Flowers v. State

• Decision Date: 18 April 2007
• Docket Number: No. PD-1081-06.,PD-1081-06.
• Citation: 220 S.W.3d 919
• Parties: Vincent Henry FLOWERS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

220 S.W.3d 919

Vincent Henry FLOWERS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas.

No. PD-1081-06.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

April 18, 2007.

Dawn A. Moore, Denton, for Appellant.

Bruce Isaacks, Criminal District Atty., Denton, Matthew Paul, State's Atty., Austin, for State.

OPINION

COCHRAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which KELLER, P.J., WOMACK, KEASLER, HERVEY and HOLCOMB, JJ., joined.

During the punishment phase of appellant's driving while intoxicated (DWI) trial, the State offered certified copies of (1) appellant's Texas driver's license record, and (2) a Dallas County computer-generated printout of appellant's conviction record, to establish that appellant had a prior DWI conviction in Dallas County and thus prove its enhancement allegation. Based upon this evidence, the judge found the enhancement paragraph true. The court of appeals held that this evidence was legally and factually sufficient to prove the enhancement paragraph.¹

We granted this petition for discretionary review to determine if the court of appeals erred "in holding a computer printout to be the functional equivalent of a judgment and sentence constituting sufficient proof beyond a reasonable doubt of a valid final conviction." Regardless of whether a computer print-out is "the functional equivalent" of a judgment for all purposes, we affirm the court of appeals because the evidence was sufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that appellant had a prior DWI conviction as alleged in the enhancement paragraph.

I.

Appellant was charged with DWI in Denton County. The information included an enhancement paragraph alleging a prior DWI conviction, Cause No. MB9539105, in Dallas County on August 18, 1995. Appellant pled "not guilty" to the charged offense and "not true" to the enhancement paragraph. A Denton County jury convicted appellant of DWI, and appellant elected to be sentenced by the judge.

Before trial, the Denton County District Attorney's Office sent a letter to the Dallas County Clerk's Office requesting certified copies of the judgment, information, revocation orders, and fingerprints for

                  Defendant:      Vincent Henry Flowers
                  Date of Birth:  12/15/1970
                  Offense:        DWI
                  Cause:          MB9539105
                

The Dallas County Clerk's Office wrote a letter in response, stating that the file was "missing" from its off-site warehouse facility. In lieu of the requested documents, the clerk's office sent a certified computer printout of appellant's conviction record. The prosecutor also requested and received a certified copy of appellant's driver's license record from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

During the sentencing hearing, the State offered appellant's Texas driver's license record as State's Exhibit 10. It was admitted without objection.² Exhibit 10 was a six-page document and included appellant's name, sex, date of birth, age, address, and driver's license number, as well as a copy of appellant's driver's license with his photograph. It also contained the following entry: "Date of offense 08-02-95 for DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED in DALLAS County, Texas. Convicted on 8-18-95 at County Court, Docket Number MB9539105H."³

The State then offered State's Exhibit 11-the Dallas County computer printout of appellant's conviction record. Appellant's counsel objected, stating that the exhibit was irrelevant because, "there's not a judgment here. It's a computer printout. And I'd argue that since it's a computer printout, not a judgment, it wouldn't be relevant in this particular case." The defense further argued that without a fingerprint on the computer printout "it's tentative as to whether or not the State can prove that this particular document refers to a person who is one and the same with my client." The judge overruled the objection and admitted State's Exhibit 11.

State's Exhibit 11 contains appellant's name, date of birth, address, social security number, date of arrest, charged offense, finding of guilt, sentence, and the judicial case identification number. All of this information matches the information contained in appellant's Texas driver's license record. Danny Sustaire, a Denton County District Attorney's Office investigator, testified that State's Exhibit 11 was a certified copy of a conviction record. He further testified that the personal identifiers in State's Exhibit 11 matched those in State's Exhibit 10, and he stated that both exhibits referred to the same Vincent Henry Flowers.

Based on the totality of the State's evidence, the trial judge found the enhancement paragraph relating to the 1995 Dallas County DWI conviction to be true. He sentenced appellant to 270 days in Denton County Jail and assessed a fine of $2,000.

