Meria James Bradley v. State ( 2014 )

Opinion issued February 25, 2014
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
————————————
NO. 01-13-00133-CR
———————————
MERIA JAMES BRADLEY, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 183rd District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Case No. 1328927
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant Meria James Bradley was charged by indictment with possession
of more than four grams of cocaine with intent to deliver. The jury found Bradley
guilty of the lesser offense of simple possession, and the trial court assessed
punishment at 35 years’ imprisonment. 1 In his sole point of error, Bradley
contends that the trial court erred in permitting improper jury arguments by the
State in closing argument of the guilt-innocent phase. We affirm.
Background
After observing Bradley sell crack cocaine to known drug users and
conducting a controlled buy at the home, Officer Nash of the Houston Police
Department obtained a search warrant for the house at 7844 Sandy Street. When
they executed the search warrant and entered the home, police officers found
Bradley running to the back of the house. Bradley’s son was also present at the
house at the time.
Officer Nash testified that Bradley told him that “everything” in the house
was his and that his son had nothing to do with anything illegal. Officer Nash told
Bradley to show him where everything was, and Bradley showed him marijuana
and crack cocaine located inside of a desk in the house. Police found a plate with a
razor blade, used for cutting crack cocaine, and individually-cut crack cocaine
rocks inside of the desk. The cocaine rocks altogether weighed 4.2 grams and
were sized for sale. Police also found numerous weapons and “over a hundred
documents,” such as mail and awards on the wall, bearing Bradley’s name.
1
Bradley has prior convictions for aggravated robbery and tampering with
identification numbers.
2
Bradley testified that he owned the home at 7844 Sandy, but that he lived
across the street and rented the home at 7844 Sandy to Alexander Guidroz.
Bradley testified that on the day he was arrested, he and his son had walked across
the street from their home to 7844 Sandy—carrying a briefcase containing
paperwork—to collect rent from Guidroz and give his son a car that was located at
7844 Sandy. According to Bradley, he and his son were sitting on the porch and
he was going through documents in the briefcase when the police arrived. And
Bradley claimed that he showed the police the hidden drugs only after Guidroz told
Bradley where the drugs were located. Bradley testified that there were no
documents with his name in the house and that police actually found the
documents in his briefcase.
During the State’s closing argument, Bradley complained about several of
the prosecutor’s comments. The jury found Bradley guilty of the lesser-included
offense of simple possession.
Discussion
In his sole point of error, Bradley contends that the State made improper
arguments to the jury during closing, and that he is entitled to a new trial.
A. Applicable Law
“The law provides for, and presumes, a fair trial free from improper
argument by the State.” Thompson v. State, 89 S.W.3d 843, 850 (Tex. App.—
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Houston [1st Dist.] 2002, pet. ref’d) (citing Long v. State, 823 S.W.2d 259, 267
(Tex. Crim. App. 1991) (en banc)). The approved areas of jury argument are
(1) summation of the evidence, (2) reasonable deduction from the evidence,
(3) answer to the argument of opposing counsel, and (4) plea for law enforcement.
Wesbrook v. State, 29 S.W.3d 103, 115 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000) (en banc); Andrade
v. State, 246 S.W.3d 217, 229–30 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2007, pet.
ref’d). A prosecutor may argue his opinion concerning a witness’s credibility or
the truth of witness’s testimony only if the opinion is based on reasonable
deductions from the evidence and does not constitute unsworn testimony. McKay
v. State, 707 S.W.2d 23, 37 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985) (en banc). Wide latitude is
allowed in drawing inferences from the evidence, so long as the inferences drawn
are reasonable, fair, legitimate, and offered in good faith. Gaddis v. State, 753
S.W.2d 396, 398 (Tex. Crim. App. 1988). In examining challenges to a jury
argument, a court considers the remark in the context in which it appears. Id.
An argument exceeding the permissible bounds of the four approved areas of
argument constitutes reversible error only if an analysis of the record as a whole
shows the argument is extreme or manifestly improper, violates a mandatory
statute, or injects new facts harmful to the accused into the trial proceeding.
Wesbrook, 29 S.W.3d at 115; see also Hawkins v. State, 135 S.W.3d 72, 79 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2004) (en banc). In assessing the harm of an improper argument, an
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appellate court considers three factors: “(1) severity of the misconduct (the
magnitude of the prejudicial effect of the prosecutor’s remarks); (2) measures
adopted to cure the misconduct (the efficacy of any cautionary instruction by the
judge); and (3) the certainty of conviction absent the misconduct (the strength of
the evidence supporting the conviction).” Mosley v. State, 983 S.W.2d 249, 259
(Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (en banc).
