Eric Calvin Tuazon v. the State of Texas ( 2023 )

REVERSE and REMAND and Opinion Filed February 23, 2023
S In The
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
No. 05-21-00251-CR
No. 05-21-00252-CR
No. 05-21-00253-CR
ERIC CALVIN TUAZON, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 416th Judicial District Court
Collin County, Texas
Trial Court Cause Nos. 416-80963-2020 and 416-83493-2020
OPINION
Before Justices Molberg, Reichek, and Garcia
Opinion by Justice Molberg
Appellant Eric Calvin Tuazon appeals judgments convicting him of unlawful
restraint of a person less than seventeen years of age and two counts of online
solicitation of a minor, imposing certain costs, and sentencing him to two years’
confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s (TDCJ’s) State Jail
Division on the unlawful restraint charge and to ten years’ confinement in TDCJ’s
Institutional Division on each of the two counts of online solicitation.1
1
See TEX. PENAL CODE §§ 20.02(a), 33.021(c).
Tuazon raises six issues on appeal. In his first two, he argues he was deprived
of certain rights under the United States Constitution, based on alternative theories
that (1) the trial court’s misstatements to the venire regarding reasonable doubt2
deprived him of due process under the Fifth Amendment or (2) his counsel’s failure
to object to such statements amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel under the
Sixth Amendment. He also argues the evidence was legally insufficient in certain
respects (third and fifth issues); the trial court committed charge error in the unlawful
restraint case (fourth issue); and the trial court erred in assessing costs (sixth issue).
We overrule the third and fifth issues, sustain the first issue, and need not address
the other issues. Because we conclude the trial court’s misstatements about
reasonable doubt deprived Tuazon of due process, required no trial objection, and
requires no analysis of harm on appeal, we reverse the judgments and remand each
case for a new trial.
I. DISCUSSION
A. Sufficiency of the Evidence
We begin with Tuazon’s third and fifth issues, in which he challenges the
sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions for the charged offenses.3 We
2
The trial court stated to the venire, without any objection:
There’s not really a good definition of reasonable doubt . . . one easy way to look at it is if
you think about a football field, if they can get that football, just the nose of it, over the 50-
yard line then they’ve met their burden . . . . [i]t’s just that little, tiny bit over the 50-yard
line . . . .
3
His third issue concerns online solicitation of a minor; his fifth issue concerns unlawful restraint.
–2–
do so because, if either of these two issues is sustained, acquittal on the respective
offense is required. See Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 18 (1978) (“Since . . . the
Double Jeopardy Clause precludes a second trial once a reviewing court has found
evidence legally insufficient, the only ‘just’ remedy available for that court is the
direction of a judgment of acquittal.”); Winfrey v. State, 393 S.W.3d 763, 774 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2013) (after concluding evidence was insufficient, court reversed
judgment of the court of appeals, rendered judgment of acquittal, and cited Burks as
requiring the remedy of appellate acquittal on grounds of evidentiary sufficiency).
When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we view all of the evidence
in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether any rational trier of
fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable
doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979); Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d
893, 899 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (plurality op.).
The factfinder is the sole judge of witness credibility and the weight to be
given testimony. See Martin v. State, 635 S.W.3d 672, 679 (Tex. Crim. App. 2021).
We may not re-evaluate the weight and credibility of the evidence or substitute our
judgment for that of the factfinder. Bohannan v. State, 546 S.W.3d 166, 178 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2017). “When the record supports conflicting inferences, we presume
that the factfinder resolved the conflicts in favor of the verdict, and we defer to that
determination.” Murray v. State, 457 S.W.3d 446, 448–49 (Tex. Crim. App. 2015).
–3–
In conducting our review, we consider “all evidence in the record of the trial,
whether it was admissible or inadmissible.” Winfrey, 393 S.W.3d at 767 (citations
omitted); see also Powell v. State, 194 S.W.3d 503, 507 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006)
(“[A] reviewing court is permitted to consider all evidence in the trial-court record,
whether admissible or inadmissible, when making a legal-sufficiency
determination.”).
1. Online Solicitation of a Minor
The State charged Tuazon with two counts of online solicitation of a minor,
alleging that on two dates,4 Tuazon did,
then and there, with the intent that [A.M.] . . . a minor, would engage
in sexual contact, and sexual intercourse, and deviate sexual
intercourse, with [Tuazon] the defendant, knowingly solicit over the
Internet and through a commercial online service, [A.M.] to meet
[Tuazon][.]
See TEX. PENAL CODE § 33.021(c).5
In his third issue, Tuazon argues the evidence was not legally sufficient to
convict him for either count because there is no evidence, or only a modicum of
evidence, that (1) he solicited A.M. to meet him, or, even if he did so, (2) that he
intended to engage in sexual activity with her that was illegal. In addition to arguing
4
The State alleged offenses on or about December 29, 2019 (Count I), and January 15, 2020 (Count
II).
5
See TEX. PENAL CODE § 33.021(c) (“A person commits an offense if the person, over the
Internet, . . . or through a commercial online service, knowingly solicits a minor to meet another person,
including the actor, with the intent that the minor will engage in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or
deviate sexual intercourse with the actor[.]”).
–4–
the transcripts of his online communications with A.M. do not reflect any solicitation
on his part and that A.M. testified the initial plan to meet was her idea, not his, he
argues his intent was not to have illegal sex with A.M., who was sixteen at the time,
because while the record reflects he and A.M. did have sex after meeting, they did
so not in Texas, but in Arkansas and Pennsylvania,6 states for which the trial court
took judicial notice that the age of consent is sixteen.
