Brooks v. State

Decision Date13 December 2017
Docket NumberNo. 08-15-00208-CR,08-15-00208-CR
PartiesDANIEL LUCAS BROOKS, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas

Appeal from 195th District Court of Dallas County, Texas

(TC # F-1400263-N)

OPINION

Daniel Brooks pled not guilty to the offense of capital murder. On June 11, 2014, a Dallas County jury deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial. Thereafter, Appellant was re-indicted, pled not guilty, and a second jury found him guilty of capital murder as charged. The trial court assessed an automatic sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole as required by statute. TEX.PEN.CODE ANN. § 12.31(a)(2)(West Supp. 2017). Appellant filed a motion for new trial which was overruled by operation of law. He brings six issues for review complaining of charge error, denial of access to outtakes from The First 48 episode related to this case, and the failure to suppress evidence.1 He also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction for capital murder.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

Accomplice David Herron

David Herron and Appellant attended middle and high school together. Herron graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in creative writing. He went through several stints in treatment centers and rehabilitation facilities for heroin addiction. Herron and Appellant re-connected via Facebook in late 2012. Herron's Facebook page referenced violent rap music lyrics and contained links to his writings entitled Delusions of Grandeur, Calculated Risk, and Choked Humanity. Shortly after re-connecting with Herron, Appellant lost his job as a veterinary assistant and began using heroin. As a result of his heroin use, he lost his apartment and began living with Herron in Herron's gold Volkswagen Jetta. The duo kept all of their possessions in the car. Herron testified at trial that it was possible that he wore Appellant's clothing some times.

On March 7, 2013, Herron and Appellant needed money for heroin. While discussing the possibility of panhandling, Appellant mentioned breaking into some houses, because that was "where the money was." Herron was uncomfortable about it because his mother had been strangled to death during a home invasion burglary. Herron was also concerned that someone might be home because it was mid-to-late afternoon and "something could go wrong."

Nevertheless, Appellant proceeded with his plan. He borrowed the Jetta and told Herron that he was going to make something happen. He left Herron at a nearby Walgreens for about an hour. At the time, Appellant was wearing a light wind breaker, green cap, jeans, and boots. When Appellant returned, Herron noticed items in the car that were not there previously. He also noticed that Appellant was no longer wearing the wind breaker. Appellant said that he talked his way into a woman's home, told her he had lost his dog, "scared her and threatened herand took the stuff and came back." Appellant appeared "visibly upset and flustered" and began "dry-heaving and like throwing up." When Herron asked him if anything went wrong, Appellant replied that he had just scared the woman and "his adrenaline was jacked up because he didn't normally do stuff like that." He then opened the trunk to change out of his western boots into a pair of white tennis shoes. Herron moved back into the driver's seat and the two men left to try to sell Appellant's loot which he had stored in a white kitchen trash bag.

They first drove to PJ Pawn to sell some of the jewelry, antique coins, a purse, a wallet, and some silverware, but PJ's was closed. They then drove to 24-Hour Pawn in Oak Cliff. After Appellant changed clothes again, he went into 24-Hour Pawn to sell the stolen antique coins. A surveillance video showed him wearing his western boots. He also presented his driver's license. Appellant sold the coins for $40. He and Herron used the $40 along with $30 they found in the wallet to purchase heroin from a dealer Herron knew as "Cassie."

After getting high, Herron and Appellant drove to the intersection of Mockingbird and Greenville around 11:00 p.m. Herron parked across the street while Appellant attempted to use a card from the wallet to obtain cash from an ATM. His attempts were unsuccessful. When he returned to the car, he expressed concern that "the woman had called and reported them stolen or canceled them." The two men drove around for a while trying to decide where to go next. They opted for Wal-Mart on Forest Lane. By now, it was the early morning hours of March 8, 2013. Herron parked across the street at a CVS Pharmacy parking lot because he did not want to be caught on camera. The surveillance video at Wal-Mart showed Appellant purchasing an iPad, which the two men planned to sell. They then drove to another Wal-Mart off Cockrell Hill where Appellant attempted to make another purchase. This time, Herron parked at a nearbyWhat-A-Burger. Video surveillance from the Cockrill Hill Wal-Mart showed Appellant unsuccessfully attempt to purchase a laptop, some clothes, and an Xbox 360 game console.

