Wyatt v. State

• Decision Date: 10 May 1978
• Docket Number: No. 54462,No. 1,54462,1
• Citation: 566 S.W.2d 597
• Parties: Bobby Ray WYATT, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 597

566 S.W.2d 597

Bobby Ray WYATT, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 54462.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas,Panel No. 1.

May 10, 1978.

Rehearing en banc Denied June 14, 1978.

Jake C. Cook, Court Appointed, Fort Worth, for appellant.

Tim Curry, Dist. Atty., Marvin Collins and Ronald G. Knight, Asst. Dist. Attys., Fort Worth, for the State.

Before DOUGLAS, PHILLIPS and W. C. DAVIS, JJ.

OPINION

PHILLIPS, Judge.

This is an appeal from a conviction for aggravated robbery. V.T.C.A., Penal Code, Sec. 29.03. Punishment was assessed by the court at 20 years' imprisonment.

The evidence adduced at trial revealed that on January 26, 1975, at 9:30 p. m., Betty Andrews, the night manager of a Quik Sak convenience store in Fort Worth, was robbed of $150.00. Andrews testified that at the time of the robbery she was talking to a regular customer, Gregg Johanson. The appellant, accompanied by four others, entered the store carrying a flashlight. The appellant and one other man stated in unison, "Is this y'all's flashlight?" Johanson stated that the flashlight was his and when he reached out, one of the men who had accompanied the appellant grabbed Johanson's arm and placed a gun to his head. Johanson was instructed to lay on the floor facing away from the activity. The man with the gun demanded the money from witness Andrews and she stated, "It's in the register." The appellant then took the cash drawer out of the cash register and they left.

In his first ground of error, the appellant contends that the trial court erred in failing to suppress the in-court identification and all evidence of a lineup because such lineup was held without an attorney representing the appellant. At the motion to suppress hearing it was established that the appellant was arrested January 29, 1975. On January 30, at 8:35 a. m., the appellant was given a magistrate's warning and signed a printed form acknowledging same. The lineup was held the same day at approximately 1:40 p. m., without counsel at which time Betty Andrews identified the appellant. On January 31, at 11:09 a. m., a formal complaint was filed charging the appellant with aggravated robbery. Appellant was subsequently indicted on February 25.

The appellant contends that the lineup was held after he had been charged with aggravated robbery and he was therefore entitled to counsel pursuant to the case of Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972). In Kirby, the United States Supreme Court held that a lineup after arrest, but before the initiation of any adversary criminal proceedings, is not a criminal proceeding where the accused as a matter of absolute right is entitled to counsel. Lane v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 506 S.W.2d 212; Gillon v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 491 S.W.2d 893; Ellingsworth v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 487 S.W.2d 108.

In support of his contention, appellant relies upon the printed magistrate's form, which reads, in part: "You are charged with the offense of Aggravated Robbery." Appellant asserts that this amounted to the initiation of adversary criminal proceedings sufficient to invoke the appellant's right to counsel under Kirby. However, the sentence immediately following the one relied upon by the appellant states: "An affidavit charging you with this offense (has not) been filed in this court."

It is clear that the form signed and relied upon by the appellant is simply an acknowledgment that a magistrate's warning was given pursuant to Article 15.17, V.A.C.C.P. ¹ We cannot conclude that informing a defendant of the accusation against him constitutes the initiation of adversary criminal procedures. Consequently, in the instant case, the lineup was investigatory in nature and not accusatory. It was conducted prior to any arraignment, indictment, or formal charges being brought against him, and the appellant was not entitled to counsel as a matter of absolute right. Brown v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 513 S.W.2d 35; Winn v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 503 S.W.2d 816.

Even if it could be argued that formal charges had been filed prior to the lineup, no reversible error would be presented. The record reflects that Andrews' in-court identification of the appellant was of independent origin based on her observations of the appellant at the Quik Sak convenience store and not tainted by the lineup. Ragon v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 506 S.W.2d 214; Nichols v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 511 S.W.2d 269; Beaupre v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 526 S.W.2d 811. Appellant's ground of error one is overruled.

In his second ground of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in failing to suppress the identification of appellant by witness Andrews because such evidence was obtained as the result of an illegal arrest. Appellant bases his contention that the arrest was illegal on the following testimony by Officer V. T. Sommers elicited at the punishment stage of the trial:

"Q Did you have anything to do with his arrest?