6
On cross-examination, A.M. testified:
[Tuazon’s counsel]: All right. Now . . . when – I’m not going to get into the details of the
sex that you had with [Tuazon], but suffice it to say, at the places where you engaged in
sexual intercourse with [him], it was legal, as far as you know, correct?
[A.M.] Yes.
[Tuazon’s counsel]: In fact, before engaging in it the very first time in Arkansas, he looked
it up, did he not?
[A.M.] He did.
[Tuazon’s counsel]: He wanted to make sure that he was not going to do something that
would be a crime with respect to you, correct?
[A.M.] Correct.
[Tuazon’s counsel]: And you also didn’t want him committing a crime, right?
[A.M.] Correct.
[Tuazon’s counsel]: And it was only after he looked it up and found that in Arkansas the
age of consent was 16 and you were 16, that the two of you engaged in consensual sex,
right?
[A.M.] Yes.
[Tuazon’s counsel]: And he’d already looked up in Pennsylvania. He knew the age of
consent was 16, right?
[A.M.] Yes.
[Tuazon’s counsel]: So suffice it to say, the sexual activities that you engaged with Eric
were all legal in the places where they occurred, correct?
[A.M.] Yes.
–5–
In his brief, Tuazon cites, among others, Ex parte Lo, 424 S.W.3d 10 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2013) (orig. proceeding), a case involving a charged offense under
section 33.021(b), which was determined to be unconstitutionally broad and is not
at issue here.7 In dicta, the court contrasted that section with section 33.021(c) and
stated the gravamen of a section 33.021(c) offense is “the conduct of requesting a
minor to engage in illegal sexual acts.” Id. at 17. The court also stated:
The intent expressed in the bill analyses, the committee hearings, and
the floor debate was that the crime of solicitation of a minor on the
internet is complete at the time of the internet solicitation, rather than
at some later time if and when the actor actually meets the child.
Id. at 23.
Consistent with Ex parte Lo’s description of section 33.021(c)’s legislative
history, see id., the State argues Tuazon’s plans about where he would ultimately
have sex with A.M. does not absolve him of criminal liability under section
33.021(c), when it makes no reference to the legality in other states of acts
constituting “sexual contact,” “sexual intercourse,” and “deviate sexual intercourse”
as defined in penal code section 21.01. See TEX. PENAL CODE § 33.021(a)(2) (stating
those phrases “have the meanings assigned by [penal code] Section 21.01”); see also
TEX. PENAL CODE § 21.01(1)–(3) (defining those terms).8
7
See Ex parte Lo, 424 S.W.3d at 27 (discussing section 33.021(b)’s overbreadth and holding that the
court of appeals erred in upholding the constitutionality of that section).
8
Penal code section 21.01 states, in part:
In this chapter:
–6–
The State cites, in part, Ex parte Zavala, 421 S.W.3d 227, 232 (Tex. App.—
San Antonio 2013, pet. ref’d), which states:
[I]t is the requirement that the defendant must solicit “‘with the intent
that the minor will engage in sexual contact’” that operates to make
otherwise innocent conduct, i.e., soliciting a minor to meet, into
criminal conduct. It follows then, that for purposes of a subsection (c)
solicitation offense, it does not matter what happens after the
solicitation occurs because the offense has been completed[.]
The latter statement is consistent with Ex parte Lo’s statement that “the crime
of solicitation of a minor on the internet is complete at the time of the internet
solicitation, rather than at some later time if and when the actor actually meets the
child.” 424 S.W.3d at 23. Those statements are also consistent with subsection (d),
which states, “It is not a defense to prosecution under [section 33.021(c)] that the
meeting did not occur.” See TEX. PENAL CODE § 33.021(d).
Thus, to the extent Tuazon does so, we reject any argument that the legality
of any later sex acts between Tuazon and A.M. in other states renders insufficient
the evidence of his requisite intent under section 33.021(c) at the time of solicitation.
(1) “Deviate sexual intercourse” means:
(A) any contact between any part of the genitals of one person and the mouth or
anus of another person; or
(B) the penetration of the genitals or the anus of another person with an object.
(2) “Sexual contact” means, except as provided by Section 21.11 or 21.12, any
touching of the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of another person with intent to
arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.
(3) “Sexual intercourse” means any penetration of the female sex organ by the male
sex organ.
–7–
As section 33.021(c) indicates, the pertinent inquiry is whether Tuazon solicited
A.M. online and whether, at the time he did so, he intended that A.M. engage in
sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse as defined therein.
See TEX. PENAL CODE § 33.021(a), (c); see also TEX. PENAL CODE § 21.01.
According to Tuazon, the evidence is legally insufficient because transcripts
of his online communications with A.M. do not reflect a solicitation to A.M. to meet;
A.M. testified the initial plan to meet was her idea, not his; and he lacked the
requisite intent because their later sex acts in other states were legal, when the age
of consent in those states was sixteen years of age.
We disagree and conclude the evidence was legally sufficient as to Tuazon’s
online solicitation of A.M. and as to his requisite intent at the time of solicitation
based on the record before us. A.M. testified she and Tuazon texted and talked
through a voice option on the Discord app, including about sexual things. The record
contains transcripts of Tuazon’s and A.M.’s messages through the Discord app on
various dates in December 2019 and January 2020, when A.M. was sixteen.