A party may present on appeal a complaint that a jury argument was
improper only if the record shows that (1) he timely and properly objected to the
trial court and (2) the trial court (a) overruled the objection, either expressly or
implicitly, or (b) refused to rule on the objection, and the party objected to the
refusal. TEX. R. APP. P. 33.1(a); Gutierrez v. State, 36 S.W.3d 509, 510–11 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2001); Cockrell v. State, 933 S.W.2d 73, 89 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996)
(en banc). A trial court implicitly rules on a matter if “its actions or other
statements otherwise unquestionably indicate a ruling.” Gutierrez, 36 S.W.3d at
511 n.1.
In cases where the trial court sustained the defense objection and granted the
requested instruction to disregard, the only adverse ruling to be reviewed is the
trial court’s denial of the motion for mistrial. Hawkins, 135 S.W.3d at 76–77. “A
mistrial is the trial court’s remedy for improper conduct that is ‘so prejudicial that
expenditure of further time and expense would be wasteful and futile.’” Id. at 77
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(quoting Ladd v. State, 3 S.W.3d 547, 567 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999)). A mistrial is
required only in extreme circumstances where the prejudice is incurable. Id.
(citing Simpson v. State, 119 S.W.3d 262, 272 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003)). We
review the trial court’s refusal to grant a mistrial for an abuse of discretion. Id.
B. Analysis
Bradley complains about eight comments the prosecutor made during
closing argument. Bradley objected to some of them, and the trial court sustained
some of Bradley’s objections, but denied Bradley’s request for a mistrial. We
review the comments in turn.
1. Bradley failed to preserve error with regard to four of the
complained-of comments.
(a) “Stay in the record”
To challenge a jury argument on appeal, a party must have timely objected
at trial, and obtained an adverse ruling from the trial court. TEX. R. APP. P. 33.1(a).
Bradley first objected to the following comment:
Now, according to the Defense, [there are] no documents inside that
house that link Mr. Bradley to anything in there to show that he was in
7844 because he lived at 7855 Sandy. What about his certificate
that’s in there?
Bradley’s counsel objected, “It was in the briefcase, your Honor. I object to
that.” The trial court said, “Stay in the record.”
Bradley also objected when the prosecutor commented:
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“In direct response to what Defense has been arguing about, all these
exhibits, they have rights. He had the right to say, please, someone do
fingerprints on these guns.”
Bradley’s counsel responded, “Excuse me, Judge. I asked that yesterday.
He said—it’s improper. I asked him yesterday to print the guns. It’s a
misstatement. I asked him yesterday. They had all night to print the guns.” The
trial court said, “Stay in the record, please.”
In response to both objections, the trial court instructed the prosecutor to
“stay in the record.” A judge’s instruction to stay within the record, in response to
an objection, does not constitute a ruling on the objection. Washington v. State, 16
S.W.3d 70, 73 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2000, pet. ref’d). Because Bradley
did not obtain an adverse ruling on these two objections, he did not preserve his
challenges to these two comments. See TEX. R. APP. P. 33.1.
(b) Request to mention CSI
The State contends that Bradley’s complaint about the prosecutor’s comment
regarding CSI was not preserved for our review. We agree. The prosecutor said:
What about his certificate that the officers said were in the house?
The Defendant said it was in his briefcase. So, you know what that
means? That means either Officer Nash or Robertson or even Officer
Chapman took this certificate that the Defendant’s carrying around in
his briefcase on December 1st, 2011, this certificate which was given
to him on March 18th, 2003. He carries this in a briefcase. Carrying
this certificate in a briefcase, these officers are going to take it out.
And it’s laminated. They’re going to go inside the house. They’re
going to tack it onto a wall because you can see it’s tacked to the wall.
They’re going to put it on the wall the same certificates that you can
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see on the entry point of the house just to say now we’ve got him.
We’ve got something on him at this point in time. Talk about science
fiction. “That’s better than ‘CSI.’” 2
Bradley’s counsel interjected: “[Y]ou instructed me I couldn’t mention
‘CSI.’ He mentions ‘CSI.’ Can I get back up and talk about ‘CSI,’ Judge?” The
trial court responded, “no.” 3
To preserve a complaint for appellate review, a party must make a timely
objection to the trial court stating “the grounds for the ruling . . . with sufficient
specificity to make the trial court aware of the complaint, unless the specific
grounds were apparent from the context.” TEX. R. APP. P. 33.1(a)(1)(A). Here,
Bradley did not object that the State’s reference to CSI was irrelevant, or otherwise
improper. Rather, he requested permission to mention CSI himself. Because
Bradley does not complain on appeal that the trial court denied his request to refer
to CSI, we conclude that his argument on appeal does not comport with his
objection at trial. Accordingly, he did not preserve this complaint. See TEX. R.
