Teeter v. State, No. 05-06-00309-CR (Tex. App. 2/20/2007), 05-06-00309-CR.
| Decision Date | 20 February 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-06-00309-CR.,05-06-00309-CR. |
| Parties | BRYAN DEAN TEETER, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
On Appeal from the 86th District Court, Kaufman County, Texas, Trial Court Cause No. 21727.
Affirmed as Modified.
Before Justices MORRIS, LANG, and LANG-MIERS.
Bryan Dean Teeter appeals the trial court's judgments convicting him of sixteen counts of endangering a child. The jury found Teeter guilty of seventeen counts of endangering a child and assessed his punishment for each count at two years of confinement, which was probated for four years, and a $5,000 fine. Subsequently, the trial court granted Teeter's motion for new trial with regard to count sixteen.
Teeter raises four issues on appeal arguing: (1) the evidence is legally insufficient; (2) the evidence is factually insufficient; (3) the trial court erred when it admitted the videotape into evidence; and (4) the trial court erred when it admitted evidence relating to the contents of his vehicle. We conclude the evidence is legally and factually sufficient. Also, we conclude the trial court did not err when it admitted the videotape and evidence relating to the contents of Teeter's vehicle. The trial court's judgments are modified to reflect that the applicable statute for the offense is section 22.041(c) of the Texas Penal Code. The trial court's judgments are affirmed as modified.
Teeter was a school bus driver for the Kaufman Independent School District (K.I.S.D.). He began driving school bus no. 5 in February 2002. The children on Teeter's route characterized him as a very careful bus driver who never missed a stop.
On August 20, 2002, at the beginning of the school year, Teeter drove school bus no. 5. Before Teeter left the school bus lot to pick the children up at school, Gale Moericke, the shop foreman, saw Teeter on the school bus and noticed Teeter looked a "little different." When the children boarded the school bus, they observed that Teeter was acting out of character. Preston G. stated that usually, Teeter required the children to sit in assigned seats, but on this day, he just told them to find a seat. Also, Jessica J. stated that normally, when they got on the school bus Teeter greeted them by name, but on August 20, 2002, Teeter did not greet them. The videotape recorded routinely to monitor activity on the school bus revealed that after picking the youngest children up from school and, while driving to the older children's school, Teeter stated he was "completely confused," the road construction was "driving [him] up the wall," and he had effectuated a "curb check" or hit the curb. Also, when Teeter picked up some of the older children, one of the people who helps load the children on the bus complained to Teeter the children had been out of school for fifty minutes. Although Teeter normally did not yell, Alicia H., Preston G., Jason G., Tiffany G., Jessica J., and Claudia G. stated Teeter's voice was loud or he was yelling. Rebecca C., Justin H., Claudia G., and Cody B. stated Teeter's speech was slurred or "weird." Also, Teeter stopped the school bus four or five times to yell at the children. Alicia H., Preston G., Jason G., Thomas M., Tiffany G., Jessica J., and Cody B. observed that Teeter was driving very fast. Jessica J. stated that things seemed to pass by faster than usual and Jason G. stated the trees seemed to go by fast. Jason G. and Cody B. observed the school bus engine roared louder than usual, and Cody B. saw the speedometer indicated they were traveling 70-75 miles per hour. During the bus ride, Thomas M., Justin H., Jessica J., Claudia G., and Cody B. noticed the school bus went off the road. Thomas M., Tiffany G., Claudia G., and Cody B. noticed the school bus swerved from side to side. Jessica J. and Claudia G. observed that the school bus crossed the center line in the road. Alicia H., Preston G., Rebecca C., Thomas M., and Tiffany G. commented that when Teeter drove around a corner, he did not slow down and the school bus almost "flipped" over. Anthony B., Preston G., Jason G., Rebecca C., Thomas M., Justin H., Tiffany G., Jessica J., Claudia G., Cody B. observed that Teeter smelled of alcohol. Anthony B., Jason G., and Tiffany G. observed that Teeter was carrying a Coca-Cola bottle that smelled of alcohol. Anthony B. and Jason G. saw that the Coca-Cola bottle contained a clear, yellow liquid. Justin H. noticed Teeter had to lean against the seats to maintain his balance when he walked up and down the aisle of the school bus yelling at the children.
