Jose Manuel Nuncio v. State ( 2016 )


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  • Opinion issued December 8, 2016
    In The
    Court of Appeals
    For The
    First District of Texas
    ————————————
    NO. 01-16-00118-CR
    ———————————
    JOSE MANUEL NUNCIO, Appellant
    V.
    THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
    On Appeal from the County Criminal Court at Law No. 1
    Harris County, Texas
    Trial Court Case No. 2025967
    MEMORANDUM OPINION
    A jury convicted appellant, Jose Manuel Nuncio, of assaulting his common
    law wife, Damaris Lugo. In three issues, appellant argues that the trial court erred
    in admitting into evidence Lugo’s out-of-court statements to the 911 operator and
    to the responding officer because the statements were inadmissible, testimonial
    hearsay. We affirm.
    FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
    Lugo calls 911 to report assault by appellant
    In May 2015, Damaris Lugo placed a call to 911. Lugo told the operator
    that she had been hit by her husband, appellant, and that she had fled their house
    with their two children. Lugo said that she needed the police and gave the operator
    her current location, which was a few blocks away from her and appellant’s house.
    The operator then asked about appellant’s location and whether he was
    intoxicated, whether he had a history of mental illness, and whether he was armed.
    Lugo said that appellant was still at their house and gave the operator the address.
    Lugo told the operator that appellant was not armed and did not have a history of
    mental illness, but that he had been drinking.
    Deputy Alejandro Nieto was dispatched to the scene.
    Nieto arrives and questions Lugo
    Deputy Nieto responded to the dispatch around midnight. He met Lugo
    several blocks away from her house, where she sat in a parked car on the side of
    the road with her two children asleep in the backseat. Nieto thought that Lugo
    “looked pretty bad”—he noticed that she had fresh injuries to her face, including
    bruising under her left eye and a cut lip. He described her as scared and distraught.
    2
    Deputy Nieto asked Lugo whether she needed medical help and called EMS.
    Nieto then asked Lugo to tell him exactly what happened that evening. Lugo gave
    Nieto the following explanation:
     Around 7:40 that evening, appellant left his and Lugo’s home to go drink
    with friends at another house nearby.
     About an hour later, after several unsuccessful attempts to contact appellant,
    Lugo drove to the house. She asked him to pick up some water for their
    children and to return home. Appellant said he would be on his way.
     Around 10:45, appellant returned home without any water, and Lugo and
    appellant began to argue. As they argued, appellant became angry and
    began to assault Lugo, and Lugo tried to defend herself. Appellant slapped
    her, pushed her, grabbed her by the neck, pulled her by the hair, and
    punched her in the face. Lugo then packed some clothes and left the house
    with the children.
    After she finished explaining what had happened, Lugo told Nieto that she
    did not want to stay on the side of road in her hot car with her two children, but
    that she was afraid to return home to appellant.
    Tran arrives and photographs Lugo
    While Nieto was questioning Lugo, Deputy Mike Tran arrived at the scene
    to assist Nieto and photograph Lugo’s injuries. He observed that Lugo’s injuries
    appeared fresh, and that they were consistent with having been assaulted.
    Nieto and Tran question and arrest appellant
    After questioning and photographing Lugo, Nieto and Tran went to appellant
    and Lugo’s home, where they found appellant asleep.         Nieto and Tran woke
    3
    appellant and began to question him. As Nieto and Tran questioned appellant, they
    noticed that he appeared intoxicated, and that he had defensive wounds on his
    forearms and wrists.
    Appellant told Nieto and Tran that he and Lugo had gotten into an argument
    and that they had pushed each other. When asked about the injuries to Lugo’s
    face, appellant responded that Lugo “must have hit the door or something.”
    Appellant did not give any other explanation of what happened to Lugo’s face.
    Finding appellant’s statement inconsistent with Lugo’s injuries, Nieto arrested
    appellant and called the District Attorney’s office for charges of domestic violence.
    The State charged appellant with assault of a family member.
    Appellant is tried and convicted
