Jeremy Hernandez v. State ( 2016 )


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  • Affirmed and Memorandum Opinion filed August 9, 2016.
    In The
    Fourteenth Court of Appeals
    NO. 14-15-00341-CR
    JEREMY HERNANDEZ, Appellant
    V.
    THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
    On Appeal from the 180th District Court
    Harris County, Texas
    Trial Court Cause No. 1389372
    MEMORANDUM                     OPINION
    Jeremy Hernandez appeals his conviction for aggravated assault. See Tex.
    Penal Code Ann. §22.02(a)(1) (Vernon 2011). He contends the trial court abused
    its discretion by recessing the hearing on a motion to adjudicate guilt for 90 days
    after Texas Rule of Evidence 614 had been invoked. According to appellant, this
    recess allowed witnesses to confer in violation of Rule 614. We affirm.
    BACKGROUND
    Testimony during the hearing described the series of events underlying this
    appeal. The complainant, Rosalinda Alonzo, had been dating appellant on and off
    for several years when they went out on the evening of June 21, 2014. Appellant
    was on probation at the time for threating the complainant with a knife in May
    2013.    One of his probation terms required appellant to avoid contact with
    complainant.
    After drinks, the two went back to the complainant’s apartment and
    appellant passed out on the bathroom floor. The complainant then looked through
    appellant’s phone and saw he had communicated with her teenage niece on
    Facebook. She woke him up and told him to leave her apartment.
    The complainant’s daughter, Melissa Diaz, stayed at the complainant’s
    apartment that evening. Diaz was asleep when the complainant and appellant
    arrived; she woke up to the complainant screaming and yelling.           Diaz saw
    appellant asleep on the bathroom floor when she looked down the hallway. She
    heard the complainant yell at appellant because he had been communicating with
    the complainant’s teenage niece.
    Appellant got up from the bathroom floor and started arguing with the
    complainant; then he grabbed her hair and tried to hit her. Appellant hit Diaz twice
    in the face when she ran between them. Appellant said “don’t call the cops” and
    stated he knew what was going to happen. Diaz told him, “No one is going to call
    the cops if you just leave right now.” When appellant refused to leave, Diaz
    grabbed her phone and tried to go outside but appellant locked the apartment door.
    Appellant told Diaz and the complainant they could not leave and threatened to kill
    them. Diaz managed to unlock the door and flee when appellant was distracted.
    2
    The complainant also fled the apartment and called 9-1-1.           Appellant
    followed and hit the complainant while she was on the phone. Appellant did not
    stop hitting the complainant until the police arrived. Appellant then went back
    inside the complainant’s apartment.
    Diaz was in the front parking lot of the apartment complex when police
    arrived and directed police to the complainant’s apartment. The complainant was
    outside her apartment; she had blood on her shirt and her face, her face was red and
    slightly swollen, and her lip was injured. Paramedics treated her on the scene.
    Appellant was inside the apartment and opened the door when police knocked.
    Appellant appeared to be intoxicated but was not injured. Police took appellant
    into custody.
    The State filed a motion to adjudicate appellant’s guilt on June 30, 2014, and
    a hearing on the motion to adjudicate began on December 5, 2014. On direct
    examination, Diaz stated that she did not remember if she was struck with a slap or
    a punch.
    After Diaz’s direct examination concluded but before her cross-examination
    began, the trial court continued the hearing until December 15, 2014, so appellant’s
    trial counsel could obtain and review a written statement Diaz made to the police.
    On January 9, 2015, the hearing was reset again for February 6, 2015. On January
    26, 2015, the hearing was reset again for March 5, 2015.
    The hearing resumed on March 4, 2015. During cross-examination at the
    resumed hearing, Diaz stated that she was struck with a slap rather than a punch.
    After hearing evidence presented at the hearing, the trial court found that appellant
    violated the terms of his probation; adjudicated appellant’s guilt; and sentenced
    him to confinement for ten years. Appellant timely appealed.