Although A.M. testified on cross-examination that the initial plan to meet was
her idea, not his, regardless of whose idea it was initially, in Tuazon’s messages to
A.M., he discussed ways A.M. could “sneak out[,]” suggested ways she should pack
her things, stated he was “proud” of her “for making plans,” told A.M. he would “be
there” on a specific day and time for “a date[,]” told A.M. she could “take a
[G]reyhound” to him if she was “desperate[,]” told A.M. he would “kidnap and save”
–8–
her, and, after she had previously changed her mind about their meeting, told A.M.
as they communicated about other plans to meet that he was just taking her on a date
and “[you’re] not allowed. To back out.” Also in his messages to A.M., among
other sexually explicit statements, Tuazon described multiple oral sex acts he and
A.M. would engage in with each other, referred to “a lazy life together” where they
could “[e]at, sleep, [and] fuck[,]” and told A.M. he would “rape” her, record it, make
her watch it, and would then “rape” her and record it again.
Based on the record before us, and viewing the evidence as we must, we
conclude there is legally sufficient evidence of Tuazon’s online solicitation of A.M.
to meet and of his intent that A.M. engage in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or
deviate sexual intercourse as those terms are defined in the statute because a rational
trier of fact could have found both elements beyond a reasonable doubt. See TEX.
PENAL CODE § 33.021(a), (c); see also TEX. PENAL CODE § 21.01; Jackson, 443 U.S.
at 319 (court views all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to
determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements
of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt); Brooks, 323 S.W.3d at 899 (same).
We overrule Tuazon’s third issue.
2. Unlawful Restraint
The penal code provides, “A person commits an offense if he intentionally or
knowingly restrains another person.” TEX. PENAL CODE § 20.02(a). “‘Restrain’
means to restrict a person’s movements without consent, so as to interfere
–9–
substantially with the person’s liberty, by moving the person from one place to
another or by confining the person.” TEX. PENAL CODE § 20.01(1). Among other
circumstances not pertinent here, restraint is “without consent” if it is accomplished
by
any means, including acquiescence of the victim, if . . . the victim is a
child who is 14 years of age or older and younger than 17 years of age,
the victim is taken outside of the state and outside a 120-mile radius
from the victim’s residence, and the parent, guardian, or person or
institution acting in loco parentis has not acquiesced in the movement
or confinement[.]
TEX. PENAL CODE § 20.01(1)(B)(ii).
Relying on that section, the State charged Tuazon by an indictment alleging
that on or about January 15, 2020, he,
did then and there intentionally and knowingly restrain by any means,
[A.M.], a child who was at least 14 years of age but younger than 17
years of age, including by [her] acquiescence, without her consent to
wit: by taking [A.M.] outside of the state and outside of a 120-mile
radius from her residence, and her parents had not acquiesced in the
movement, and [Tuazon] was more than three years older than
[A.M.].[9]
After he pleaded not guilty, the case was tried to a jury with the online
solicitation offenses. The jury unanimously found Tuazon guilty of the charged
9
See TEX. PENAL CODE § 20.02(e), which is not at issue here and which states:
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that:
(1) the person restrained was a child who is 14 years of age or older and younger than
17 years of age;
(2) the actor does not restrain the child by force, intimidation, or deception; and
(3) the actor is not more than three years older than the child.
–10–
offense, and consistent with the jury’s verdict, the trial court entered judgment
convicting him of the unlawful restraint offense, a state jail felony under the
circumstances.10
In his fifth issue, Tuazon argues there was legally insufficient evidence to
support the unlawful restraint conviction because there is no evidence he “interfered
substantially” with A.M.’s liberty, when A.M. testified she did not believe she was
being restrained and when Detective Roy Maxwell Winter testified as follows:
[Tuazon’s counsel]: Okay. And another element is interfering
substantially with a person’s liberty. You’re aware that’s an element?
[Detective Winter]: Yes.
[Tuazon’s counsel]: And that’s not part of the consent issue –
[Detective Winter]: Correct.
[Tuazon’s counsel]: -- are you aware of that?
[Tuazon’s counsel]: Once again, you have no evidence that her liberty
was substantially interfered with, do you?
[Detective Winter]: No.
In contrast, the State argues the evidence was legally sufficient, citing Cox v.
State, 497 S.W.3d 42, 49 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2016, pet. ref’d), and evidence
reflecting that Tuazon picked A.M. up from a neighborhood park near her home in
Frisco, Texas, and took her more than 120 miles away, without her parents’ consent,
first to Arkansas, where Tuazon and A.M. were stuck for about a day, and ultimately,
10
“An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is . . . a state jail
felony if the person restrained was a child younger than 17 years of age.” TEX. PENAL CODE § 20.02(c)(1).
–11–
to his home in Pennsylvania, where he left her alone for about a day, without
transportation, in a location A.M. described to be “in the middle of nowhere.”
Cox is distinguishable, for unlike that case, see id., there is no evidence
Tuazon threatened A.M., took personal items from her, such as her phone, or was
mean to her after he picked her up. However, while the evidence regarding restraint
was stronger in Cox, looking at all the evidence in the light most favorable to the
verdict, we conclude a rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable
doubt that Tuazon restricted A.M.’s movements without consent, so as to interfere
substantially with her liberty, by moving her from one place to another or by
confining her. See TEX. PENAL CODE §§ 20.01(1), 20.02(a); Jackson, 443 U.S. at
319 (court views all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to
determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements
of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt); Brooks, 323 S.W.3d at 899 (same); see
also Hines v. State, 75 S.W.3d 444, 448 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002) (stating, “It is up to
the jury to distinguish between those situations in which a substantial interference
with the victim’s liberty has taken place and those situations in which a slight
interference has taken place. This can be established by looking at all of the
circumstances surrounding the offense.”); Rogers v. State, 687 S.W.2d 337, 342
(Tex. Crim. App. 1985) (stating, “[O]ur law imposes no minimal requirement for
restraint other than the interference with the victim’s liberty be substantial.” and
–12–
“[T]here is no time limitation: the proper measure is that the interference of liberty
must be substantial.”).