    At trial, the State’s evidence included a taped recording of Lugo’s call to
    911, the testimony of Deputy Nieto, the testimony of Deputy Tran, the photographs
    of Lugo’s injuries taken by Tran, and a patient care report prepared by EMS
    personnel. The State was unable to secure the testimony of Lugo, and, therefore,
    did not offer her testimony.
    During the State’s case-in-chief, appellant objected to the admission of the
    911 tape on Confrontation Clause and hearsay grounds.1 The trial court overruled
    1
    Appellant also objected to the admission of the 911 tape in a pre-trial motion to
    suppress.
    4
    appellant’s objections and admitted the recording into evidence. Appellant also
    objected to Nieto testifying about the statements Lugo made to him on the evening
    of the assault, again on Confrontation Clause and hearsay grounds. The trial court
    again overruled appellant’s objections and permitted the State to question Nieto
    about what Lugo told him the night of the assault.
    During his case-in-chief, appellant testified on his own behalf. Appellant
    denied that he had assaulted Lugo. He claimed that she received her injuries in a
    four-wheeling accident the day before the incident. He admitted, however, that he
    did not tell Deputies Nieto and Tran that Lugo had been in a four-wheeling
    accident when they questioned him about her injuries.
    Lugo testified on appellant’s behalf. Appellant’s counsel questioned Lugo
    about both her statements to the 911 operator and her statements to Deputy Nieto.
    Lugo testified that she had lied to the 911 operator and to Deputy Nieto. She said
    that appellant did not actually hit her, and that she received her injuries in a four-
    wheeling accident.
    Lugo further testified that, on the night of the assault, she and appellant had
    been arguing because appellant had arrived home late from his friend’s house
    without any water for their children, and because she had discovered that appellant
    had had an affair.2 She said that she asked appellant to leave their house, but that
    2
    Appellant never mentioned that Lugo had been mad at him for having an affair.
    5
    he refused, so she decided to leave instead. Lugo testified that she told the 911
    operator and Deputy Nieto that appellant had hit her because she wanted appellant
    out of the house, and because she was angry with appellant about the affair and
    wanted to get back at him.
    The jury returned a guilty verdict, and the trial court sentenced appellant to
    one year in jail probated for one year and a fine of $500. Appellant timely
    appealed.
    ISSUES
    In three issues, Appellant argues that the trial court erred in admitting into
    evidence Lugo’s out-of-court statements to the 911 operator and to Deputy Nieto
    because the statements were inadmissible under the Confrontation Clause and
    under the rule against hearsay.
    ANALYSIS
    Confrontation Clause
    Appellant contends that Lugo’s out-of-court statements to the 911 operator
    and to Deputy Nieto were inadmissible under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth
    Amendment to the United States Constitution. The State, in response, contends
    that the admission of Lugo’s out-of-court statements did not violate the
    Confrontation Clause because Lugo testified at trial.
    6
    1.     Standard of Review and Applicable Law
    We review de novo the trial court’s constitutional legal ruling that the
    admission of the complainant’s out-of-court statements did not violate the
    Confrontation Clause. Zapata v. State, 
    232 S.W.3d 254
    , 257 (Tex. App.—Houston
    [1st Dist.] 2007, pet. ref’d); Cook v. State, 
    199 S.W.3d 495
    , 497 (Tex. App.—
    Houston [1st Dist.] 2006, no pet.).
    The Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause guarantees that, “[i]n all
    criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to be confronted with
    the witnesses against him . . . .” U.S. CONST. amend. VI. Its main purpose is to
    afford the defendant “the opportunity of cross-examination because that is ‘the
    principal means by which the believability of a witness and the truth of his
    testimony are tested.’” Johnson v. State, 
    490 S.W.3d 895
    , 909 (Tex. Crim. App.
    2016) (quoting Davis v. Alaska, 
    415 U.S. 308
    , 316 (1974)).3
    Under the Confrontation Clause, “‘the State may not introduce a testimonial
    hearsay statement unless (1) the declarant is unavailable to testify and (2) the
    defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the declarant.’” Trigo v. State,
    
