that a receipt showing the price of the four-pack was given
    to the officer who arrived to arrest Johnson. The receipt was introduced into evidence, establishing
    that the value of the four-pack was $6.50.
    Because the grocery store was required to take a loss on the entire four-pack, the evidence
    is legally sufficient to establish that the value of the property stolen by Johnson was $6.50. Even
    if Carrizales had not testified regarding the grocery store’s inability to re-package and sell the
    remaining three bottles in the four-pack, however, the jury could infer from the evidence that the
    value of the single bottle was one-fourth of $6.50, or $1.62. Therefore, the evidence is legally
    sufficient to support Johnson’s conviction.
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    04-13-00475-CR
    RULE 403
    In her final issue, Johnson contends the trial court erred in admitting evidence that she had
    engaged in a previous theft because the evidence was overly prejudicial under Rule 403.
    Rule 403 provides, “Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is
    substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading
    the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.”
    TEX. R. EVID. 403. We review a trial court’s ruling admitting evidence over a Rule 403 objection
    under an abuse of discretion standard. See De La Paz v. State, 
    279 S.W.3d 336
    , 343 (Tex. Crim.
    App. 2009); McCallum v. State, 
    311 S.W.3d 9
    , 14-15 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2010, no pet.).
    “As long as the trial court’s ruling is within the ‘zone of reasonable disagreement,’ there is no
    abuse of discretion, and the trial court’s ruling will be upheld.” De La 
    Paz, 279 S.W.3d at 343
    -
    44. “‘Rule 403 favors the admission of relevant evidence and carries a presumption that relevant
    evidence will be more probative than prejudicial.’” 
    McCallum, 311 S.W.3d at 15
    (quoting
    Shuffield v. State, 
    189 S.W.3d 782
    , 787 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006)).
    “[A] proper Rule 403 analysis by either the trial court or a reviewing court includes, but is
    not limited to, the following factors: (1) the probative value of the evidence; (2) the potential to
    impress the jury in some irrational, yet indelible, way; (3) the time needed to develop the evidence;
    (4) the proponent’s need for the evidence.” Erazo v. State, 
    144 S.W.3d 487
    , 489 (Tex. Crim. App.
    2004). In this case, the extraneous offense related to Johnson’s previous theft of a bottle of wine
    that an employee observed and reported to Carrizales. 2 The testimony regarding the prior theft
    was probative to rebut Johnson’s testimony that Carrizales lied in testifying that she stole the wine.
    The trial court gave a limiting instruction regarding the jury’s consideration of extraneous offenses
    2
    Carrizales was unable to apprehend Johnson on that occasion because he did not observe the theft.
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    04-13-00475-CR
    in the charge which “likely eliminated any potential that the extraneous offense evidence would
    impress the jury in some irrational, indelible way.” Render v. State, 
    347 S.W.3d 905
    , 921 (Tex.
    App.—Eastland 2011, pet. ref’d). The testimony regarding the extraneous offense spans only
    about ten to fifteen pages of the reporter’s record, so the time needed to develop the evidence was
    not significant. Finally, because the jury would be required to weigh the credibility of the
    witnesses, the State needed the evidence to assist in establishing that Carrizales was the more
    credible witness. See Young v. State, 
    242 S.W.3d 192
    , 201 (Tex. App.—Tyler 2007, no pet.)
    (balancing Rule 403 factors and noting State’s need for evidence was significant in order to answer
    attack on witness’s credibility); Sarabia v. State, 
    227 S.W.3d 320
    , 324 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth
    2007, pet. ref’d) (same). After reviewing the balancing factors, we hold the trial court did not
    abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence of the other theft.
    CONCLUSION
    The trial court’s judgment is affirmed.
    Catherine Stone, Chief Justice
    DO NOT PUBLISH
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