We overrule Tuazon’s fifth issue.
B. Due Process
“The requirement that guilt of a criminal charge be established by proof
beyond a reasonable doubt dates at least from our early years as a Nation.” In re
Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 361 (1970). There, the Court stated, “[A] person accused of
a crime . . . would be at a severe disadvantage, a disadvantage amounting to a lack
of fundamental fairness, if he could be adjudged guilty and imprisoned for years on
the strength of the same evidence as would suffice in a civil case.” Id. (citation
omitted).
At trial in the cases before us, the trial court told the venire:
At the end of all of this, I will be giving the jury the law and the
elements of the cases and we will ask you to apply those facts to the
law and see if the State met its burden of proof. If they prove all of the
elements, then the verdict is guilty. If they don’t, the verdict is not
guilty.
....
The burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the State’s
burden. It never shifts to the Defense. . . . The burden always stays
with the State to prove their case. And so it’s going to be up to you-all
to determine reasonable doubt.
There are – there’s not really a good definition of reasonable doubt, so
the attorneys are going to talk to you about that. They’ll tell you it’s
more than this, it’s less than that. It’s different for every single juror to
determine if they’ve met that burden, so there is not a very specific
thing that we can look for and say, if you check these boxes, that’s
–13–
reasonable doubt. That’s going to be each of you to determine what
that is for you.
What – one easy way to look at it is if you think about a football field,
if they can get that football, just the nose of it, over the 50-yard line
then they’ve met their burden. Okay? They’re not expected to have to
take it all the way down to the endzone, spike the football, and convince
everybody beyond any shadow of a doubt, no possibility, right? It’s
just that little, tiny bit over the 50-yard line. So that’s kind of what
we’re looking for.[11]
In his first issue, Tuazon argues the trial court violated his due process rights
by incorrectly defining the reasonable doubt standard during voir dire. Both parties
agree due process requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt for criminal convictions.
See id. at 364 (“[W]e explicitly hold that the Due Process Clause protects the accused
against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact
necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged.”).12
Both parties also agree the trial court’s statements during voir dire, which
informed the venire that the State’s burden would be met by “get[ting] [the] football,
just the nose of it, over the 50-yard line . . . . just that little, tiny bit” was erroneous.
11
Emphasis is our own.
12
See also U.S. CONST. amend. V (“No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law”); U.S. CONST. amend. XIV (“No State shall . . . deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law . . . .”); Victor v. Nebraska, 511 U.S. 1, 5 (1994); Sullivan v. U.S., 508
U.S. 275, 277–78 (1993) (internal citations omitted). Sullivan, 508 U.S. at 277–78, states:
What the factfinder must determine to return a verdict of guilty is prescribed by the Due
Process Clause. The prosecution bears the burden of proving all elements of the
offense charged . . . and must persuade the factfinder “beyond a reasonable doubt” of the
facts necessary to establish each of those elements . . . . This beyond a reasonable doubt
requirement, which was adhered to by virtually all common-law jurisdictions, applies in
state as well as federal proceedings.
–14–
They disagree, however, on whether we can review that error on appeal, when
Tuazon did not object to it at trial. We conclude we can.
1. Error Preservation
The court of criminal appeals recently explained the applicable standards:
Generally, error must be preserved under Rule 33.1 of the Texas Rules
of Appellate Procedure. TEX. R. APP. [P.] 33.1. Under that rule, the
complainant must object and state the ground for the objection with
sufficient specificity that the trial court knows what the complainant
wants and why the complainant thinks he is entitled to it. Id. (a)(1)(A);
Lankston v. State, 827 S.W.2d 907, 909 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) (“As
regards specificity,” for preservation purposes, “all a party has to do to
avoid the forfeiture of a complaint on appeal is to let the trial judge
know what he wants, why he thinks himself entitled to it, and to do so
clearly enough for the judge to understand him at a time when the trial
court is in a proper position to do something about it.”). The
complainant must also object when the court can remedy the error, and
a ruling on the objection must be obtained unless the trial court refuses
to rule. TEX. R. APP. P. 33.1(a)(2)(A)–(B). The specificity requirement
is satisfied if the grounds for the objection were apparent from the
context. Id. (a)(1)(A).
Rule 33.1 does not apply to all alleged errors. Litigant’s rights usually
fall into three categories: (1) systemic requirements and prohibitions,
(2) waivable-only rights, (3) and forfeitable rights. Marin v. State, 851
S.W.2d 275 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993). Rule 33.1 does not apply to
complaints about systemic requirements and prohibitions or waivable-
only rights. Mendez v. State, 138 S.W.3d 334, 342 (Tex. Crim. App.
2004). Either type of claim can be raised for the first time on direct
appeal. Id.Rios v. State, No. PD-0441-21, 2022 WL 17481021, at *7 (Tex. Crim. App. Dec. 7,
2022); see also Proenza v. State, 541 S.W.3d 786, 798 (Tex. Crim. App. 2017)
(citing Marin, 851 S.W.2d at 280); Noble v. State, No. 05-21-00326-CR, 2022 WL
–15–
17351908, at *12 (Tex. App.—Dallas Dec. 1, 2022, pet. filed) (mem. op., not
designated for publication) (also describing these standards).
Tuazon argues the trial court’s erroneous statements regarding reasonable
doubt denied him his due process rights to a fair trial, to be presumed innocent, and
to be convicted only if found to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He
characterizes the latter two rights at issue as category-two, waivable-only rights
under Marin and thus argues he was not required to object at trial to preserve
appellate review.
