Leyva v. State

• Decision Date: 28 October 1992
• Docket Number: No. 08-91-00175-CR,08-91-00175-CR
• Parties: David Rodriguez LEYVA, a/k/a David Leyva Rodriguez, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 757

840 S.W.2d 757

David Rodriguez LEYVA, a/k/a David Leyva Rodriguez, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 08-91-00175-CR.

Court of Appeals of Texas,

El Paso.

Oct. 28, 1992.

Rehearing Overruled Nov. 25, 1992.

Discretionary Review Refused March 3, 1993.

Richard R. Alvarado, Odessa, for appellant.

J.W. Johnson, Jr., Dist. Atty., 112th Judicial Dist., Ft. Stockton, for State/appellee.

Before OSBORN, C.J., and KOEHLER and BARAJAS, JJ.

OPINION

BARAJAS, Justice.

This is an appeal from a conviction for aggravated possession of marihuana in an amount over 200 pounds. Trial was by jury. Upon a finding of guilty, the jury assessed punishment at life imprisonment in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and a fine of $100,000. In a single point of error, Appellant attacks the judgment of conviction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

I. SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE

The record establishes that at approximately 7:45 a.m. on March 30, 1988, Appellant, David Rodriguez Leyva, a/k/a/ David Leyva Rodriguez, was traveling eastbound on Texas Highway 90 in Brewster County, Texas, driving a pickup truck hauling a stock trailer loaded with calves. Appellant was observed by Guillermo Morales, Jr., then an agent with the anti-smuggling unit of the United States Border Patrol, who was likewise traveling east on Highway 90. The record establishes that Agent Morales noticed that the calves in the stock trailer appeared to be standing higher in the trailer than customary and that he did not think that they were calves "with longer legs." A registration check was made on Appellant's vehicle which revealed Appellant's identity, the fact that he was a resident of Odessa, Texas as well as the fact that the pickup truck hauling the calves was registered to Appellant, David Leyva. Agent Morales further testified that as he continued eastbound on Highway 90 traveling in front of Appellant, he reduced his speed from approximately 40 or 45 m.p.h. to 20 to 25 m.p.h., and noticed that Appellant made no effort to pass until he began traveling too slowly. Agent Morales testified that after Appellant turned north onto Texas Highway 67 toward Fort Stockton, he made radio contact with Trooper Zeke Rodarte of the Texas Department of Public Safety, who along with another trooper was conducting a routine driver's license and safety equipment check southwest of Fort Stockton.

Trooper Rodarte was called as a witness to testify and stated that he had occasion to stop Appellant at the driver's license check, and having been previously advised about the suspicious behavior of Appellant as well as the curious nature of his load of calves, asked Appellant to produce his driver's license and proof of insurance. While waiting for the requested documents, a status check was conducted of Appellant which revealed the existence of outstanding traffic warrants. Consent to search was requested and obtained by Trooper Rodarte. ¹ The search ultimately revealed the existence of a false compartment in the trailer in which was located 316 pounds of marihuana. Trooper Rodarte further testified that a registration check of the stock trailer revealed that the trailer was not registered; however, the check did reveal that the stock trailer displayed fictitious license plates which were registered to David R. Leyva, an alias used by Appellant.

II. DISCUSSION

In his sole point of error, Appellant asserts that there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction of aggravated possession of marijuana in an amount in excess of 200 pounds. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court is constrained to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the judgment to determine whether any rational trier of fact could find the essential elements of the offense, as alleged in the application paragraph of the charge to the jury, 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); Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154, 159 (Tex.Crim.App.1991); Butler v. State, 769 S.W.2d 234, 239 (Tex.Crim.App.1989); Humason v. State, 728 S.W.2d 363, 366 (Tex.Crim.App.1987). The role of this Appellate Court is not to ascertain whether the evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Stoker v. State, 788 S.W.2d 1, 6 (Tex.Crim.App.1989), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 951, 111 S.Ct. 371, 112 L.Ed.2d 333 (1990). On review, this Court does not resolve any conflict in fact, weigh any evidence nor evaluate the credibility of any witnesses, and thus, the fact-finding results of a criminal jury trial will be given great deference. See Adelman v. State, 828 S.W.2d 418, 421 (Tex.Crim.App.1992); Matson v. State, 819 S.W.2d 839, 843 (Tex.Crim.App.1991); Bennett v. State, 831 S.W.2d 20 (Tex.App.--El Paso 1992, no pet.); Schofield v. State, 658 S.W.2d 209 (Tex.App.--El Paso 1983, no pet.). Instead, it is this Court's duty only to determine if both the explicit and implicit findings of the trier of fact are rational by viewing all the evidence admitted at trial in a light most favorable to the verdict. Adelman, 828 S.W.2d at 421-22. In so doing, any inconsistencies in the evidence will be resolved in favor of the verdict. Matson, 819 S.W.2d at 843, quoting Moreno v. State, 755 S.W.2d 866, 867 (Tex.Crim.App.1988).

In the instant case, the application paragraph of the charge instructed the jury to find Appellant guilty only if they believed beyond a reasonable doubt that:

DAVID RODRIGUEZ LEYVA, A/K/A DAVID LEYVA RODRIGUEZ, did intentionally or knowingly possess a usable quantity of marihuana of two thousand (2000) pounds or less but more than two hundred pounds (200).... ²

In order to support a conviction for unlawful possession of marihuana, there must be evidence that the accused: (1) exercised care, control or management over the contraband; and (2) knew the substance possessed was contraband. See Garcia, slip op. at 7 and citations therein. In that regard, the State's evidence must affirmatively link the accused to the contraband. That affirmative link may be accomplished by establishing facts and circumstances from which a reasonable inference indicates the existence of such knowledge and control. See Dubry v. State, 582 S.W.2d 841, 843 (Tex.Crim.App.1979).

We have carefully reviewed the record, and find, as noted above, that the evidence illustrates that in the morning hours of March 30, 1988, Border Patrol Agent Morales, assigned to the anti-smuggling unit and driving an unmarked vehicle, detected Appellant pulling a trailer loaded with calves, in which calves in the front of the trailer were standing taller than those in the rear. A registration check revealed Appellant, David Leyva, was the registered owner of the pickup truck hauling the trailer. Agent Morales stated that as he passed Appellant, Appellant continued to look at him, finding those actions odd. Appellant was stopped at a routine driver's license and safety equipment checkpoint by troopers of the Texas Department of Public Safety, who having been previously informed by Agent Morales of Appellant's suspicious behavior as well as the suspicious load in the trailer, requested production of the required driver license and proof of insurance. The record further establishes that Trooper Zeke Rodarte detected Appellant as becoming increasingly nervous and thus requested a status-and-wanted to check on Appellant and that Appellant was...