Adams v. State, NUMBER 13-17-00420-CR
| Decision Date | 21 May 2020 |
| Docket Number | NUMBER 13-17-00420-CR |
| Parties | TRACE BRITTON ADAMS, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
On appeal from the 377th District Court of Victoria County, Texas.
Before Justices Benavides, Hinojosa, and Perkes
A jury convicted appellant Trace Britton Adams of two counts of manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance in penalty group 3, between 28 and 200 grams, a second-degree felony. See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 481.114 (a), (c). The trial court assessed punishment at ten years' confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for each count to run concurrently. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 12.33.
By thirteen issues, which we have reorganized and consolidated, Adams argues that: (1) the evidence is legally1 insufficient to sustain a conviction on either count; (2)-(4) the trial court erred in denying his motions to suppress evidence; (5) the trial court committed fundamental error during voir dire, and (6) his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object; (7) the trial court erred in permitting the State to admit "evidence of post arrest silence for impeachment purposes"; (8) the trial court erred in allowing the State to make improper closing arguments; (9) the State violated Brady2; and (10) the "criminality of possession of testosterone is unconstitutional in Texas as well as the United States." We affirm.
Adams was arrested on May 26, 2016, after a traffic stop search yielded several vials of a testosterone-based compound, syringes, and pills inside a gym bag in the backseat of the vehicle he was driving. Subsequent search warrants executed for Adams's residences produced evidence of more vials of testosterone, syringes, pills, packaging materials, receipts from overseas purchases, and over $30,000 in cash. On February 23, 2017, Adams was indicted on two counts of manufacturing or delivering testosterone.
On March 9, 2017, the trial court held a hearing on Adams's motion to suppress evidence obtained during the traffic stop.
Joshua Vaclavik, a deputy with the Victoria County Sheriff's Office, testified he witnessed Adams make a wide right turn at an intersection, in violation of the Texas Transportation Code: "He turned directly into the—what would be considered the left inside lane, which is the—the lane furthest from the curb."
According to Vaclavik, Adams gave him verbal consent to search the vehicle and never revoked his consent.3 During Vaclavik's search, he observed a black gym bag in the backseat of Adams's vehicle. The bag contained over two dozen individually packaged pills, more than a dozen syringes, and a black toiletries bag with "multiple syringes" and "medical pharmaceutical glass vials" labeled "testosterone." Vaclavik placed Adams under arrest for possession of items in penalty group 3. See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 481.114 (a), (c).
During cross-examination, Adams's counsel questioned the deputy's motive in furtherance of defense's theory that there was no reasonable suspicion to effectuate a stop. Vaclavik said he had been given orders from his supervisor to follow Adams, a suspected narcotics distributor, and he had been surveilling Adams for approximately thirty to forty minutes before stopping him.
Adams did not testify.
The court denied Adams's motion and made several findings on the record:
The Court finds the officer's testimony to be credible. Therefore, the Court finds that the defendant did violate the transportation code when he did not, upon making a right-hand turn, stay as close as practicable to the right. The Court also finds that the defendant consented to the search of the vehicle.
Adams filed a subsequent motion to suppress, seeking to suppress four search warrants for: (1) the residence listed on Adams's driver's license, 284 Pebble Drive in Victoria, Texas; (2) a residence listing Adams on the lease, 333 Cody Drive in Victoria, Texas; (3) electronics found at the Cody Drive residence; and (4) a safe obtained from the Pebble Drive residence. Adams argued that the first three warrants were facially invalid, failing to meet the requirements under Code of Criminal Procedure article 18.04, subsections 4 and 5, and that the fourth warrant was invalid because it was sought on the basis of the prior invalid warrants.
On July 6, 2017, the trial court held a hearing on Adams's motion. The State called the two men responsible for procuring the search warrants, Sergeant Quinton Moses and Investigator Richard Martin, both with the Victoria County Sheriff's Office, to testify. Each individually stated they were familiar with the signatures of the judges signing the search warrants, personally witnessed the judges review and sign the warrants, and identified the signatures in the exhibits.
The trial court, having considered the testimony provided by the officers involved and taking judicial notice of the legislative intent behind the statute on the record, denied Adams's motion to suppress.
At trial, Deputy Vaclavik testified regarding the traffic stop. Vaclavik stated, inaddition to seizing pills and vials containing testosterone from within Adams's vehicle, keys were seized and later used to access a locked room inside the Cody Drive residence and a safe from the Pebble Drive residence.
Investigator Martin expounded on Adams's connection to the Cody Drive residence. Although Adams's name, along with another unknown male, were on the lease, only one of the three bedrooms appeared to be occupied, said Martin. Multiple shipping labels were recovered with Adams's name affixed, and Adams's framed bachelor's degree was located in the same room as: pill grinders, a pill press, a grease gun used to lubricate a pill press, storage bins with bubble wrap and Ziploc baggies, a heat sealer, two digital scales, bins containing vials labeled "testosterone," "empty glass vials" in gallon freezer bags, rubber stoppers and "plungers" used to secure the lid on glass vials, and pill packages with markings consistent with the pills found at the traffic stop. Copies of "many" MoneyGram receipts sent to "Asian countries," with the transfer amounts ranging from $1,360 to $309, were also recovered.
Martin also testified to the contents of an in-jail phone call recording between Adams and his mother. According to Martin, Adams was aware he was in the possession of testosterone at the time of the stop because he told his mother that the vials and pills seized contained "steroids and testosterone," and Adams indicated how much testosterone each vial contained. Adams then requested that his mother pick up some of his property, which included a computer that was later found to contain "templates for label printing that were consistent with the labels that were found on the . . . vials[,] . . . pill packaging and steroids."
During cross-examination, Adams questioned Martin regarding whether investigators found anything amounting to illicit intent or evidence of testosterone sales.
Martin stated he never "witnessed" Adams sell testosterone nor did he speak with anyone who claimed to have been sold testosterone from Adams.
Roman Gonzales, Jr., a forensic scientist with the Texas Department of Public Safety in Corpus Christi, testified to the weight and chemical relation of the items tested. According to Gonzales, several items recovered tested positive for testosterone propionate, 29.96 grams, and testosterone enanthate, 49.39 grams—both chemically related to testosterone. Gonzales confirmed that his determination of the total substance weight included any present adulterants and dilutants, and not all items submitted by the State were tested "due to a 900-case backlog." Gonzales conceded on cross-examination that he did not ascertain the purity of the substances tested.
Benjamin Reddock, a clinical pharmacist, testified to the effects of anabolic steroids: Reddock explained that while individuals may receive anabolic steroids as part of a medical treatment plan, anabolic steroids can also be used to promote musclegrowth. Reddock opined that testosterone propionate and testosterone enanthate are considered anabolic steroids and are pharmacologically related to testosterone.
Adams testified at trial and acknowledged his previous conviction for possession with intent to manufacture a controlled substance, wherein he was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment. Adams claimed his ex-girlfriend introduced him to amphetamines and methamphetamines, and she was ultimately responsible for his conviction: "[I]t seemed to me like it was a typical setup, like she was asking me to make meth for her."
Adams testified that a different former girlfriend was at fault for his present charges. Prior to his arrest, Adams said he received a tip that his "ex-girlfriend had called the sheriff's department and told them that [he] was making methamphetamines, making ecstasy, and also making steroids and selling them all." According to Adams, his ex-girlfriend "had access" to his home, prescription testosterone, gym bag, and vehicle. ...
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