Miles v. State

• Decision Date: 28 February 1996
• Docket Number: No. 71742,71742
• Citation: 918 S.W.2d 511
• Parties: Laquan Cameron MILES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 511

918 S.W.2d 511

Laquan Cameron MILES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 71742.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas,

En Banc.

Feb. 28, 1996.

Hoagie L. Karels, John M. Hurley, Waco, for appellant.

Crawford Long, Mark E. Parker, Assistant Dist. Attys., Waco, Robert A. Huttash, State's Atty., Austin, for State.

OPINION

MALONEY, Judge.

Appellant, Laquan Cameron Miles, was convicted of capital murder committed in August, 1991. TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.03(a). During the punishment phase the jury affirmatively answered the special issues set forth in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 37.071(b). The trial judge sentenced appellant to death as required by Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 37.071(e). Direct appeal is automatic. TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 37.071(h). We will reverse and remand appellant's conviction.

Appellant presents twenty-one points of error and challenges the sufficiency of the evidence at both stages of trial. We will address the sufficiency of the evidence at the guilt/innocence stage first.

In points ten through twelve, appellant alleges that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdict of guilt on each of three grounds, that he intentionally: 1) caused the deaths of Oscar Rose and Jackie Mayberry, 2) caused the death of Oscar Rose in the course of committing or attempting to commit robbery, and 3) caused the death of Oscar Rose in the course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping. Furthermore, appellant claims that the evidence is especially insufficient "when the hearsay statement of Tyrone Holden to Robert Louis Peterson is excluded."

We first note that in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, "the appellate court must look at all the evidence, whether properly or improperly admitted." Alexander v. State, 866 S.W.2d 1, 3 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1869, 128 L.Ed.2d 490 (1994). In the event a portion of the evidence was erroneously admitted, the accused may complain on appeal of such error. Thomas v. State, 753 S.W.2d 688, 695 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). The admission of inadmissible evidence is considered trial error and thus the proper remedy is to reverse the conviction and remand for a new trial. See Beltran v. State, 728 S.W.2d 382, 389 (Tex.Crim.App.1987). But jurors do not act irrationally in taking such evidence into account, since they are bound to receive the law from the trial judge. Thomas, 753 S.W.2d at 695. All evidence which the trial judge has ruled admissible may therefore be weighed and considered by the jury, and a reviewing court is obligated to assess the jury's factual findings from this perspective. Id. Accordingly, Holden's statement is properly included in the evaluation of the sufficiency of the evidence.

Reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, the following facts are established. On July 2, 1991, Theodore Myles bought appellant a nine-millimeter Tech 9 gun at appellant's request. Giving appellant the weapon immediately after its purchase, Myles noted that appellant referred to the gun as his "baby." On August 23, 1991, around 10:30 p.m., victims Oscar Rose and Jackie Mayberry took Rose's car to a car wash.

In the early morning hours of August 24, 1991, Donna Heitmiller heard gunshots fired near her home. ¹ After a second set of shots heard minutes after the first shots, Heitmiller heard two cars racing on the gravel road in front of her house.

On his way home from work on August 26, 1991, Nick Garcia discovered two bodies in a ditch near the gravel bridge running over the creek which flows near the Heitmiller home. The bodies were later identified as those of Rose and Mayberry.

According to the medical examiner, the bodies had been in the August heat for at least a couple of days prior to discovery. Examination revealed Rose had sustained two gunshot wounds ² to the back of the head and a shotgun blast to the chest, each of which was fatal in and of itself. Mayberry had sustained a shotgun blast to his head which took off a good portion of his skull.

On September 20, 1991, Houston Officer Nolan Chaline stopped appellant driving a Buick Regal. ³ On running a check of the license plates, the officer found the plates to be registered to a Chrysler. A check of the vehicle identification number revealed that the Regal was owned by Oscar Rose and was the subject of investigation by the Waco authorities in connection with a homicide investigation. An inventory search of the car uncovered a Tech 9 nine-millimeter gun registered to Theodore Myles. Ballistics examination positively identified the weapon as having fired the two rounds discovered at the scene of the Waco homicide a month earlier.