APP. P. 33.1(a)(1)(A)); Curiel v. State, 243 S.W.3d 10, 19 (Tex. App.—Houston
2
“CSI” was a reference to a television show. See The Honorable Donald E.
Shelton, CSI: Criminal Scene Investigation, a popular television show. Juror
Expectations for Scientific Evidence in Criminal Cases: Perceptions and Reality
About the “CSI Effect” Myth, 27 T.M. COOLEY L. REV. 1–2 (2010) (citing BBC
News (July 31, 2006) http:// news.bbc.co.Uk/2/hi/entertainment/5231334.stm; CSI
Earth's No. 1 Show, N.Y. POST (June 17, 2008) available at http://
www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/item_WKDOqHHYXBgcnKFGWy2xa P).
3
During direct examination of Bradley, Bradley’s counsel mentioned CSI twice.
Both times the trial court sustained the State’s objections to relevance.
8
[1st Dist.] 2007, pet. ref’d) (holding that argument raised on appeal must comport
with specific objection made at trial, or error is waived).
(c) No request for instruction to disregard
The State contends that Bradley also failed to preserve his objection when
the prosecutor commented that Bradley could have but did not call his wife and
son to testify in Bradley’s defense:
[T]he wife and the Defendant’s son could easily disprove everything
they’ve said. Because the wife could come in and say, “My husband
lives with me. My husband of 30-plus years lives with me. Have live
[sic] at 7855 Sandy. He does not live at 7844. Guidroz lives there.”
He could have brought his son that was there that night who could
have said, “I was sitting on the porch with my dad . . . We were just
there to collect the check and get a car for being such a good person.”
His son could miss one day from high school. I know hair is
important. But his wife couldn’t miss one day from going to Sally
Beauty Supply.
Bradley’s counsel objected:
Judge, I’m going to object to that. If his son was here, they wouldn’t
give him an excuse that he was here and he would have been docked
for that. He was here. I object to that. The State knows it.
The State responded, “That’s outside the record.” The trial court said,
“Sustained.”
If a trial judge sustains an objection to improper jury argument, the
defendant must request an instruction to disregard and move for a mistrial in order
to preserve error. McGinn v. State, 961 S.W.2d 161, 165 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998).
9
The failure to request such an instruction waives error unless an argument is so
inflammatory that its prejudicial effect could not have been alleviated by an
instruction to disregard. Id.; Parr v. State, 606 S.W.2d 928, 931 (Tex. Crim. App.
1980).
Here, Bradley did not ask for an instruction to disregard, and the State’s
comment about Bradley’s son’s absence was not so inflammatory that the
prejudicial effect, if any, could not have been alleviated by an instruction to
disregard. See Baines v. State, 401 S.W.3d 104, 109 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th
Dist.] 2011, no pet.) (holding that prosecutor’s comments that appellant could have
called two witnesses to support his defensive theory “went to the credibility of
appellant’s defense and did not shift the burden of proving the elements of the
offense”); Harris v. State, 122 S.W.3d 871, 884 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2003, pet.
ref’d) (holding that prosecutor’s comment on appellant’s failure to produce
testimony from sources other than himself and “about the subpoena power of a
defendant is proper if it refers to the defendant’s failure to produce evidence from
other sources”).
2. Overruled Objections
The trial court overruled Bradley’s objections to two of the prosecutor’s
comments. Bradley contends on appeal that these comments were improper
because they were intended to shift the ultimate burden of proof to the defense and
10
encourage the jury to consider matters outside the record. We consider the
comments in turn.
(a) Burden of Proof Objection
Bradley contends that the prosecutor made a comment that improperly
shifted the burden of proof to Bradley. The prosecutor commented:
Officer Nash gave you a very good scenario. If there’s a crime
committed and no one is there to be a witness, they’re probably going
to dust for prints to see if they can generate some type of profile. But
if someone witnesses someone break inside their car, calls him and he
arrives and sees the person breaking into the car, why do you need to
have fingerprints? Why do you need to do a DNA swab? They knew
who Mr. Bradley was. Why do you need to fingerprint? There’s no
[need] to fingerprint. Furthermore, part of those rights that the
Defense has, they can request this evidence be fingerprinted at any
point in time.
Bradley objected, “That’s just a burden of proof to the Defense. That’s
improper.” The trial court overruled his objection.