The State responds, in part, by correctly noting the trial court was not required
to define reasonable doubt. See Victor, 511 U.S. at 5.13 While Tuazon does not
dispute this, he argues he had a due process right not to have reasonable doubt
defined incorrectly. The State agrees an improper definition of reasonable doubt
may violate due process.14
13
Victor, 511 U.S. at 5 (internal citations omitted), states:
The beyond a reasonable doubt standard is a requirement of due process, but the
Constitution neither prohibits trial courts from defining reasonable doubt nor requires them
to do so as a matter of course. . . . Indeed, so long as the court instructs the jury on the
necessity that the defendant’s guilt be proved beyond a reasonable doubt . . . the
Constitution does not require that any particular form of words be used in advising the jury
of the government’s burden of proof.
14
The State’s brief states:
The State does not dispute that an improper definition of reasonable doubt may violate due
process. The United States Supreme Court recognized such a violation in Cage v.
Louisiana, 498 U.S. 39 (1990). Specifically, the Court held a jury instruction equating
“reasonable doubt” with a “substantial doubt” and “grave uncertainty” violated due
process. Id. at 40. Moreover, since Cage, the Supreme Court has held that “trial courts
must avoid defining reasonable doubt so as to lead the jury to convict on a lesser showing
than due process requires.” Victor v. Nebraska, 511 U.S. at 22. But the Supreme Court has
not held that such a due process violation cannot be forfeited.
–16–
Thus, the parties agree about the nature of Tuazon’s right—the due process
right for the trial court not to define reasonable doubt incorrectly—but disagree
about which Marin category the right falls in and thus whether we may consider the
trial court’s incorrect statements in this appeal because Tuazon failed to object at
trial. Tuazon argues we can do so because his right is a waivable-only, category-
two right under Marin, while the State argues we cannot because the right is a
forfeitable, category-three right under Marin.
Neither party has presented us with any binding case answering the question
under the specific circumstances presented. In arguing its position, the State relies,
in part, on Fuentes v. State, 991 S.W.2d 267 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999), Pitts v. State,
No. 05-14-01375-CR, 2016 WL 1270311 (Tex. App.—Dallas Mar. 31, 2016, no
pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication), and Cade v. State, 795 S.W.2d 43(Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1990, pet. ref’d) (partial publication). While these
cases involve some similarity to our case, two do not mention Marin,15 and none
involve the same incorrect comments as those expressed here.
On the latter point, Cade comes the closest, but still falls far short of the
specific direction the trial court gave here. Because of the similarities in the
analogies used in Cade and in this case, we discuss it first.
15
Neither Fuentes nor Cade discuss Marin. Cade predates Marin; Fuentes does not.
–17–
a. Cade v. State, 795 S.W.2d 43 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st
Dist.] 1990, pet. ref’d) (partial publication)
In Cade, the trial court told the venire:
So, this presumption of innocence, you may say—use the comparison
of the continuum, a scale of zero to one hundred. The defendant starts
off, under this system of presumption of innocence, at zero. . . . [Y]ou
start him off at zero, and then allow the State the opportunity to go
ahead and start calling their witnesses, under oath, and see if, after you
hear the first one, whether or not that pointer on the scale may move
from zero to fifteen, as an example. And you hear the second witness.
It might inch its way up to thirty. You hear a third witness. It might
kick it over to fifty or fifty-five, let’s say. And somewhere between
fifty and one hundred is that magic area, but, yet, not a defined area, in
the criminal law, where the jury will be satisfied that, beyond a
reasonable doubt, the State has shown the guilt of the defendant. We
do know it doesn’t reach a hundred, if we stretch out our explanation a
little bit further.
795 S.W.2d at 44. Like Tuazon’s counsel in this trial, Cade’s counsel failed to object
to the trial court’s comment. See id. at 45. Our sister court concluded, pre-Marin,
that “[i]n the absence of fundamental error,” which the court did not find existed,
“Cade has waived these points on appeal,” stating:
Cade’s counsel failed to object to the trial court’s comments or the
prosecutor’s statements. In the absence of fundamental error, Cade has
waived these points on appeal. McGee v. State, 689 S.W.2d 915, 919
(Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1985, pet. ref’d); Wells v. State, 634
S.W.2d 868, 874 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1982, pet. ref’d,
untimely filed).
We find no fundamental error. Although we do not approve the trial
court’s suggestion that the reasonable doubt test might be satisfied
“somewhere between fifty and one-hundred” on a scale of one to 100,
we do not find that the trial court’s analogy was such a serious error
that we can reverse in the absence of an objection. The trial court
cautioned the jury panel that the law does not define “reasonable doubt”
in terms of a specific quantum of proof. . . . Neither party referred to
–18–
the trial court’s example again. We do not find that the trial court’s
single comment caused the jury to misunderstand the reasonable doubt
standard.
Id. This conclusion was reached more than two years before Marin and Sullivan and
more than three years before Victor.
We do not reach the same conclusion in this case because, in our view, the
trial court’s comments were far more serious an error than in Cade and rise to the
level of category-two, waivable-only error under Marin. Although both courts
essentially used the same scale,16 unlike the “magic” range of “somewhere between
fifty and one hundred” as the court stated in Cade, in this case, the trial court told
the venire the State would meet its burden at a specific point: where “just the nose
of [the football]” was “over the 50-yard line” by “just that little, tiny bit.” In other
words, while the trial court in Cade pointed the venire members to “somewhere,”
the trial court in this case essentially told them, “here.”
This is a distinction with a difference of constitutional magnitude, especially
when the “here” point the trial court referred to was the same point often used to
describe the point at which the preponderance of the evidence standard is met. See,
e.g., Roccaforte v. State, No. 09-19-00428-CR, 2022 WL 107113, at *2 (Tex.