Robert Peterson related a story to the jury that his friend Tyrone Holden ⁴ had told him in late August, 1991. ⁵ Holden told Peterson that he had traveled to Waco with Tyrone Mitchell and appellant. Along the way, they picked up a fourth person and the four ended up at a car wash where two men (later identified as the victims Rose and Mayberry) were washing a Buick Regal. Holden claimed that the other three drew guns on Rose and Mayberry and tried to get Holden to place the victims in the truck of Rose's Regal. Holden refused so the others proceeded to force the victims into the trunk of the car.

Appellant and the fourth person then got into the Regal while Mitchell and Holden got into Mitchell's Oldsmobile. The two cars were then driven to "something like a ditch ... where some water was" and Holden watched while appellant and the fourth person took the victims out of the trunk of the Buick and made them get to their knees. Appellant and the fourth man then executed them and dumped their bodies into the ditch. The four then got back into their respective vehicles and went to a local residence to drop off the Oldsmobile and the fourth person. Appellant, Mitchell, and Holden then all got into the Regal and returned to Houston.

Throughout his recitation to Peterson, Holden maintained that he did not participate in any fashion. He also stressed that he was afraid of the others and the only reason that he got into a vehicle he knew to have been stolen was to return home to Houston.

Given the evidence, we hold that a rational trier of fact could have found appellant guilty of capital murder beyond a reasonable doubt under any of the theories alleged. Alexander supra. Points of error ten through twelve are overruled.

In point twenty-one, appellant alleges that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury's affirmative answer that appellant would be a danger in the future. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence at the punishment stage, this Court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether any rational trier of fact could make the finding beyond a reasonable doubt. Barnes v. State, 876 S.W.2d 316, 322 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 174, 130 L.Ed.2d 110 (1994).

The jury is permitted to look at several factors in its review of future dangerousness including, but not limited to:

1. the circumstances of the capital offense, including the defendant's state of mind and whether he was working alone or with other parties;

2. the calculated nature of the defendant's acts;

3. the forethought and deliberateness exhibited by the crime's execution;

4. the existence of a prior criminal record, and the severity of the prior crimes;

5. the defendant's age and personal circumstances at the time of the offense;

6. whether the defendant was acting under duress or the domination of another at the time of the offense;

7. psychiatric evidence; and

8. character evidence.

Barnes, supra; Keeton v. State, 724 S.W.2d 58, 61 (Tex.Crim.App.1987) ("Keeton I").

As related earlier, the facts of the instant case are those of calculation, forethought, and deliberateness. Apparently, not much time passed once the group arrived at the car wash, indicating that some thought had been given the plan before their arrival. In addition to the facts of the instant case, the State put on evidence of an armed robbery appellant participated in approximately one month after the events of this case.

In this subsequent robbery, appellant and another individual, Horace Crowley, went to the back door of Captain D's Seafood Restaurant about 10:30 on the morning of September 20, 1991. When their knock on the locked door was answered by the manager, Crowley put a gun to the manager's head and started backing him up into the restaurant. Appellant then pointed his gun on another employee in the restaurant and told him to get on the floor. As appellant checked to see if the safe was open, the manager bolted for the back door at which time appellant told Crowley to, "Shoot him, shoot that nigger," which Crowley did. Appellant then went back over to the employee, placed the gun behind his head, and asked him where the money was. When appellant was told there was no money, he cocked his gun. Crowley then told appellant to let him live and the two ran out the back door.

After the testimony concerning this robbery, the State called a psychologist, Dr. Grigson, who testified that appellant would be a continuing threat to society. He stated that his professional opinion was based upon his viewing appellant's videotaped confession of the Captain D's robbery. Dr. Grigson also testified that appellant had an antisocial personality disorder which could not be treated.

Finally, the State offered evidence of appellant's juvenile record which included showing possession of cocaine, violating the terms of his probation, and escaping from the Texas Youth Commission. Based upon the deliberateness of the instant offense; the fact that appellant committed an armed robbery less than a month after the commission of this offense; appellant's juvenile record; and the psychiatric testimony, we conclude that the evidence is sufficient to sustain an affirmative...