Our review of the record reveals that the prosecutor’s comment about
Bradley’s failure to request fingerprinting was intended to rebut defense counsel’s
argument condemning the State’s failure to take fingerprints. During closing
argument, Bradley’s counsel made numerous comments about the police officers’
failure to fingerprint items from the house and match them with Bradley’s
fingerprints. In this context, the prosecutor’s comment that Bradley could have
requested fingerprints was not improper because it was a response to the defense’s
claim that the State’s evidence was lacking. See Bible v. State, 162 S.W.3d 234,
11
249 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (holding that prosecutor’s reference to absence of
documentary evidence did not constitute shifting of burden of proof); Jackson v.
State, 17 S.W.3d 664, 674 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000) (holding State may comment on
appellant’s failure to present evidence in his favor regarding DNA evidence when
argument was “merely a response to the defense’s assertions that the State’s
scientific evidence was lacking”); Caron v. State, 162 S.W.3d 614, 618 (Tex.
App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2005, no pet.) (holding that during jury argument,
State may comment on appellant’s failure to present evidence in his favor); Doty v.
State, 820 S.W.2d 918, 923–24 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1991, pet. ref’d) (holding
that the State’s comment that if there was any evidence to support the defense’s
theory, “don’t you think that they might have brought it to you,” was a summation
of the evidence). Accordingly, we hold that the trial court did not err by overruling
Bradley’s objection to the prosecutor’s fingerprint comment.
(b) Proper plea for law enforcement
Bradley contends that the prosecutor continued to “stretch the limits of
permissible advocacy” in suggesting that the jury consider matters outside the
record, when the prosecutor commented:
I’m about to give you this evidence. It’s your job now. Y’all are the
conscience of this community. You decide what is allowed in this
community. You decide is this the type of person you want roaming
the streets[?] At some point in time, you’ll be able to talk about this
trial. Your friends and family will ask you about this case and they
will ask you what you did.
12
Bradley objected, “Improper breach [sic] of law enforcement. I object to it.”
The trial court overruled Bradley’s objection.
When the State’s argument is designed to induce the jury to convict the
defendant because the community demands or expects such a result, the argument
is improper. Cortez v. State, 683 S.W.2d 419, 420 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984) (en
banc). However, the State may present pleas for law enforcement by reminding
jurors that they may be called upon by family and friends to explain both the case
and the verdict. Bell v. State, 724 S.W.2d 780, 801–02 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986) (en
banc).
Here, the prosecutor’s comment did not pressure the jury to reach a
particular verdict based upon the demands or expectations of the community. On
the contrary, the prosecutor argued that the jury represented the community. The
complained-of comment properly asks the jury to act as the voice of the
community, and therefore, it constitutes a proper plea for law enforcement. See id.
(comment urging jury to “remember and think about how [friends and neighbors]
will ask you at the end of case when it’s all over” did not “assert or imply that the
community demands a conviction”); York v. State, 258 S.W.3d 712, 718 (Tex.
App.—Waco 2008, pet. ref’d) (comment asking jury “what it is that you want the
newspaper to say when you open up the newspaper tomorrow and you get to tell
your friends or family” about the result was proper plea for law enforcement);
13
Harris v. State, 122 S.W.3d 871, 888 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2003, pet. ref’d)
(holding that prosecutor arguing that jury represented community and asking jury
to send message by its verdict was proper plea for law enforcement). Accordingly,
we hold that the trial court did not err by overruling Bradley’s objection to the
conscience of the community comment.
3. Sustained Objections and Denials of Mistrial
Bradley objected to two of the prosecutor’s comments on the grounds that
they referenced the prosecutor’s personal opinions. The trial court sustained both
objections but denied Bradley’s motions for mistrial. Bradley argues that the
improper comments were “clearly harmful” and the court’s instructions to
disregard were insufficient to cure them.
The prosecutor’s first motion for mistrial was made when the prosecutor
argued:
And he’s carrying these documents in his briefcase. A briefcase that
you’re carrying, my argument wasn’t that he couldn’t walk across the
street? My argument is how much sense does it make if you live right
across the street that you need to carry a briefcase to go collect rent?
What sense in the world does that make?
As the officer testified, these documents were found inside the home,
not inside of a briefcase. See, the whole briefcase comes in because
it’s another little fabrication to say if I could just pull one over on
them and say it’s a briefcase, then these dirty crooked cops just
opened up my briefcase, then decided we want to put this case on you.
So, we’re going to throw your documents in the house and hang them
up and start taking photos of them, wow, that makes sense in my head.
I don’t think it makes sense in anybody else’s head.