App.—Beaumont Jan. 12, 2022, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication)
(quoting defense counsel’s statements that noted the trial judge had used a football
16
Cade used a “zero to one hundred” scale without comparing it to a football field, which has one
hundred yards.
–19–
field analogy to describe the preponderance of the evidence as being “just beyond
the 50-yard line, a little bit of a fraction”).17
b. Fuentes v. State, 991 S.W.2d 267 (Tex. Crim. App.
1999)
Next, we consider Fuentes, which, though binding, is distinguishable.
In Fuentes, the trial court provided a proper Geesa instruction18 in the jury
charge but told the venire the following during voir dire:
If at the conclusion of all of the evidence in the case and based upon
your evaluation of all of the evidence in the case, if you believe in your
heart and in your conscience based upon your evaluation of the
evidence in the case that the defendant is guilty, the State has proved
its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
....
[I]f at the conclusion of all the evidence in the case, based upon your
evaluation of that evidence if you do not believe in your heart and in
your conscience, based upon your evaluation of that evidence, that the
defendant is, in fact, guilty of the offense, the State has failed in its proof
to show to you beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty.
Fuentes, 991 S.W.2d at 273 (emphasis in original).
17
While those comments are similar to the trial court’s comments here, Roccaforte is distinguishable
and does not pose the same questions we decide here. Instead, Roccaforte involved alleged error in the trial
court’s sustaining of the State’s objection to defense counsel’s comments during closing argument.
Roccaforte, 2022 WL 107133, at *2. Although we are paraphrasing, our sister court held, in essence, that
the trial court did not abuse its discretion by sustaining the State’s objection to an argument by defense
counsel that ran the risk that some jurors might have understood the State’s burden as requiring it to prove
guilt beyond all doubt, based on what the prosecutor anticipated would be, and the trial court could have
inferred, would be a crossing-the-goal-line analogy on a football field. Id., at *4–5.
18
See Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154, 162 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991), overruled by Paulson v. State, 28
S.W.3d 570, 573 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000) (“We specifically overrule that portion of Geesa which requires
trial courts to instruct juries on the definition of ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’”).
–20–
The opinion sheds no light on whether the parties agreed the trial court’s
comments misstated the reasonable doubt burden and does not analyze any error in
the trial court’s comments or any issues under Marin.
Instead, the opinion merely notes Fuentes objected to the first quoted
statement but not the second, and without discussing Marin, the court concluded
Fuentes waived any complaint, stating, “In order to preserve error, the objecting
party must continue to object each time the objectionable evidence is offered.
[Fuentes] thus waived any complaint as to the trial court’s remarks.” Id. (citing
Ethington v. State, 819 S.W.2d 854, 858 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991)).
Here, the parties agree the trial court erred in its comments regarding
reasonable doubt, and their dispute regarding waiver is based on Marin, which
Fuentes does not discuss, not waiver in the context of admission of evidence.
Because Fuentes does not address the specific scenario before us, Fuentes
appears to have limited utility here.
c. Pitts v. State, No. 05-14-01375-CR, 2016 WL 1270311(Tex. App.—Dallas Mar. 31, 2016, no pet.) (mem. op.,
not designated for publication)
Next, we consider Pitts, an unpublished opinion from our Court, which
involved a complaint about an unobjected-to comment during voir dire in which the
trial court stated, “The State’s not required to prove guilt beyond all possible doubt.
It’s only required that the State prove to exclude all reasonable doubt concerning the
Defendant’s guilt.” Pitts, 2016 WL 1270311, at *5.
–21–
In our opinion, we noted that on appeal Pitts argued the trial court’s statements
constituted fundamental constitutional error that could be raised for the first time on
appeal because an improper comment on the definition of reasonable doubt violates
his right to a jury trial and his due process right to be convicted only if the evidence
shows the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. (citing Marin). We
also noted the State’s arguments that Pitts did not preserve error and that the trial
court’s remarks did not constitute fundamental error because they did not directly
comment on Pitts’s Fifth Amendment rights or shift the State’s burden of proof in
any way. Id. We agreed with the State and concluded that the trial court’s comment
“did not rise to the level of fundamental error, and, as a result, [Pitts] waived further
complaint about them by not objecting to them in the trial court.” See Pitts, 2016
WL 1270311, at *5–7.
But the trial court’s comments in that case are a far cry from those made here,
where the trial court did precisely what we agreed the trial court did not do in Pitts:
shifted the State’s burden of proof, by effectively equating it to a preponderance of
evidence standard, a matter we discuss further in section I.B.2. below. Thus, Pitts
is distinguishable, and we do not reach the same conclusion here.
d. Other Cases
Finally, we note that the State cites several cases from our sister courts in
arguing that Tuazon forfeited his right not to have the trial court incorrectly define
the State’s burden. Because none of those cases involve the same comments at issue
–22–
here, we find those cases distinguishable, and to the extent they reach a different
conclusion regarding error preservation, we decline to follow them.19
e. Conclusion
In Marin, the court stated,
All but the most fundamental rights are thought to be forfeited if not
insisted upon by the party to whom they belong. Many constitutional
rights fall into this category. When we say “that even constitutional
guarantees can be waived by failure to object properly at trial,” we
mean that some, not all, constitutional rights may be forfeited. Gibson
v. State, 516 S.W.2d 406, 409 (Tex. Crim. App. 1974). On the other
hand, certain, relatively few, rights must be protected by the system’s
impartial representatives unless expressly waived by the party to whom
they belong. Determining which category a right occupies will usually
settle the question of procedural default in the context of a particular
case.