"A No, sir.

"Q Did you have anything to do with the preparation of this case?

"A Yes, sir.

"Q That is the Robbery Case?

"A Yes, sir, I did.

"Q Are you familiar with the underlying facts in it?

"A Yes, to some degree.

"Q Is it true that he was picked up on suspicion of burglary first by the Police?

"A Yes, that's right.

"Q And did you talk to him or go out to his house with them?

"A No, sir, I did not.

"Q Was there a warrant out for his arrest at that time?

"A Not to my knowledge.

"Q You don't know of any reason of your own knowledge then why he was arrested, is that right?

"A That would be right, yes, sir.

"Q You had no personal knowledge of any probable cause to arrest him of your own knowledge, is that correct, for the burglary?

"A No, I don't know."

Contrary to appellant's contention that this testimony reflects no probable cause for the appellant's arrest, we view Officer Sommers' testimony as merely reflecting that he did not have personal knowledge of any probable cause. We cannot conclude that this testimony affirmatively demonstrates that there was no probable cause for appellant's arrest.

Even if we assume the arrest was illegal, we still conclude no error is shown. Betty Andrews testified unequivocally that her identification was a result of having seen the appellant over a period of several minutes at the time of the offense. Witness Andrews related that the lineup did not aid her in-court identification in any way and stated, "I remember his face. I'll never forget it." In the case of Johnson v. State, 496 S.W.2d 72, this Court was presented with an analogous situation and held:

"Since it is appellant's contention that the photograph was, in fact, the fruit of the poisonous tree, we conclude that identification testimony would have been obtained regardless by means sufficiently distinguishable from the underlying illegality to be purged of the primary taint. See Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). The appellant would not have remained unidentified 'but for' the photograph taken. See Wong Sun v. United States, supra; Santiago v. State, 444 S.W.2d 758, 761 (Tex.Cr.App.1969). Cf. Noble v. State, 478 S.W.2d 83 (Tex.Cr.App.1972)."

Similarly, in the instant case, the identification of the appellant by Betty Andrews would have been obtained by means sufficiently distinguishable from the illegal arrest to be purged of the primary taint. Johnson v. State, supra; Lujan v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 428 S.W.2d 336; cf. Writt v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 541 S.W.2d 424. Appellant's contention is overruled.

In his ground of error three, appellant contends that the trial court erred in allowing the State to bolster Betty Andrews' in-court identification by showing her prior lineup identification of appellant. After witness Andrews identified appellant at trial, the State was allowed to elicit testimony that she had identified the appellant at a prior lineup, over defense objection. In Lyons v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 388 S.W.2d 950, this Court held:

"It is the rule that while a witness who has identified her assailant at the trial may testify that she also identified him while he was in custody of the police, others may not bolster her unimpeached testimony by corroborating the fact that she did identify him."

In the instant case, Betty Andrews was the only witness to testify concerning her pretrial identification of the appellant and, as such, her testimony was admissible. See Adams v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 514 S.W.2d 262; Jackson v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 507 S.W.2d 231; Smith v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 520 S.W.2d 383. Appellant's third ground of error is overruled.

In his ground of error four, appellant contends that the prosecution in the present case was in violation of a plea bargain agreement and that the imposition of a 20 year sentence was, in essence, a penalty for the exercise of his right to appeal in violation of due process principles as expressed in North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969). In order to clearly understand appellant's contention, the facts underlying his original plea bargain must be examined.

On December 4, 1974, the appellant pled guilty in Trial Cause No. 74-10-02420 to the offense of robbery and received a 10 year probated sentence. Subsequently, the appellant was indicted for forgery, Trial Cause No. 3201, and for the present aggravated robbery case. It was agreed by the State and the appellant that, in exchange for the appellant's plea of guilty to the forgery case and his plea of true to a revocation of the robbery probation, the State would recommend a 10 year sentence in each case and hold the present aggravated robbery case in abeyance pending the appellant's filing a frivolous appeal brief with this Court in each case. ² The State agreed to dismiss the present aggravated robbery case after those appeals were affirmed. Thus, a condition precedent to any contractual duty of the State to dismiss was the affirmance of the convictions.

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