Castilleja v. State
| Decision Date | 06 July 2022 |
| Docket Number | 05-20-00866-CR |
| Parties | ADRIAN ALEXANDREW CASTILLEJA, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Do Not Publish Tex.R.App.P. 47.2(b)
On Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. 1 Dallas County Texas Trial Court Cause No. F17-76547-H
Before Justices Myers, Carlyle, and Goldstein
Following appellant Adrian Alexandrew Castilleja's not-guilty plea a jury convicted him of murder and assessed punishment at life imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. In nine issues, he asserts evidentiary sufficiency and admissibility challenges jury charge error, erroneous denial of his motions for recusal, mistrial, and new trial, and improper lack of a hearing on his recusal motion. We affirm in this memorandum opinion. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.
The indictment in this case alleged Mr. Castilleja (1) "intentionally and knowingly" caused the death of Jean Carlo Casiano-Torres (Rico) by shooting him with a firearm and (2) "intend[ed] to cause serious bodily injury to [Rico]," "commit[ed] an act clearly dangerous to human life" by shooting Rico with a firearm, and thereby caused Rico's death. On the first day of trial, Mr. Castilleja filed a motion to recuse the trial court judge, which was denied.
At trial, Gabrielle Balderaz testified that on October 11, 2017 she was a waitress at XTC Cabaret, a Dallas strip club. Rico was an occasional customer and a friend. About fifteen minutes after the club's 5 a.m. closing time, she went to her friend Chris's car in the club's parking lot to get her phone. Rico and another XTC Cabaret waitress, Star Nguyen, were in Ms. Nguyen's car next to Chris's waiting for Ms. Balderaz because they were planning to go eat. Ms. Balderaz heard gunshots close by and got out of Chris's car "to see what was going on." She did not know where the gunshots came from. Then, Ms. Balderaz saw Rico bleeding in Ms. Nguyen's car and realized he had been shot. He said "they got me." Ms. Balderaz called 911.
Ms. Balderaz later learned a video surveillance camera had recorded the incident and she saw video of the shooting "on social media and on the news." The State offered into evidence State's Exhibit 4, a disk containing a video recording. Ms. Balderaz stated she recognized the disk as "the footage of the actual shooting."
Over defense counsel's objection, State's Exhibit 4 was admitted into evidence and published to the jury.
Ms. Balderaz testified she had viewed that video recording previously and it showed the shooting in question. As the jury watched the video, she described what was happening. In the video, a white car came into the frame and slowed down as it passed Ms. Nguyen's car. A few minutes later, the same white car stopped near Ms. Nguyen's car. A person approached Ms. Nguyen's car and knocked on the car's window. Rico opened the door and the person shot him. Ms. Balderaz stated the video showed the shooter was wearing a blue shirt and a hat.
Star Nguyen testified that on the night of the shooting, she worked an eight-hour shift as a waitress at XTC Cabaret. Rico was a repeat customer who had become a friend. When her shift ended at 5 a.m., Rico asked her to give him a ride to a nearby Whataburger. She agreed because it was on the way to the restaurant where she and Ms. Balderaz planned to go eat. Rico got into the passenger seat of Ms. Nguyen's car, a white Mercedes Benz. They drove to the back of the club and waited while Ms. Balderaz retrieved her phone from a friend in a parked car next to them. While Ms. Nguyen was sitting in the driver's seat of her car with Rico next to her, "a shooting happened." She testified she did not immediately realize there had been gunshots. She "just heard a lot of ringing in my ears" and "thought somebody hit my car." Then, she looked over at Rico and saw he was bleeding. She "hopped out" of the car and called to Ms. Balderaz for help. Ms. Balderaz called 911. Ms. Nguyen did not see who had shot into the car.
Ms. Nguyen stated she had served Rico drinks at the club earlier that night. He was with two people he said were his cousins. At the time of the shooting, those two people were not around. She did not see Rico with anyone else at the club that night except club dancers.
Ms. Nguyen later watched a video recording of the shooting at the district attorney's office. She stated that though she could not see the shooter's face in the video, she "saw his outfit." He was wearing a blue shirt, "saggy jeans," and a hat. He "looked skinny." The State replayed portions of State's Exhibit 4 during her testimony.
