Briones v. State
| Decision Date | 21 March 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 13-00-496-CR.,13-00-496-CR. |
| Citation | 76 S.W.3d 591 |
| Parties | Jorge Fernando BRIONES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Reynaldo G. Garza Jr., Brownsville, for Appellant.
John A. Olson, Asst. County & Dist. Atty., Yolanda De Leon, Dist. Atty., Brownsville, for Appellee.
Before Justices YAÑEZ, RODRIGUEZ, and BAIRD.1
Appellant was charged in a three count indictment with the felony offenses of securing execution of a document by deception, tampering with a governmental record, and hindering apprehension, respectively. Tex. Pen.Code Ann. §§ 32.46, 37.10, 38.05 (Vernon Supp.2002). The trial court granted appellant's motion for instructed verdict on the third count. The jury convicted appellant of the offenses alleged in the first and second counts. The trial court assessed punishment at five years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice—Institutional Division, probated. We reverse and order an acquittal as to the first count, and affirm as to the second count.
These offenses arise out of a bail bond transaction. While the testimony at trial was both complicated and confusing, for the purposes of this appeal the evidence may be summarized as follows. Appellant worked as a bondsman for Castaneda Bail Bonds. He was asked to post a $75,000 surety bond for Maria Pulido, an alien, who was charged with the offense of possession of 950 pounds of marihuana, a second degree felony, and confined in the Cameron County Jail. Appellant agreed to post the bond, and was paid $7,500 to do so. The bond was presented to Sergeant Ricardo Bolivar, at the Cameron County Jail. Bolivar signed the bond. However, as will be seen below, the bond was invalid. Nevertheless, Pulido was released from custody, and presumably fled to Mexico, where she remains at large.
Securing execution of a document by deception is prescribed by section 32.46 of the Texas Penal Code, the relevant portions of which provide: A person commits an offense if, with intent to defraud or harm any person, he, by deception causes another to sign or execute any document affecting the pecuniary interest of any person. Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 32.46(a)(1) (Vernon Supp.2002). The application paragraph of the court's charge tracked the indictment, and permitted the jury to convict if it found beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant, by deception "cause[d] Ricardo Bolivar to sign or execute a document affecting the pecuniary interest of Omar Lucio, Cameron County Sheriff...." Appellant contends the evidence is insufficient to support the jury's verdict. Specifically, appellant argues the evidence is insufficient to prove Bolivar signed or executed a document which affected Lucio's pecuniary interest. In resolving a sufficiency challenge, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, and ask whether any rational trier of fact could find the essential elements of the crime as alleged beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Critical to our resolution of this point of error is the testimony of Bolivar, Yvette Gutierrez, the bail bond administrator of Cameron County, and the Honorable Omar Lucio, the Sheriff of Cameron County.
Bolivar testified he accepted the bond presented by appellant, signed it and placed it in a secured location, which was the normal policy of the sheriff's office because bonds have value. The bond was subsequently sent to Yvette Gutierrez. Bolivar stated the sheriff's department did not receive any of the money derived from bonds that were forfeited.
Gutierrez testified there are three types of bail bonds: personal bonds, cash bonds and surety bonds. The latter is posted by a licensed bondsman to secure the release of the principal. To be licensed, a bondsman must be approved by the bail bond board. Some bond companies use the assets of insurance companies to secure their bonds. To utilize those assets, bondsmen attach a power of attorney to the bond to ensure the company is liable for the amount of the bond, and will pay if the principal fails to appear in court. If the amount of the power of attorney does not match or exceed the amount of the bond, the bond is invalid.
In the instant case, appellant attached a power of attorney in the amount of $5,000. This amount was insufficient to ensure the principal's $75,000 bond. Nevertheless, the bond was signed by Bolivar, and Pulido was released from custody. When Gutierrez noticed the bond was invalid, she contacted Octavio Castaneda, the owner of Castaneda Bail Bonds, and he supplied a $100,000 power of attorney to secure the bond.
Gutierrez explained that when a principal fails to appear, the bonding company is required to pay the amount of the bond. Depending on whether the offense was a felony or misdemeanor, the payment is made to the district or county clerk. Those funds are deposited into a specified road and bridge account for Cameron County. That account does not belong to the sheriff's office. When asked specifically whether the sheriff's office received any monies, or held a pecuniary interest in the bonds that were defaulted, Gutierrez answered, "No."
Lucio testified on the subject of his pecuniary interest in this transaction. On direct examination, he testified as follows:
Q.... What we want you to explain, sir, is how the bonds affect your office if your office were to receive a bad bond. Does that in any way affect the pecuniary interest of the Sheriff's department, of your office?
A. Yes, sir. As a matter of fact, it not only affects my office, but it affects me personally. It affects all the people of Cameron County.