When only a few children remained on the school bus, Teeter missed a turn. The children called out for Teeter to stop, but he did not. When Teeter attempted to back the school bus up and turn it around, the school bus hit tree branches, which entered into the bus through the open windows. Then, the school bus went into a ditch. At this point, Anthony B., Cody B., Jason G., Alexandria G., Barbara G., Alicia H., Justin H., Christina J., and Jessica J. got off the school bus and walked approximately a mile home.
Meanwhile, Garland Willis, transportation custodial director for K.I.S.D., received a telephone call from a woman complaining that school bus no. 5 had run her off the road. Then, Willis received several other telephone calls from people who were concerned that the driver of school bus no. 5 was drunk. Willis attempted to contact Teeter over the two-way radio, but Teeter did not respond. Also, Jeri Ann Campbell, assistant principal of Kaufman High School, met with a woman who had driven to the school to complain school bus no. 5 had run her off of the road.
Willis told John Hughes, the driver of school bus no. 9, to wait for Teeter because Willis did not want Teeter to leave. Hughes waited in the parking lot and saw Teeter return. Teeter had difficulty making the turn from the road into the parking lot and just missed hitting the gate at the entrance. Hughes called out for Teeter to stop because Teeter was about to drive school bus no. 5 into school bus no.18. Teeter stopped school bus no. 5 in front of the "bus barn." Hughes walked to school bus no. 5 and Teeter opened the door. Hughes smelled the strong odor of alcohol and Teeter told Hughes he had been drinking. As Teeter was exiting school bus no. 5, he stumbled. Hughes grabbed Teeter, held him up, and helped him walk to Moericke's office because at least one person complaining about school bus no. 5 was in Willis's office. Hughes seated Teeter on a couch in the office and told him to wait for Willis. Then, Hughes asked Teeter for the keys to Teeter's truck because he was afraid Teeter might try to drive. Teeter gave Hughes his keys. Hughes could not recall whether he gave the keys to Willis or Moericke.
Moericke saw Hughes helping Teeter into his office. He went into his office and asked Teeter what was happening. Teeter did not respond. Moericke observed that Teeter "did not look good," his eyes were bloodshot and "blurry looking," and he smelled of alcohol. Moericke believed Teeter was intoxicated. Then, Moericke left his office.
Willis followed Hughes and Teeter into the office. Willis smelled the odor of hard alcohol on Teeter. For three to five minutes, Willis questioned Teeter about his actions. Teeter sat slumped on the couch looking at Willis with "slobber running out the sides of his mouth." Teeter mumbled and gestured with his hands, but his words were so slurred Willis could not understand what Teeter was saying. Willis told Teeter he was fired, even though he did not have the authority to terminate Teeter's employment. After Teeter left the office, Willis retrieved the videotape from the locked video recorder on school bus no. 5 and placed it in his desk.
As Hughes was driving away from the school bus lot, he saw Teeter walking down the street. When Teeter turned to see who was driving behind him, he stumbled and sat down in the grass. Hughes told Teeter to get into his truck, but Teeter refused. Hughes insisted and helped Teeter up off the grass and into his truck. Hughes observed that Teeter smelled of alcohol and the odor was stronger than it had been when he helped Teeter off the school bus. Teeter wanted to go to his mother's house and gave Hughes directions. Teeter's directions were not very good and Hughes had to turn around one time. When they neared Teeter's mother's house, Teeter told Hughes to pull his truck off the road. Teeter pointed to the third house down the street and indicated it was his mother's house. Teeter got out of the truck and walked to his mother's house. Hughes observed that Teeter was walking all over the road. It took him five minutes to reach his mother's house. The next morning, Teeter checked himself into the hospital where he was treated for "over-drinking," and mental and emotional distress.
On August 21, 2002, based on Willis's recommendation, Teeter's employment was officially terminated. Then, Willis contacted Debbie Nixon, Chief of Police for K.I.S.D. After obtaining Willis's statement and the videotape, Chief Nixon began investigating the previous day's events relating to school bus no. 5. Chief Nixon watched the videotape, but returned it to Willis to see if he could identify the children on the school bus. Willis watched the videotape to see if he could identify the children, fast-forwarding portions of it, and returned it to Chief Nixon after about an hour. While at the school bus lot, Chief Nixon observed Teeter's truck was still parked on school property. She noticed that inside Teeter's truck was a bucket containing open alcohol containers. The bucket contained one 750 ml bottle of sour mash whiskey, one empty 750 ml bottle of bourbon, one 12 oz. bottle of Michelob Lite beer, and eleven 12 oz. bottles of Bud Ice ale.
Teeter was indicted...
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