Cabrales v. State
| Decision Date | 03 July 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 14-94-00115-CR,14-94-00115-CR |
| Citation | 932 S.W.2d 653 |
| Parties | Juan Enrique CABRALES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. (14th Dist.) |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Tom Moran, Michael Olsen, Houston, for appellant.
Carol H. Cameron, Houston, for appellee.
Before MURPHY, C.J., and AMIDEI and ANDERSON, JJ.
Appellant, Juan Enrique Cabrales, appeals a jury conviction for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver. TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 481.112(d)(3) (Vernon 1992). 1 The trial court sentenced appellant to thirty (30) years confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Appellant brings fourteen points of error, contending (1) the trial court improperly allowed testimony about the price of cocaine and the method of manufacturing "crack" cocaine; (2) the trial court erred in overruling his objections and motion for mistrial based on the prosecutor's comments concerning his post-arrest silence; (3) the evidence was legally, or alternatively, factually insufficient to sustain his conviction; and (4) the trial court improperly overruled his motion to suppress. We reverse and remand for a new trial.
On May 7, 1992, Officers Allen Ray Meeks and Michael Ellison of the Harris County Sheriff's Department, Organized Crime Unit, pulled over a white Ford Explorer for a traffic violation. Both the driver, Francisco Avila, and appellant, who was a passenger in the vehicle, gave written consents to search the Explorer. The officers subsequently discovered four, locked duffel bags, which they determined to contain seventy-eight packages of cocaine.
In his eleventh point of error, appellant contends the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain his conviction. When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court must review all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict or judgment. Garrett v. State, 851 S.W.2d 853, 857 (Tex.Crim.App.1993); Houston v. State, 663 S.W.2d 455, 456 (Tex.Crim.App.1984). In doing so, we must determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2788-89, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Ransom v. State, 789 S.W.2d 572, 577 (Tex.Crim.App.1989), cert. denied, 497 U.S. 1010, 110 S.Ct. 3255, 111 L.Ed.2d 765 (1990). In conducting this review, we are not to re-evaluate the weight and credibility of the evidence, but act only to ensure the jury reached a rational decision. Muniz v. State, 851 S.W.2d 238, 246 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 837, 114 S.Ct. 116, 126 L.Ed.2d 82 (1993); Moreno v. State, 755 S.W.2d 866, 867 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). Rather, the jury, as the trier of fact, is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses. Soto v. State, 864 S.W.2d 687, 691 (Tex.App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1993, pet. ref'd) (citing Sharp v. State, 707 S.W.2d 611, 614 (Tex.Crim.App.1986), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 872, 109 S.Ct. 190, 102 L.Ed.2d 159 (1988)). If there is evidence to establish the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and the trier of fact believes that evidence, we cannot reverse the judgment on insufficient evidence grounds. Soto, 864 S.W.2d at 691 (citing Moreno, 755 S.W.2d at 867).
To support a conviction for unlawful possession, the State must prove the accused (1) exercised care, control and management over the contraband; and (2) knew the matter possessed was contraband. Washington v. State, 902 S.W.2d 649, 652 (Tex.App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1995, pet. ref'd); Campbell v. State, 822 S.W.2d 776, 777 (Tex.App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1992, pet. ref'd). When the accused is not in exclusive possession of the place where the contraband is found, the State must present additional independent facts and circumstances that affirmatively link the accused to the contraband. Washington, 902 S.W.2d at 652. The affirmative link must raise a reasonable inference that the accused knew of and controlled the contraband. Id. Some factors on which various courts have relied to provide this affirmative link include (1) the place where the contraband was found was enclosed; (2) the contraband was conveniently accessible to the accused; (3) the accused was the owner of the place where the contraband was found; (4) the quantity of the drugs found; (5) the accused possessed a key to the locked location of the drugs; (6) a tip by an informant that the accused was in possession of contraband; (7) the accused was in close proximity to a large quantity of contraband; and (8) drug paraphernalia was found on or in plain view of the accused. Id. ().
In the present case, Officer James Pruitt, an experienced narcotics officer with the Organized Crimes Unit, testified that a white Ford Explorer, with two individuals who were subsequently identified as appellant and Avilas, drove into the garage of a residence that he was surveying. The driver then closed the garage door. Officer Pruitt further testified that approximately fifteen to twenty minutes later, the garage door opened, the Explorer pulled out of the garage, and appellant "walked out, looked around, up and down the street, and then got into the Explorer." Officer Pruitt stated that based on his experience as a narcotics officer, appellant's conduct was consistent with the behavior of an individual carrying drugs. Moreover, the police discovered the cocaine in an enclosed place, namely the backseat and rear area of the vehicle. Appellant was also located in close proximity to an extremely large quantity of cocaine when the police arrested him. Further, although appellant informed the arresting officers that he did not know who owned the duffel bags, he directed the officers to the hidden keys which unlocked the bags. Upon thorough review of the record and in the light most favorable to the verdict, we find sufficient evidence exists whereby a rational trier of fact could have found appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Appellant's eleventh point is overruled.
In points one through four, appellant argues that during the guilt/innocence phase, the trial court improperly allowed the State to present evidence of the street value of cocaine and the method of manufacturing crack cocaine. Appellant contends that such evidence was not relevant to whether he intentionally and knowingly possessed cocaine with the intent to deliver. See TEX.R.CRIM.EVID. 402. Specifically, appellant complains of the following testimony of Officer James Pruitt elicited by the State:
This has to do with whether he knowingly possessed some quantity of cocaine. How much it sells for, you know, how much it's--how it's cut up, has nothing to do--to do with this case and it's completely irrelevant.
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