    485 S.W.3d 603
    , 609 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2016, pet. ref’d) (quoting
    3
    See also Davis v. State, 
    169 S.W.3d 660
    , 673 n.2 (Tex. App.—Austin 2005), aff’d,
    
    203 S.W.3d 845
    (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (“The purpose of confrontation is to
    ensure reliability by means of the oath, to expose the witness to cross-examination,
    and to permit the trier of fact to assess credibility.”).
    7
    Lee v. State, 
    418 S.W.3d 892
    , 895 (Tex. App.–Houston [14th Dist.] 2013, pet.
    ref’d)). The Confrontation Clause has been held to apply only to the testimonial
    hearsay of witnesses who do not appear at trial. Davis v. Washington, 
    547 U.S. 813
    , 821 (2006); Wall v. State, 
    184 S.W.3d 730
    , 734 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006);
    
    Zapata, 232 S.W.3d at 258
    . Thus, if the witness “appears for cross-examination at
    trial, the Confrontation Clause places no constraints at all on the use of her prior
    testimonial statements.”    Eustis v. State, 
    191 S.W.3d 879
    , 886 (Tex. App.—
    Houston [14th Dist.] 2006, pet. ref’d) (citing California v. Green, 
    399 U.S. 149
    ,
    162 (1970)).4 “The Confrontational Clause does not bar admission of a statement
    so long as the declarant is present at trial to defend or explain it.” 
    Id. (citing Tennessee
    v. Street, 
    471 U.S. 409
    , 414 (1985)).
    2.    Analysis
    Lugo appeared and testified at trial. In fact, she was called as a witness by
    appellant and testified that she lied to the 911 operator and to Deputy Nieto. Thus,
    4
    See, e.g., Rice v. State, No. 09–14–00174–CR, 
    2016 WL 4040117
    , at *6 (Tex.
    App.—Beaumont July 27, 2016, no. pet.) (mem. op.) (holding no violation of
    Confrontation Clause occurred when defendant “had a full opportunity to question
    the informant regarding her telephone call with [the defendant] and any statements
    she made to the detective”); Herrera v. State, No. 05–11–00977–CR, 
    2012 WL 4748203
    , at *2 (Tex. App.—Dallas Oct. 5, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op.) (holding
    Crawford did not apply when the declarant “appeared, testified, and was subject to
    cross-examination by defense counsel”); Gomez v. State, 
    183 S.W.3d 86
    , 90–91
    (Tex. App.—Tyler 2005, no pet.) (holding Crawford did not bar officers from
    testifying about statements made to them by complainant when complainant “also
    testified, and Appellant had the opportunity to cross examine her”).
    8
    appellant was afforded the opportunity to examine Lugo about her out-of-court
    statements.   See 
    Johnson, 490 S.W.3d at 909
    .          Therefore, we hold that the
    admission of Lugo’s out-of-court statements did not violate the Confrontation
    Clause. See 
    Eustis, 191 S.W.3d at 886
    .
    Hearsay
    Appellant contends that Lugo’s out-of-court statements to the 911 operator
    and to Deputy Nieto were inadmissible hearsay. The State, in response, contends
    that the statements fell within the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule.
    3.      Standard of Review and Applicable Law
    We review the trial court’s ruling on the admissibility of evidence for an
    abuse of discretion. Weatherred v. State, 
    15 S.W.3d 540
    , 542 (Tex. Crim. App.
    2000). We must review the trial court’s ruling in light of the evidence before the
    trial court at the time the ruling was made. 
    Id. We will
    uphold the trial court’s
    ruling unless it falls outside the zone of reasonable disagreement. Id.; Cook v.
    State, 
    199 S.W.3d 495
    , 498 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2006, no pet.).
    Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter
    asserted. TEX. R. EVID. 801(d); Baldree v. State, 
    248 S.W.3d 224
    , 230–31 (Tex.
    App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2007, pet. ref’d). Hearsay statements are inadmissible,
    except as provided by statute or other rule. TEX. R. EVID. 802; 
    Baldree, 248 S.W.3d at 231
    .
    9
    Rule 803(2) of the Texas Rules of Evidence is such an exception. Under
    Rule 803(2), a hearsay statement is admissible if it qualifies as an “excited
    utterance.” TEX. R. EVID. 803(2). An “excited utterance” is a “statement relating
    to a startling event or condition, made while the declarant was under the stress of
    excitement that it caused.”      
    Id. “While time
    can certainly be a factor in
    determining an excited utterance, it is not dispositive.” 
    Cook, 199 S.W.3d at 498
    .
    “Rather, the critical consideration is ‘whether the declarant [is] still dominated by
    the emotions, excitement, fear or pain of the event.’” 
    Id. (quoting Zuliani
    v. State,
    
    97 S.W.3d 589
    , 596 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003)).
    4.     Analysis
    Lugo’s out-of-court statements to the 911 operator and to Deputy Nieto were
    offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Therefore, the statements were
    hearsay. TEX. R. EVID. 801(d). Thus, we must determine whether the statements
    fell within the excited utterance exception to the rule against hearsay.
    During her call to 911, Lugo told the operator that appellant had been “out of
    control” and had hit her and that she needed the police. And when Deputy Nieto
    arrived at the scene, he observed that Lugo was “very scared and distraught . . . .”
    From this the trial court could have reasonably concluded that Lugo’s statements to
    the 911 operator and to Deputy Nieto were made while she was “still dominated by
    the motions, excitement, fear or pain of the [assault].” 
    Cook, 199 S.W.3d at 498
    .
    10
    We hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the statements
    under the excited utterance exception to the rule against hearsay.
    CONCLUSION
    We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
    Sherry Radack
    Chief Justice
    Panel consists of Chief Justice Radack and Justices Jennings and Bland.
    Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
    11