Raul Garza Salazar v. State

ACCEPTED
13-14-00006-CR
THIRTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS
3/30/2015 4:53:13 PM
DORIAN RAMIREZ
CLERK
CAUSE NO. 13-14-00006-CR
FILED IN
13th COURT OF APPEALS
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
CORPUS CHRISTI/EDINBURG, TEXAS
3/30/2015 4:53:13 PM
THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT OFDORIAN
TEXAS E. RAMIREZ
Clerk
CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG, TEXAS
RAUL GARZA SALAZAR,
Appellant
v.
STATE OF TEXAS,
Appellee.
On appeal from the 445th Judicial District Court
of Cameron County, Texas
Trial Court Cause Number 2013-DCR-1700-I
STATE’S APPELLATE BRIEF
Luis V. Saenz
Cameron County District Attorney
René B. González
Assistant District Attorney
964 East Harrison Street, 4th Floor
Brownsville, Texas 78520
Phone: (956) 544-0849
Fax:(956) 544-0869
Attorneys for the State of Texas
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Index of Authorities.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Salutation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Summary of the Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Argument and Authorities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
State’s Response to Appellant’s Issues One through Twelve. . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Prayer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Certificate of Compliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Certificate of Service.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
-i-
INDEX OF AUTHORITIES
Cases
Alvarado v. State,
912 S.W.2d 199 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Cook v. State,
611 S.W.2d 83 (Tex. Crim. App. 1981). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Roberts v. State,
220 S.W.3d 521 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Rules
Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(i). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
-ii-
CAUSE NO. 13-14-00006-CR
____________________________________
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG, TEXAS
____________________________________
RAUL GARZA SALAZAR, Appellant
v.
STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
____________________________________
STATE’S APPELLATE BRIEF
____________________________________
TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:
COMES NOW, Appellee, the STATE OF TEXAS, by and through the
Cameron County District Attorney, the Honorable Luis V. Saenz, and, pursuant to
Rule 38.2 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, files this, its Appellate Brief in
the above-styled and -numbered cause of action, and in support thereof, would show
this Honorable Court as follows:
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
Appellant raises twelve issues on appeal. Appellant has completely failed to
include any cites to the record in support of these twelve issues; and therefore, the
State’s Brief Page 1
State asserts that Appellant has procedurally defaulted in presenting these issues to
this Court.
ARGUMENT & AUTHORITIES
State’s Response to Appellant’s Issues One through Twelve
Appellant raises twelve issues containing various complaints concerning the
trial of this cause in the trial court. The State responds to all issues by asserting that
Appellant has procedurally defaulted in presenting these issues for review by failing
to specify where in the record any of these errors have occurred.
Appellant makes numerous complains concerning the trial of this cause below;
however, Appellant has not indicated where in the record these alleged errors are
found. The State asserts that Appellant has not complied with Rule 38.1(i) of the
Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure by failing to state concisely the facts relating to
issue two, supported by record references, and by failing to state clearly and concisely
the argument with citations to the record. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(i) (“The brief
must contain a clear and concise argument for the contentions made, with appropriate
citations to authorities and to the record.”); see also Roberts v. State, 220 S.W.3d 521,
527 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (“A party has an obligation to make appropriate citations
to the record in support of his argument. If the notes [relating to a particular witness]
State’s Brief Page 2
are in the record, appellant has failed to include the proper record references. If, as
seems more likely, the notes are not in the record, then appellant procedurally
defaulted error by failing to include a matter in the record necessary to evaluate his
claim.”); Alvarado v. State, 912 S.W.2d 199, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995) (“As an
appellate court, it is not our task to pore through hundreds of pages of record in an
attempt to verify an appellant’s claims.”); Cook v. State, 611 S.W.2d 83, 87 (Tex.
Crim. App. 1981) (“This court with its tremendous caseload should not be expected
to leaf through a voluminous record hoping to find the matter raised by appellant and
then speculate whether it is that part of the record to which appellant had reference.”).
Normally, the State would make an attempt to ascertain where in the record an
appellant’s complaints are located and then answer them without regard to an
appellant’s failure to properly cite to the record; however, in the present case,
Appellant has utterly failed to include any record cites in his argument or statement
of facts. With all due respect to this Court, the undersigned counsel for the State does
not believe it is his duty to do the job of Appellant’s counsel for him. Therefore, the
State will stand on this brief response, and the assertion that Appellant has
procedurally defaulted in presenting these issues for appellate review.
Accordingly, the Appellant’s issues one through twelve should be overruled.
State’s Brief Page 3
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, the State of Texas prays that
this Court will overrule Appellant’s issues on appeal, and affirm both the judgment
of conviction and the sentence herein.
Respectfully Submitted,
LUIS V. SAENZ
Cameron County District Attorney
964 East Harrison Street, 4th Floor
Brownsville, Texas 78520
Phone: (956) 544-0849
Fax: (956) 544-0869
By: /s/ René B. González
René B. González
Assistant District Attorney
State Bar No. 08131380
rgonzalez1@co.cameron.tx.us
Attorneys for the State of Texas
State’s Brief Page 4
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
I certify that this document contains 751 words (excluding the cover, table of
contents and table of authorities). The body text is in 14 point font, and the footnote
text is in 12 point font.
/s/ René B. González
René B. González
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that a copy of the foregoing State’s Appellate Brief was e-mailed to
Mr. Larry Warner, Attorney at Law, 3109 Banyan Drive, Harlingen, Texas 78550, at
Office@larrywarner.com on the 30th day of March, 2015.
/s/ René B. González
René B. González
State’s Brief Page 5