Laca v. State, 08-93-00016-CR

• Citation: 893 S.W.2d 171
• Decision Date: 26 January 1995
• Docket Number: No. 08-93-00016-CR,08-93-00016-CR
• Parties: Eddie LACA, Jr., Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 171

893 S.W.2d 171

Eddie LACA, Jr., Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 08-93-00016-CR.

Court of Appeals of Texas El Paso.

Jan. 26, 1995.

Petition for Discretionary Review Refused June 14, 1995.

M. Clara Hernandez, El Paso County Public Defender, El Paso, for appellant.

Jaime E. Esparza, Dist. Atty., El Paso, for state.

Before BARAJAS, C.J., LARSEN, J., and PRESLAR (Retired) C.J., Sitting by Assignment.

OPINION

LARSEN, Justice.

NATURE OF THE CASE

This is a murder case. A jury convicted appellant of the murder of Eddie Keeder, and assessed punishment at life imprisonment. Appellant brings ten points of error, asserting that the trial court erred by: (1) overruling his motion to suppress his confession because he was illegally arrested without a warrant; (2) admitting his confession into evidence over objection on the same grounds; (3) admitting his confession because he did not receive the Magistrate's warnings required by Article 14.06 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure; (4) admitting into evidence photographs of the deceased which were more prejudicial than probative because of their gruesomeness; (5) admitting into evidence photographs of the deceased which were more prejudicial than probative because they were cumulative; (6) denying appellant's challenge of a prospective juror; (7) overruling appellant's motion for mistrial on the grounds the prosecutor commented in argument on appellant's failure to testify; (8) overruling appellant's objection and motion for mistrial as to improper final argument of the prosecutor; (9) refusing a requested jury instruction; and (10) allowing evidence of an unadjudicated extraneous offense during the punishment phase of trial. We affirm.

I. SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE

On June 29, 1992, appellant went to the apartment complex at 3701 Keltner in Northeast El Paso to see his baby son. Appellant was a member of Los Fatherless gang, and he was accompanied by two other members of that gang. The apartment complex was located in the turf of the rival "Barrio Logan Heights Locos" gang. Isela Godinez, the mother of appellant's son, was affiliated with the second gang. During appellant's visit, the Locos learned of his presence, and perhaps ten members gathered in the parking lot of the apartments. Godinez warned appellant he should leave. As appellant and his companions were leaving, they warned the Locos not to throw rocks at their car. The Locos ignored this warning, and threw rocks at the departing car.

After the Fatherless left, the Locos remained around the apartments gathering rocks. Godinez phoned a member of the Fatherless, allegedly to learn if they were going to return to the apartments so she could warn the Locos. Perhaps a half hour later, the Fatherless returned. Godinez informed the Locos the Fatherless were back. The Locos seemed ready for a fight. The Locos fled, however, leaving Omar Mendoza, a friend of that gang, to face the wrath of the Fatherless. The Fatherless asked Mendoza "where he was from?" By this they meant what gang he was from. He told them "nowhere," which meant he was not a gang member. Someone then said, "Well let's just get him anyways."

The Fatherless, including appellant, began beating Mendoza. The appellant hit him with a tire iron. Eddie "Puppet" Keeder, a Loco, then appeared from an alley. The Fatherless began beating Keeder. Appellant struck Keeder in the head with a tire iron some ten or eleven times. The tire iron became stuck in Keeder's head; appellant had to pull it out. Appellant said, "Yo lo mate", which is Spanish for "I killed him." The Fatherless then left.

The police soon arrived at 11:50 p.m. and secured the crime scene. Several possible weapons were scattered about, including a bat, a pipe, and rocks. Various photographs of the crime scene and abandoned weapons were taken. Isela Godinez gave two statements to the police implicating defendant.

The police later found an abandoned vehicle matching the description of that used by the murder suspects, from which they recovered two tire irons and two baseball bats. The four point tire iron and one of the bats were bloodstained. The blood was compatible with the blood type of the deceased.

The next day, appellant was spotted walking on a street in Fatherless turf and arrested. He wore bloodstained white pants and a "Fatherless Gang" T-shirt. Appellant confessed to the murder later the same day.

A. Suppression of Confession

Our decision in this case is based on the testimony adduced at the hearing on defendant's motion to suppress evidence, and the evidence adduced at the suppression hearing is viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court's ruling. Perez v. State, 818 S.W.2d 512, 514 (Tex.App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 1991, no pet.). The trial judge is the sole and exclusive trier of facts at a hearing on a motion to suppress. Romero v. State, 800 S.W.2d 539 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Cannon v. State, 691 S.W.2d 664 (Tex.Crim.App.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1110, 106 S.Ct. 897, 88 L.Ed.2d 931 (1986); Hawkins v. State, 628 S.W.2d 71 (Tex.Crim.App.1982).