    3
    ANALYSIS
    Appellant contends in his sole issue that the trial court abused its discretion
    by recessing proceedings on the motion to adjudicate his guilt for 90 days after
    (1) Texas Rule of Evidence 614 had been invoked; and (2) Diaz already had
    testified on direct examination.
    Rule 614 provides for the exclusion of witnesses from the courtroom during
    trial. See Tex. R. Evid. 614. This rule prevents the testimony of one witness from
    influencing the testimony of another. Russell v. State, 
    155 S.W.3d 176
    , 179 (Tex.
    Crim. App. 2005). Once Rule 614 is invoked, witnesses are instructed by the court
    that they cannot converse with one another or with any other person about the case
    except with court permission. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 36.06 (Vernon
    2007); 
    Russell, 155 S.W.3d at 180
    .
    Appellant contends the trial court violated Rule 614 when it continued the
    hearing after Diaz completed her testimony on direct examination. According to
    appellant, the 90-day recess allowed Diaz to confer with the complainant in
    violation of Rule 614 before the hearing resumed.
    We apply an abuse of discretion standard to review a trial court’s action
    under Rule 614. See Bell v. State, 
    938 S.W.2d 35
    , 50 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996);
    Martinez v. State, 
    186 S.W.3d 59
    , 65 (Tex. App.–Houston [1st Dist.] 2005, pet.
    ref’d). A Rule 614 violation does not result in automatic reversal. Webb v. State,
    
    766 S.W.2d 236
    , 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1989). Appellant also must show harm.
    See 
    Bell, 938 S.W.2d at 50
    ; Archer v. State, 
    703 S.W.2d 664
    , 666 (Tex. Crim. App.
    1986); Rodriguez v. State, 
    772 S.W.2d 167
    , 168-69 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th
    Dist.] 1989, pet. ref’d); Collins v. State, No. 14-13-00449-CR, 
    2014 WL 1778248
    ,
    at *3 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] May 1, 2014, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not
    designated for publication). Harm is established by showing that (1) the witness
    4
    actually conferred with or heard testimony of other witnesses, and (2) the witness’s
    testimony contradicted the testimony of a witness from the opposing side or
    corroborated testimony of a witness she had conferred with or heard. See 
    Bell, 938 S.W.2d at 50
    ; 
    Archer, 703 S.W.2d at 666
    ; Collins, 
    2014 WL 1778248
    , at *3.
    Appellant argues that, “although there is no direct evidence in the record that
    Complainant and Diaz actually conferred with one another, it would be
    unreasonable to presume that the mother and daughter had not discussed the case”
    while the hearing was recessed.       According to appellant, (1) “the trial court
    instructed the witnesses not to confer for a mere 10 days;” (2) the trial court “then
    granted continuances—none of which were requested by Appellant;” and (3) when
    Diaz resumed her testimony after the recess, she made an “unprompted partial
    recantation of the allegation that Appellant hit her with a closed fist.” Appellant
    contends this “partial recantation” is “indicative of her testimony having been
    influenced during that time.”      The State counters that appellant waived this
    complaint because he did not object in the trial court.
    To preserve an argument for appellate review, the record must show that
    appellant made a specific and timely objection in the trial court and the trial court
    ruled on the objection. See Tex. R. App. P. 33.1(a); Lovill v. State, 
    319 S.W.3d 687
    , 691 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009); Leal v. State, 
    469 S.W.3d 647
    , 649 (Tex. App.—
    Houston [14th Dist.] 2015, pet. ref’d). Here, appellant did not object to the 90-day
    recess of the hearing or to Diaz’s testimony after the recess. Further, appellant
    never objected to any continuances in the trial court. Therefore, appellant did not
    preserve his argument for appellate review. See 
    Lovill, 319 S.W.3d at 692
    ; 
    Leal, 469 S.W.3d at 649
    .