Herron and Appellant then decided to sell the iPad at a secondhand electronics store once it opened. They slept in the Jetta for a few hours and then drove to EntertainMart at around 10:30 a.m. Again, Herron waited in the parking lot. Appellant went inside and presented his driver's license to Logan Hayse, an employee. Hayse paid $440 for the iPad. Appellant and Herron contacted Cassie using a cell phone they shared and purchased a large amount of heroin. Herron suggested they drive to a casino in Durant, Oklahoma to make some money playing poker. They paid cash for their hotel room and did not win any money. Herron recorded his thoughts in a journal:

The well-lit pleasures, the dimwit measures, chaos is the vixen, beauty of the victim. The ultimate trespass. No coming back. In the middle of nowhere Oklahoma, from around the bend the train is coming while my feet rest securely on the tracks. A sinking ship with no captain. This is ultimate sin.

Herron and Appellant returned to Dallas on March 9, 2013, because they ran out of heroin and did not know any drug dealers in Oklahoma.

The Crime Scene

On March 7, 2013, 79-year-old Avanell Cowgill spent the day volunteering at her church. At 3:15 p.m., she said goodbye to the pastor and went home. On March 9, 2013, at approximately 11:00 p.m., Officer Elizabeth Wadas, a field training officer, and her trainee, Officer Courtney Williams, checked Cowgill's east Dallas home at the request of one of her daughters, who had not heard from her in several days. Upon arrival, the two officers noticed multiple newspapers lying on the front porch. There was no response when they knocked on the front door, which was locked. Officer Williams remained by the porch while Wadas went around to the backyard where she noticed that the screen door was closed but the inside door was"wide open." Wadas retrieved Williams and the two proceeded into the house. The lights and the television were on in the sitting room, where they observed knitting materials next to a chair. Wadas turned off the television and announced their presence. As they proceeded into the kitchen and dining room area, the two officers discovered Cowgill's body "laying face-down on the floor deceased."

Wadas immediately radioed for backup and waited with Williams for the other officers to arrive. Soon after, Sergeant Villareal, Sergeant Stinson, trainee Officer Morgan, and Officers Trigo and Devore arrived to assist. After clearing the house, Trigo and Devore left while the rest of the officers waited for the fire department, homicide detectives, crime scene unit, and the medical examiner. Two individuals from the fire department confirmed that Cowgill was dead. The case was quickly assigned to lead homicide detective Scott Sayers, who responded to the crime scene along with a crime scene analyst, two body handlers, a field agent from the medical examiner's office, and two people from the television program, The First 48.

Crime Scene Analyst Ryan Woolley processed the scene. He spoke to the first responding officers who informed him they were waiting on a search warrant. Once the officers obtained the warrant, Woolley photographed the outside of the house, the inside of the house, Cowgill's body, any potential blood evidence, and anything that appeared out of place, such as a trash can missing its trash bag liner in the middle of the kitchen and some jewelry boxes in the front bedroom. Woolley also used a sterile fingerprint powder in an attempt to identify any fingerprints that might be on a bloody stool near Cowgill's body.

Woolley then entered the bedroom where he collected jewelry boxes from the dresser and swabbed them for DNA. There was a dresser drawer left slightly ajar and when asked if he swabbed it for DNA, Woolley testified that he did not because he thought he was more likely tofind DNA on the jewelry boxes. He also collected a pair of wire-framed glasses. He photographed some small specks of blood spatter on the top surface of a chair and documented blood found on a doorjamb and what appeared to be blood smeared on the bottom of a door. Woolley swabbed a void in the dust on a table top for DNA and processed the kitchen faucet and trash can for fingerprints and DNA. He then attempted to locate where the bloody stool originated. Finally, along with Sergeant Stinson, Woolley returned some of the items in the house to their original position, including an overturned chair and lamp that had previously been processed for fingerprints. He then swabbed the storm door for DNA.

While officers were processing the scene, Cowgill's telephone rang. Detective Sayers used a Kleenex to answer the phone. Cowgill's daughter was on the line and Detective Sayers relayed the news of her mother's death. He asked to meet with her the next morning. On March 10th, Detective Sayers, along with some other detectives, returned to Cowgill's...

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