On appeal, a reviewing court does not engage in its own factual review but decides whether the trial judge's fact findings are supported by the record. State v. Giles, 867 S.W.2d 105, 107 (Tex.App.--El Paso 1993, pet. ref'd). If the record supports the findings, this Court is not at liberty to disturb the trial court's findings and, on review, we address only the question of whether the trial court improperly applied the law to the facts. Romero, 800 S.W.2d at 543; Self v. State, 709 S.W.2d 662, 665 (Tex.Crim.App.1986); Johnson v. State, 698 S.W.2d 154, 159 (Tex.Crim.App.1985), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 871, 107 S.Ct. 239, 93 L.Ed.2d 164 (1986). Furthermore, we must consider the totality of the circumstances in determining whether the trial court's findings are supported by the record, and the findings will not be disturbed absent a clear abuse of discretion. Dancy v. State, 728 S.W.2d 772, 777 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 975, 108 S.Ct. 485, 98 L.Ed.2d 484 (1987).

If the trial judge's decision is correct on any theory of law applicable to the case, however, it will be sustained. Romero, 800 S.W.2d at 543; Calloway v. State, 743 S.W.2d 645, 651-52 (Tex.Crim.App.1988); Spann v. State, 448 S.W.2d 128, 130 (Tex.Crim.App.1969); Moreno v. State, 170 Tex.Crim. 410, 341 S.W.2d 455, 456 (1960). This principle holds true even though the trial judge gives the wrong reason for his decision, Salas v. State, 629 S.W.2d 796, 799 (Tex.App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1981, no pet.), and is especially true with regard to the admission of evidence. Romero, 800 S.W.2d at 543; Dugard v. State, 688 S.W.2d 524, 530-31 (Tex.Crim.App.1985).

1. Warrantless Arrest

Appellant's first and second points of error assert that his confession is inadmissible as the product of an illegal warrantless arrest. Generally, law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant prior to taking someone into custody. Crane v. State, 786 S.W.2d 338, 346 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). At the suppression hearing, the State argued that the exception to the warrant requirement contained in Article 14.04 applied to the arrest. Article 14.04 provides: "Where it is shown by satisfactory proof to a peace officer, upon the representation of a credible person, that a felony has been committed, and that the offender is about to escape, so that there is no time to procure a warrant, such peace officer may, without warrant, pursue and arrest the accused." TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 14.04 (Vernon 1977). The rule breaks down into four elements:

(1) the person who gives the information to the peace officer must be credible;

(2) the offense must be a felony;

(3) the offender must be about to escape; and

(4) there must be no time to procure a warrant.

Nelson v. State, 855 S.W.2d 26, 30 (Tex.App.--El Paso 1993, no pet.), citing TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art 14.04; Fry v. State, 639 S.W.2d 463, 469 (Tex.Crim.App.1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1039, 103 S.Ct. 1430, 75 L.Ed.2d 790 (1983); cf. Dejarnette v. State, 732 S.W.2d 346, 349 (Tex.Crim.App.1987) (holding Article 14.04 requires (1) the police officer have satisfactory proof a felony was committed; (2) satisfactory proof the person arrested is the offender; and (3) evidence the offender is about to escape so that there is no time to procure a warrant).

Appellant was arrested by Officer Munoz of the El Paso Police Department the day after the murder. Munoz was present at the murder scene the night before and had seen the victim's body. He personally interviewed Godinez, and procured from her a statement at 2:25 a.m. on June 30. At 5:30 a.m., Godinez gave a second statement to the police. The second statement described the murder in essentially the same terms, except that Godinez now named appellant as the killer. Both statements placed appellant at the altercation prior to the murder, and named him as a member of the Fatherless gang. Officer Munoz and other officers were debriefed later in the morning, and he read both statements of Godinez then. Appellant was named as a suspect at that debriefing. A description of appellant was provided to Munoz: young, 18, bald headed (shaved), and thin. After debriefing, Munoz went on patrol in Fatherless turf, seeking a confidential informant. He did not find the informant, but he did find the appellant and a companion walking on the street. Appellant matched the description given Munoz earlier, and was wearing a Fatherless gang T-shirt. Munoz was in plain clothes and in an unmarked vehicle. Munoz left his car, without his gun, and approached the two, identifying himself as a police officer. He asked them about a different murder the night before. He then asked them their names; the appellant identified himself as Eddie Martinez. ¹ Later he identified himself as Eddie Laca. Munoz noted that there was blood on appellant's white pants. Munoz then detained the two for the murder...