    Appellant contends he did not need to object below because the trial court’s
    error constituted a due process violation. Appellant cites Trifovesti v. State, 759
    
    5 S.W.2d 507
    (Tex. App.—Dallas 1988, pet. ref’d), to support an assertion that he
    can raise a due process complaint for the first time on appeal. Trifovesti does not
    support this assertion because the court held that, in order to preserve error for
    appeal, an appellant must have made “some type of due process objection at the
    time the trial court continued the hearing, at the time probation was actually
    revoked, or at the time sentence was imposed.” 
    Id. at 508.
    The appellant in
    Trifovesti made a timely and specific due process objection and therefore preserved
    error for appeal. 
    Id. (“We conclude
    that Trifovesti’s complaint, in the context that
    she made it, sufficiently apprised both the State and the court of her due process
    objection.”). Appellant raised no such complaint in the trial court.
    In any event, no blanket principle allows due process objections to be raised
    for the first time on appeal. See Clark v State, 
    365 S.W.3d 333
    , 340 (Tex. Crim.
    App. 2012) (“Appellant forfeited his denial-of-due-process claim by not properly
    preserving error at trial.”); Rogers v. State, 
    640 S.W.2d 248
    , 265 (Tex. Crim. App.
    [Panel Op.] 1981) (op. on second motion for reh’g) (procedural due process
    complaints are subject to waiver); Norton v. State, 
    434 S.W.3d 767
    , 772 (Tex.
    App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2014, no pet.) (concluding that appellant failed to
    preserve error because appellant did not voice her due process objection in the trial
    court); Kappel v. State, 
    402 S.W.3d 490
    , 496 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.]
    2013, no. pet.) (concluding that, because appellant failed to make a due process
    objection in the trial court, it was not preserved for appellate review).
    Even assuming for argument’s sake that appellant preserved his argument
    for appeal, it is without merit.
    The record does not support appellant’s contention that “the trial court
    instructed the witnesses not to confer for a mere 10 days.” At the December 5,
    2014 hearing, the State could not produce Diaz’s written statement to police for
    6
    appellant’s cross-examination of Diaz. The trial court stated that appellant was
    “entitled to [the statement] for cross-examination,” recessed the hearing, and
    instructed the witnesses as follows:
    THE COURT: We are going to continue this hearing. At this point it
    looks like we will continue it on December the 15th. Ma’am, you are
    ordered to return on December 15th to continue your testimony.
    *                  *                  *
    THE COURT: Okay, folks, you-all have been sworn in as witnesses.
    To address other legal matters, we are going to continue the hearing in
    about a week and a half.
    You are still under the Rule, as I explained before. What that
    means is that you are not allowed to discuss the subject matter of this
    hearing with anybody except the attorneys in the case. It means not
    discuss it amongst yourselves, with other people outside these
    proceedings, with the defendant, with anybody, all right? -- nobody,
    except the lawyers in the case. Does everybody understand that
    instruction?
    The witnesses responded, “Yes.” This instruction does not support appellant’s
    contention that the trial court placed a 10-day limit on its instruction telling the
    witnesses not to confer among themselves.
    The record also does not support appellant’s speculation that Diaz and her
    mother conferred during the recess. During the December 5, 2014 hearing, the
    State asked Diaz during direct examination: “Do you know if it was a slap or a
    punch?” Diaz answered that she did not remember whether she was struck with a
    slap or punch. When the hearing resumed on March 4, 2015, Diaz stated on cross-
    examination as follows: “Well, I said closed. I was mistaken. It had to have been
    an open because there really wasn’t that damage like my mother.” This testimony
    does not amount to a “partial recantation.” Nothing in the record indicates that the
    complainant and Diaz conferred during the recess. Diaz testified at the March 4,
    2015 hearing that she had not talked to her mother about what happened.
    7
    Based on the record before us, there is no evidence that the complainant and
    Diaz conferred. Therefore, appellant cannot show harm. See 
    Bell, 938 S.W.2d at 50
    ; 
    Archer, 703 S.W.2d at 666
    .
    We overrule appellant’s sole issue.
    CONCLUSION
    We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
    /s/       William J. Boyce
    Justice
    Panel consists of Justices Boyce, Christopher and Jamison.
    Do Not Publish — Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).
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