Of course, the system also includes a number of requirements and
prohibitions which are essentially independent of the litigants’ wishes.
Implementation of these requirements is not optional and cannot,
therefore, be waived or forfeited by the parties. . . .
Thus, our system may be thought to contain rules of three distinct kinds:
(1) absolute requirements and prohibitions; (2) rights of litigants which
must be implemented by the system unless expressly waived; and (3)
rights of litigants which are to be implemented upon request. In the
19
See Arrellano v. State, 555 S.W.3d 647, 652–53 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2018, pet. ref’d);
Latson v. State, 440 S.W.3d 119, 121–22 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2013, no pet.); Haro v. State,
371 S.W.3d 262, 264–66 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2011, pet. ref’d); Wilkerson v. State, 347 S.W.3d
720, 725–26 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2011, pet. ref’d); Marshall v. State, 312 S.W.3d 741, 743–
44 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2009, pet. ref’d); see also Williams v. State, No. 14-19-00979-CR, 2021
WL 5707411, at *6 (Tex. App.–Houston [14th Dist.] Dec. 2, 2021, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for
publication); Meadows v. State, Nos. 01-09-00443-CR & 01-09-00444-CR, 2010 WL 2874199, at *6
(Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] July 22, 2010, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not designated for publication);
Ahmadi v. State, No. 14-08-00584-CR, 2010 WL 307909, at *6–7 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.]
Jan. 28, 2010, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not designated for publication); Harrison v. State, No. 01-97-
01408-CR, 1999 WL 312300, at *2–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] May 13, 1999, no pet.) (not
designated for publication).
–23–
present context, the most important thing to remember about the Texas
law of procedural default is that it only applies to the last category.
Marin, 851 S.W.2d at 279.
On the specific facts before us, we conclude Tuazon had a waivable-only,
Marin-category-two due process right not to have the trial court define reasonable
doubt in a manner that shifted the State’s burden of proof. See id. at 280 (describing
waivable-only, category-two rights). Because the record lacks any indication Tuazon
affirmatively waived this right in the trial court, we conclude we may consider the
trial court’s error in this appeal. See id.; see also Rios, 2022 WL 17481021, at *7;
Proenza, 541 S.W.3d at 798; Noble, 2022 WL 17351908, at *12 (all describing
Marin standards).
2. Deprivation of Due Process
Having concluded that we may consider Tuazon’s first issue, we next consider
whether the trial court’s statements regarding reasonable doubt deprived Tuazon of
due process, as he argues. If the trial court’s incorrect statements had been made to
the jury in a jury charge, the answer would depend on whether “there is a reasonable
likelihood that the jury understood the instructions to allow conviction based on
proof insufficient to meet the Winship standard.” See Victor, 511 U.S. at 6.20
20
Victor stated, “The constitutional question . . . is whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury
understood the instructions to allow conviction based on proof insufficient to meet the Winship standard.”
511 U.S. at 6. Previously, in Cage, 498 U.S. at 40, the Court found unconstitutional a jury instruction that
defined reasonable doubt, in part, as “such doubt as would give rise to a grave uncertainty[,] . . . an “actual
substantial doubt” . . . requir[ing] . . . a moral certainty” when it was “clear that a reasonable juror could
have interpreted the instruction to allow a finding of guilt based on a degree of proof below that required
–24–
But because the statements at issue were not made in a jury charge, an obvious
question arises: does our analysis change because the statements were made to the
venire during voir dire? The parties have directed us to no cases from the United
States Supreme Court answering that question, and we have found no guidance in
the code of criminal procedure to answer it either.21
One binding Texas case that predates Cage, Sullivan, and Victor states, “Only
when a trial court’s comments during voir dire are reasonably calculated to benefit
the State or prejudice the defendant’s rights will reversible error occur.” Gardner v.
State, 733 S.W.2d 195, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987) (citation omitted).
An even earlier binding case contains somewhat similar language but does not
set forth a specific standard we are to apply. See Parks v. State, 400 S.W.2d 769,
771 (Tex. Crim. App. 1966) (stating no error was shown in trial court’s remarks to
the jury panel regarding reasonable doubt when it appeared the remarks were “not a
comment on the weight of the evidence, did not convey to the jury any opinion of
the court as to the facts, and were not calculated to injure the rights of the
appellant.”).22 Yet another binding case examined whether a trial court erred when
by the Due Process Clause.” Id. at 41 (after concluding the instruction was unconstitutional, the Court
reversed the prior judgment and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings). As Victor
notes, the Cage standard was later clarified to make clear “that the proper inquiry is not whether the
instruction ‘could have’ been applied in an unconstitutional manner, but whether there is a reasonable
likelihood that the jury did so apply it.”). Victor, 511 U.S. at 6 (citing Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 72
& n.4 (1991) (emphasis supplied)).
21
See TEX. CODE CRIM. PRO. art. 35.17 (voir dire).
22
The remarks at issue in Parks were far different from the remarks made here. There, the court stated:
–25–
explaining reasonable doubt to the venire, but the opinion sheds no light on how we
are to analyze the trial court’s comments, and, in any event, the case is
distinguishable.23
Tuazon argues, and the State does not dispute, that the trial court’s challenged
comments equated the State’s beyond a reasonable-doubt burden with a
preponderance of evidence burden. We agree that they did so.
More than twenty years ago, one author observed:
Of greatest concern, scholarly studies and anecdotal evidence suggest
that jurors conflate reasonable doubt with the civil standard of
preponderance of the evidence. The horrifying implication is that
American juries may be depriving defendants of their fundamental due
process right to have their guilt proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
John P. Cronan, Is Any of This Making Sense? Reflecting on Guilty Pleas to Aid
Criminal Juror Comprehension, 39 AM. CRIM. L. REV. 1187, 1188 (2002) (footnotes
and citations omitted).