My office, it affects it simply because I have a contract with the bonding company and when somebody gives me an invalid bond that it makes it very difficult for us to collect that money. That money is supposed to go back into the road and bridge [account] and that money is supposed to be used for the purpose of the benefit of the people of Cameron County, you, the people of Cameron County.
So it affects us tremendously. When somebody like that gives an invalid bond and that person is released, it makes it very difficult for us sometimes to apprehend that person.
And under my duties is also that when somebody who fails to go ahead and has an incomplete bond like that and then there's a judgment so we can go ahead and try to collect that money one way or the other. So it makes it difficult for us to do that if we don't have a valid bond.
Q. Okay. So if I understand your answer, it affects it in many ways. One way it would affect you is that you have the individual contracts with those bondsmen as they're making it; and if they're giving you an invalid contract, then you don't have the funds that you're required to collect as your position as sheriff. That's one way?
A. That's right.
Q. And then you also mentioned that once the paperwork is submitted and it goes all through the system and that person doesn't show up and they do get a judgment on that bond, if it's an invalid bond, you as the sheriff cannot collect that for the county; is that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. Okay. So it affects the pecuniary interest in at least those two ways?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, in this particular case it was a $75,000 bond that was invalid, sir. We already admitted that into evidence. So if it were a $75,000 invalid bond, would it be safe to say that it affected your pecuniary interest in the amount of $75,000?
A. Yes, sir, it certainly would.
On cross examination, the following exchange occurred:
Q. What is your definition of pecuniary interest? What do you mean by pecuniary interest that affects you or your department?
A. Well, I'm a taxpayer. And when the county loses money, I lose money. Not only do I lose money, but any other citizen here in the county that pays taxes loses money.
* * *
Q. It's not just the sheriff's department, right?
A. But definitely the sheriff's department because I am, I am in charge of the county jail. I am the one that's supposed to have a contract with the bonding company. So it affects me and the sheriff's department.
Q. Out of every bond that is defaulted on and forfeited and the money is collected, how much of that money do you get or does your department get?
A. I don't get a single penny; however, the money goes to the county and to be used for the benefit of the county.
A bail bond is a written undertaking entered into by the defendant and his sureties for the appearance of the principal before some court or magistrate to answer a criminal accusation. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 17.02 (Vernon 1977). As such, a bail bond is a contract between the surety (the bonding company) and the State. Castaneda v. State, 55 S.W.3d 729, 731 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2001, pet. granted). The contract consists of a promise by the surety that the principal will appear before the court in exchange for a promise by the State that it will release the principal. Id. In the instant case, appellant breached this contract by posting an invalid bond to secure the release of the principal, Pulido.
Because the term "pecuniary interest" is not defined under section 32.46, it is to be given its plain and ordinary meaning. Goldstein v. State, 803 S.W.2d 777, 791 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1991, pet. ref'd). After turning to the dictionary and thesaurus for assistance, the Goldstein Court determined the pecuniary interest requirement under section 32.46 was met if the complainant had a "financial stake" in the matter. Id. This is consistent with the legal definition of pecuniary interest: "A direct interest related to money in an action or case." Black's Law Dictionary 1131 (6th ed.1990). Therefore, the narrow question before us is whether Lucio, in his official capacity as the Sheriff of Cameron County, had a direct financial stake in the bail...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Tex-Air Helicopters v. Galveston Review Bd.
... ... as follows: (1) Tex-Air flies to platforms that are on the Outer Continental Shelf; (2) Tex-Air does not fly to any platforms that are in state waters; (3) Helicopter N6037J # 5438 did not go into Louisiana in 1994; and (4) in counting revenue departures for the § 21.05(b) formula, Tex-Air ... ...
-
Bennett v. Grant
...the statute; therefore, courts have defined the term using its common meaning of having a “financial stake” in a matter. See Briones v. State, 76 S.W.3d 591, 595 (Tex.App.–Corpus Christi 2002, no pet.) ; Goldstein v. State, 803 S.W.2d 777, 791 (Tex.App.–Dallas 1991, pet. ref'd). Therefore, ......
-
Mehta v. State, No. 01-04-01299-CR (TX 7/7/2005)
...See, e.g., Ex parte Garcia, 100 S.W.3d 243, 245 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 2001, no pet.) ($50,000 for indecency with a child); Briones v. State, 76 S.W.3d 591, 592 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi 2002, no pet.) ($75,000 for possession of 950 lbs of marihuana); Ex parte Sabur-Smith, 73 S.W.3d at 437 ......
-
Tom Bennett & James B. Bonham Corp. v. Grant, 15-0338.
...Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.008(b).19 Id. § 41.008(c).20 Id. § 41.008(c)(11).21 Tex. Penal Code § 32.46(a) (emphasis added).22 See Briones v. State, 76 S.W.3d 591, 595 (Tex. App.–Corpus Christi 2002, no pet.) ; Goldstein v. State, 803 S.W.2d 777, 791 (Tex. App.–Dallas 1991, writ ref'd).23 See Le......