She stated that after seeing the shooter in the video recording, she told police she had seen someone "with that outfit" in the club on the night of the shooting. He was with "a group of guys," one of whom was Mr. Castilleja, an occasional customer she had met previously. She did not know the shooter or any of the other men in the group.
Timothy St. Onge, XTC Cabaret's assistant general manager, testified he was inside the club "closing out" when the shooting occurred and did not learn of it until after police and paramedics arrived. He stated that earlier, at about 5:01 a.m., he was closing out the register at the main bar and heard the "cocking of a handgun." He looked up and saw a customer walking toward the front door while putting a gun "back in the waistband of his pants." Mr. St. Onge was concerned because "[a]ll patrons are subject to be searched upon entering" and "there should be no firearms inside the building." Though Mr. St. Onge told a security guard to "go get him," the guard did not reach the armed man before he left the building. The man got into the passenger seat of a white Cadillac in front of the building and the car drove away. Mr. St. Onge testified he recognized the armed man as a regular customer referred to as "Ace" whom he had seen at the club multiple times. He identified "Ace" as Mr. Castilleja.
Mr. St. Onge testified that after he was told a shooting had occurred, he reviewed the club's surveillance video footage regarding what he had seen. He stated, Mr. St. Onge stated the club's interior video footage showed that as Mr. Castilleja walked toward the front door at closing time, he "pulled out" the gun, cocked it, and stuck it "back into the front waistband of his pants." In the video, Mr. St. Onge could see the gun clearly in the reflection of a mirrored column next to Mr. Castilleja. He notified his supervisor of what he had seen.
The State offered into evidence State's Exhibit 14, another disk containing a video recording. Over defense counsel's objection, State's Exhibit 14 was admitted into evidence and published to the jury. Mr. St. Onge stated it was a cell-phone video recording of the club's inside surveillance video from the night of the shooting. He described what it showed as it was played for the jury. He stated that at one point in the video, Rico walked toward Mr. Castilleja and said something to him, then walked past him. Then, Mr. Castilleja walked "just behind" Rico toward the front door, during which time the above-described gun-cocking incident occurred.
Mr. St. Onge testified he also reviewed footage from the club's other video cameras that night. He stated the footage showed that about five minutes prior to the gun-cocking incident, Mr. Castilleja had been outside the club. The white Cadillac had pulled through the valet driveway in front of the club and stopped. Mr. Castilleja "approached the driver's window" and there was "some kind of exchange." Then, Mr. Castilleja walked back into the club. Mr. St. Onge stated that though the club requires its security guards to search customers each time they enter the building, the video showed the guards did not search Mr. Castilleja at that time.
XTC Cabaret's security manager, Donny Smith, testified that at the time of the shooting he was locking the club's doors from the inside. He heard several gunshots outside and immediately unlocked the doors and went out of the building. A man told him "that guy just got shot" and pointed toward the valet parking lot. Mr. Smith saw a white Cadillac "speeding off towards the valet exit on the service road" and saw a white Mercedes Benz in the parking lot with a door open. When he reached the Mercedes Benz, he saw that a man he recognized as a regular customer had been shot several times. He called 911.
Mr. Smith stated the club has at least fifteen to twenty video surveillance cameras inside and outside. The State offered into evidence State's Exhibits 16 and 16B, a flash drive and video disk respectively. Mr. Smith testified he had reviewed those exhibits and they contained several hours of the club's video surveillance footage from before and after the shooting. State's Exhibit 16B consisted of "video clips that were pulled from State's Exhibit 16." Over defense counsel's objection, those exhibits were admitted into evidence and State's Exhibit 16B was published to the jury. Additionally, fourteen screenshots from State's Exhibit 16B were admitted into evidence without objection and published to the jury.
State's Exhibit 16B showed the shooter standing near the club's front entrance shortly after midnight with Mr. Castilleja. Mr. Smith testified it appeared from the video that they knew each other. The shooter left the club at 3:45 a.m. At about 4:26 a.m., a white Cadillac drove into the club's parking lot....
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