In this case, as in all criminal cases, the burden of proof is on the State to show the
defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and after all the evidence is in, if there is a
doubt in your mind, a reasonable doubt, that is, a doubt based upon reason, that a reasonable
man would have as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant, the law says you must resolve
that doubt in favor of the defendant and say by your verdict, ‘not guilty,’ and it would be
your duty to follow the law in that instance. If after all the evidence is in, the State has
discharged that burden and you have found beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant is
guilty, then it is your duty to follow the law in that case.
Parks, 400 S.W.2d at 771.
23
See Dent v. State, 504 S.W.2d 455, 457 (Tex. Crim. App. 1974) (after noting the defendant
complained not about the accuracy of the trial court’s explanation of reasonable doubt to the jury panel but
only its authority to give it—and without describing what that explanation included—the court perceived
no error and stated the explanation may be made under article 35.17 of the code of criminal procedure).
–26–
Here, the “horrifying implication” is even worse, because at the very outset of
the trial, the trial judge not only conflated the two standards but also told the
members of the venire they could do so, too.
The better practice would have been to give no definition of reasonable doubt
to the jury at all. See Paulson, 28 S.W.3d at 573 (citing Reasonable Doubt: An
Argument Against Definition, 108 HARV. L. REV. 1955 (1995)).24 While Paulson
said this in the context of a jury charge, in our view, trial courts should consider a
similar approach during any explanatory statements to the venire.
We conclude, under the unique circumstances before us, Tuazon was deprived
of due process by the trial court’s comments to the venire which equated the beyond
a reasonable doubt burden with a preponderance of the evidence burden, comments
that “were reasonably calculated to benefit the State or prejudice the defendant’s
rights,” and which thus constitute reversible error. See Gardner, 733 S.W.2d at 210.
3. Whether Harm Analysis is Required
We next consider whether the trial court’s error requires a harm analysis.
Tuazon argues no harm analysis is required because the error is a structural error and
alternatively argues there is reasonable doubt he was harmed by the error. The State
took no position on either of those arguments but acknowledged that Sullivan
24
The cited law review article concludes, “Because reasonable doubt is an inherently amorphous term
that demands value judgment in its application, the jury is best suited, as a representative body of the
community, to determine its meaning. To imbue the trial process with the collective wisdom of the
community, courts should leave reasonable doubt undefined in their instructions to juries.” 108 HARV. L.
REV. at 1972.
–27–
characterized a constitutionally infirm reasonable doubt jury instruction as
“structural error.” Sullivan, 508 U.S. at 281–82.25
Although the United States Supreme Court has “characterized as ‘structural’
‘a very limited class of errors’ that trigger automatic reversal because they
undermine the fairness of a criminal proceeding as a whole[,]” “[e]rrors of this kind
include . . . failure to convey to a jury that guilt must be proved beyond a reasonable
doubt.” United States v. Davila, 569 U.S. 597, 611 (2013).
In this case, while the trial court stated that guilt must be proved beyond a
reasonable doubt, in practical effect, the court also stated proof beyond a reasonable
doubt was not required. By effectively equating the beyond a reasonable doubt
standard with the preponderance of the evidence standard, the trial court failed to
convey that guilt must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt in the one and only
instance in which reasonable doubt was defined.
Under the unique circumstances before us, we conclude the trial court’s
misstatement regarding reasonable doubt constituted a structural error not subject to
a harm analysis. See Davila, 569 U.S. at 611; Sullivan, 508 U.S. at 281–82.
25
In Sullivan, 508 U.S. at 281, the Court described the denial of the right to a jury verdict of guilt
beyond a reasonable doubt as an error of the sort described in Arizona v. Fulminate, 499 U.S. 279, 309
(1991), as involving “structural defects in the constitution of the trial mechanism, which defy analysis by
‘harmless-error’ standards.”
–28–
II. CONCLUSION
We reverse the trial court’s judgments and remand each case for a new trial.
/Ken Molberg/
KEN MOLBERG
JUSTICE
Publish
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b)
210251F.P05
–29–
S
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
JUDGMENT
ERIC CALVIN TUAZON, Appellant On Appeal from the 416th Judicial
District Court, Collin County, Texas
No. 05-21-00251-CR V. Trial Court Cause No. 416-80963-
2020.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee Opinion delivered by Justice
Molberg. Justices Reichek and
Garcia participating.
Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, the judgment of the trial court is
REVERSED and the cause REMANDED for a new trial.
Judgment entered this 23rd day of February, 2023.
–30–
S
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
JUDGMENT
ERIC CALVIN TUAZON, Appellant On Appeal from the 416th Judicial
District Court, Collin County, Texas
No. 05-21-00252-CR V. Trial Court Cause No. 416-83493-
2020 (Count I).
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee Opinion delivered by Justice
Molberg. Justices Reichek and
Garcia participating.
Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, the judgment of the trial court is
REVERSED and the cause REMANDED for a new trial.
Judgment entered this 23rd day of February, 2023.
–31–
S
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
JUDGMENT
ERIC CALVIN TUAZON, Appellant On Appeal from the 416th Judicial
District Court, Collin County, Texas
No. 05-21-00253-CR V. Trial Court Cause No. 416-83493-
2020 (Count II).
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee Opinion delivered by Justice
Molberg. Justices Reichek and
Garcia participating.
Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, the judgment of the trial court is
REVERSED and the cause REMANDED for a new trial.
Judgment entered this 23rd day of February, 2023.
–32–