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tcdla - Voice For The Defense Online

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or under the authorily of the United States. <strong>The</strong> ju~y was only asked todeternline wl~ethcr the defendant mu iwoloed with an identificationdocument. Court llolrls that without suc11 a finding, a sentence overll~ree years was errox Reviewing the test of piail error, court finds theincre:lse UI sentence affected the fairness, integrity or public reputationof the judicial proceedings, and rcve~sed the sentence.EXCEPTION FOR 2241 PETITIONS: flPPeRY K CHAh"LER,No.99-41-4161,6/0WOI.SlGNlRCLLNe DECISIONS REPOReHEARSAY-EXCITBD LiTlERANCE EXCEPTION: Reyes v.Strrte, No. 02-00-283-CR, 6/14/01.Police officer arri\res at scene of mault 5 minutes afier receiling a911 cd. He described the complainaut as upset. \Vhen he aked herul~at happened, she said "He [the defendant] hit me." COA 11okIs thissatisfies TRE 803(2), the excited utterance rule. COA also r~lles thatstatements by the two clddren of the con~plainanl in respollse to theofficer's q~~estions were also excited utterances.IThis opinion is subslihlted for the palel opinion eillered onNovember 27, 2000. <strong>The</strong> petitioner fled a petition under 28 USC S2241, alleging a claim bnsed on the holdu~g of Richcirdso~~ 11. UnitedSt&s 526 US 13 (1999), wl~ich required ~III). unanin~ily in CCEcases. He filed a 2241 petition, alleging the remedy under 2255 \\'ainadeq~lale and ineffective. Court holds that limitations on second orsuccessive pctitio~~s do not nuke the remedy under 2255 inadequateor ioeffective. Inste;~d, the pelitiot~er nmst establish his claim is baedon a relroacli\~ely applicable Supreme Court decision mluch estblishedtllat tl~c petitio~~er inmay have been co~irictetl of a nonesislentoffense, and the chim imust Iuve been foreclosed by circuit llav at ll~etime wl~en the claim sl~ould have been i:~ised. Court holds thatRichrdso~r is ~'etroaclively applic:~ble. However; because the decisiondoes not establish that petitioner was innocent, or convicted of a nonedstcntoffense, relief TVIS denied.COMMENTS ON SILENCE POI,I,OX'ING ARREST HELDIMPROPER: UA'ITED E RODRIGUEZ, No. 99-10-982,07/30/01.<strong>The</strong> dcfe~~danl mas convicted of misappropriating postal funds.Postal investig;!tors obscwed llin~ mke hvo hags of money and placetl~em in a lockel: <strong>The</strong>y confronted 11iu1 and placed him under arrest,illen questioned him about what llad occurred. Ile refused to answerquestions, in\zoking his right to remain silent and requesting a Iauyl:At trial 11e testiGetl that what he did urns to expose Uaws in postal secorityProsecutor questioned him about the failnre to make Illat claimwhen initidly questioned. He dso arg~~ed hat the stoiy was not crediblebecause it was not made at the first opportunity to do so. Courtl~oltls tlte prosecutor improperly used the defend;u~Us post-arrestsileace. Since the comments were tied tiirectly to the defendant's credibilityand the plamibility of his testimon): reversal was requiretl.COURT OF APPEALSHEARSAY-MEDICAL KECORDS EXCEFI'IOIOIY: Sfl~rdorirll 11.Sfnte, No. 01-00-00956-CR, 6/7/01.<strong>The</strong> medical records exception to the l~earsay rule, TRE 803(4), isnot linlited to shtements made by the patient to he doctor. A statementmade by the parent of an injured child to the doctor is also atlmissibleunder the rule. This is a case of first impression, ;~ccording lo the COA,becauseof the hvo prior Texas cues ti~at discuss the issue, one did not baseits decision on the rule and the other did not discuss it. COA relies onfedenl cases.[Case is noteworthy for the dissent, wl~ich exl~aostively analy~ss therule to urge its strict limitation.]ARRBST: Rodrigrrez u. Sfnte, No. 04-00-00710-CR, 6/13/01COA holds that a defendant is under arrest. and hence able to challeiigestatus for lack of probable cause if: (1) the suspect is p11)vicdydepri\d of his freedom in any significant way; (2) wl~en a law eeforcenlentoffice~s tells a suspect he may not leave; or (3) wllen a lawenforcen~ent officer creates a situation that woould leave a reasonablepelson to believe tl~at his freedom of moven~ent 11% l~een significantlyrestricted and d ~en there is probable cause to arrest and u41en theofficer has not told the suspect he is free to leave.HEARSAY- REQUIREMENT: Ledhetter' v.Stnte, No. 07-99-0417-CR, 6IlY01.Case constmes the una\~ailability requirement of TRB 804(b)(l)uhere the decla~mt nmst be unavdable for the hea~x~y exception toapply Here, tile witilness testified at fils1 trial, and \\as cross enaoined.Before the second trial, he was s e ~ witl~ d a subpoena 3 weeks beforehid. No writ ofattachment was issued to con~pel attendance where prosecutionknew witoess wo111d not attend trid before it conn~~enced. COA l~oldsthat w11ile merely issuing a subpoenawoould not be sufficient to establisl~una\~dabilit): sening it is. A writ of attacl~ment is not necessaq toaUow hearsaySI'IPULATION OF DWI PRIORS: Ororla a St&, No. 08-00-196-CR, 617101).Case construes limits of Tmez u. Stote wl~ere CG\ held that adefendant could force state to stipulate to prior DWs, in a felony D\Vlcae, and avoid use of those prio~s at guilt innocence stage of tdd. COAhere holds that Tmez does 1101 olean the prion can never be oelltioned.<strong>The</strong>z merely limits the srate to reading only hvo allegationsto the ju~y anti limiting the evidence to the stipula' ' lolls.NOTICE OF APPEtU: ,llnr611t u. Stflte, No. 10-01-090-CR,6/13/01.Alost courts have held t11at TMI' 25.2(b) - the notice of appdrequirement following a negotiated guilty plea - is satisfied even witha general notice of appeal if the record reflects a satisfxtion of therule's other requirements: apretrial motio~~ or tile coort's permissionto appcal. COA holds that those cats were incorrectly decided andrefoses to follow them. <strong>The</strong> rule of substantial compliwce does notapply here.OClOBER 2001 WWW.TCDLA.COM VOICE FOR THE DEFENSE 31

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