Appellant argued on appeal that the trial court improperly admitted State's Exhibit 11, which he asserted was irrelevant "because it is not a judgment, bears no connection to him, and proves nothing."⁴ He argued alternatively that, even if State's Exhibit 11 was properly admitted, the evidence was both legally and factually insufficient to prove his prior conviction of the 1995 DWI.

The Court of Appeals held that the computer printout contained sufficient information and indicia of reliability to constitute the functional equivalent of a judgment and sentence, and therefore the trial court did not err in admitting State's Exhibit 11.⁵ The Court of Appeals further found that this evidence, combined with Exhibit 10, was sufficient to link appellant to the 1995 DWI.⁶

II.

To establish that a defendant has been convicted of a prior offense, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) a prior conviction exists, and (2) the defendant is linked to that conviction.⁷ No specific document or mode of proof is required to prove these two elements. There is no "best evidence" rule in Texas that requires that the fact of a prior conviction be proven with any document, much less any specific document. While evidence of a certified copy of a final judgment and sentence may be a preferred and convenient means, the State may prove both of these elements in a number of different ways,⁸ including (1) the defendant's admission or stipulation,⁹ (2) testimony by a person who was present when the person was convicted of the specified crime and can identify the defendant as that person,¹⁰ or (3) documentary proof (such as a judgment) that contains sufficient information to establish both the existence of a prior conviction and the defendant's identity as the person convicted.¹¹ Just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, there is more than one way to prove a prior conviction.

Texas substantive law does not require that the fact of a prior conviction be proven in any specific manner. Article 37.07 of the Code of Criminal Procedure permits proof of a defendant's "prior criminal record," but it does not require the production of a certified judgment to prove that prior criminal record. Any type of evidence, documentary or testimonial, might suffice. Similarly, Chapter 12 of the Penal Code deals with enhanced penalties for repeat or habitual offenders, but it does not require that the fact of a prior conviction be established in any particular manner or with any specific document.

The same might be said about proving up the existence of a marriage: one perfectly permissible method of showing that John and Susan are married is to produce a certified copy of their marriage license. If the substantive law requires the production of a marriage license, then this is the only method that may be used, but if the substantive law merely requires proof of the fact that John and Susan are married, then any type of evidence, documentary or testimonial, might suffice.

If a certified copy of a final judgment were the only means to prove that a defendant had been convicted of a prior offense, the defendant would receive a windfall if this document were destroyed, lost, or otherwise unavailable.¹² In such situations, a defendant's prior criminal history slate would be essentially wiped clean if the State could not prove prior offenses through other evidence, including other documentary evidence.

Further, in this modern era of computer-stored data, electronic files, and "paperless" court records, the day may come in which written judgments are largely obsolete. For this reason, Rule 902 of the Texas Rules of Evidence explicitly allows for the self-authentication of certified copies of public records, "including data compilations in any form certified as correct" by their custodian.¹³ A computer-generated compilation of information setting out the specifics of a criminal conviction that is certified as correct by the county or district clerk of the court in which the conviction was obtained is admissible under Rule 902.¹⁴

As this Court stated in Human v. State:

[O]rdinarily the proof that is adduced to establish that the defendant on trial is one and the same person that is named in an alleged prior criminal conviction or convictions closely resembles a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces standing alone usually have little meaning. However, when the pieces are fitted together, they usually form the picture of the person who committed that alleged prior conviction or convictions.¹⁵

The trier of fact fits the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together and weighs the credibility of each piece.¹⁶ Regardless of the type of evidentiary puzzle pieces the State offers to establish the existence of a prior conviction and its link to a specific defendant, the trier of fact determines if these pieces fit together sufficiently to complete the puzzle. The trier of fact looks at the totality of the evidence admitted to determine 1) whether there was a previous conviction, and 2) whether the defendant was the person convicted. If these two elements can be found beyond a reasonable doubt, then the various pieces used to complete the puzzle are necessarily legally sufficient to prove a prior conviction.

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