14
Bradley’s counsel objected “to what the Prosecutor thinks,” and the trial
court sustained the objection. Bradley’s counsel asked the trial court to instruct the
jury to disregard the statement, and the trial court instructed the jury, “[d]isregard
that last statement and don’t consider it for any purpose.” Bradley moved for a
mistrial, which the trial court denied.
The prosecutor again commented on his personal opinion when arguing:
At this time here, you’re going to the back. You can ask for the
evidence with the exception of the guns and the crack and the weed.
And keep in mind the offense report does not come in, also. Outside
of that, you can ask for the photos. If you want the specific other
evidence, you can ask to inspect it. But it’s probably going to be in
the presence of the bailiff. I don’t think it should take that long.
Bradley’s counsel again objected “to what the Prosecutor thinks,” and the
trial court sustained the objection. Bradley’s counsel asked that the jury be
instructed to disregard the statement. The trial court instructed the jury “Disregard
that last statement. Don’t consider it for any purpose.” Bradley moved for a
mistrial, which the trial court denied.
When the trial court sustains an objection and instructs the jury to disregard
but denies a defendant’s motion for a mistrial, the issue is whether the trial court
erred in denying the mistrial. Faulkner v. State, 940 S.W.2d 308, 312 (Tex.
App.—Fort Worth 1997, pet. ref’d) (op. on reh’g). We review a denial for mistrial
under an abuse of discretion standard. Hawkins, 135 S.W.3d at 77.
15
Generally, an instruction to disregard impermissible argument cures any
prejudicial effect. Wesbrook, 29 S.W.3d at 115. In assessing the curative effect of
the court’s instruction to disregard, the correct inquiry is whether, in light of the
record as a whole, the argument was extreme, manifestly improper, injected new
and harmful facts into the case, or violated a mandatory statutory provision and
was thus so inflammatory that the instruction to disregard was ineffective. Id. at
115–16. If the instruction cured any prejudicial effect caused by the improper
argument, a reviewing court should find that the trial court did not err. Faulkner,
940 S.W.2d at 312. We determine whether a trial court abused its discretion by
denying a mistrial by balancing the three Mosley factors: (1) the severity of the
misconduct or the magnitude of the prejudicial effect, (2) the measures adopted to
cure the misconduct, and (3) the certainty of conviction absent the misconduct.
Mosley, 983 S.W.2d at 259.
Assuming arguendo that the prosecutor’s comments were improper, we
conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by overruling Bradley’s
two motions for mistrial. Under the first Mosley factor, we evaluate the severity of
the misconduct. Id. “I don’t think it makes sense in anybody else’s head,” and “I
don’t think it should take that long,” although expressing the prosecutor’s opinions,
are not so extreme, manifestly improper, or prejudicial as to render them incurable
16
by instruction. The complained-of comments were brief, constituted only a small
part of the State’s argument, and were not repeated.
Under the second factor, we consider the measures adopted to cure the
misconduct. Id. The trial court promptly instructed the jury to disregard both
statements and to not consider them for any purpose. The law generally presumes
an instruction to disregard and other cautionary instructions will be obeyed by the
jury. Archie v. State, 340 S.W.3d 734, 741 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011). In cases
involving direct statements of personal belief as to the credibility of a witness,
instructions to disregard have been considered effective to cure any harm. See,
e.g., McDonald v. State, 148 S.W.3d 598, 603 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.]
2004) (instruction cured prosecutor’s statement that he thought victim was “very
believable”), aff’d on other grounds, 179 S.W.3d 571 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005);
Nauert v. State, 838 S.W.2d 328, 329–30 (Tex. App.—Austin 1992, pet. ref’d)
(instruction to disregard cured harm from prosecutor’s suggestion that jury should
believe witnesses because prosecutors and investigators believed her).
Under the third factor, we consider the certainty of conviction without the
misconduct. See Mosley, 983 S.W.2d at 259. Officer Nash testified that he
observed Bradley selling drugs and that Bradley admitted to him that everything in
the house was his. Moreover, there was evidence that the police found numerous
documents with Bradley’s name in the house, refuting Bradley’s defense that he
17
did not live there. And, it is undisputed that Bradley showed Officer Nash where
the drugs were located in the house. This is strong evidence of guilt.
Balancing the Mosley factors, we hold that the prosecutor’s comments about
his personal opinions did not render ineffective the instructions to disregard, and
that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying Bradley’s motions for
mistrial.
Accordingly, we overrule Bradley’s sole point of error.
Conclusion
We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
Rebeca Huddle
Justice
Panel consists of Chief Justice Radack and Justices Massengale and Huddle.
Do Not Publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
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