### NUM BER 13-06- 0042 5-CR 

## COURT OF A PP EA LS T H I R T E E N T H D I S T R I C T O F T E X AS C OR P U S C H R I S T I - E D I N B U R G

RU BEN Z A

VA LA F LOR ES, A pp ellan t,

v . TH E ST A

TE OF T EXA S, A pp ellee.
On a p p ea l f ro m th e 20 6 D is tr ic t C o u rt th 

### of H ida lgo C ou nt y , T exas . 

## ME MOR A N D U M OP I N I ON Be fo re C hie f J us tice Vald ez an d Ju stice s Y añ ez an d Be na v ide s M emo rand um Opin ion b y C hie f J us tice Vald ez A j ur y conv ic ted a ppel lan t, Rub en Z av ala F lor es, of thr ee c ounts of ind ecenc y w it h
a c hil d by

co ntac t. See T EX
. P EN AL C OD E A NN
. § 21. 11(a )(1) ( Verno n 20 03). T he jury
ass ess ed puni shment at ten y ear s’ impr is onment o n eac h c ount w it h a r ecommendat ion of proba tion. The trial court ente red a jud gmen t base d up on th e jury ’s v erdict. In a single is sue, appel lan t c ontends the tr ial co urt abu sed it s dis cr eti on i n admi tti ng hear say2

tes ti mony
. W e aff ir m. I. B A CKGRO UND C. K., a foster

ch il d, r esi ded w it h D ian n e W hit ing er , a li cens ed foster par ent, and ap pe l l an t, W hi ti ng er ’ s fi an c ee
. O n J an ua r y 1 3, 200 4, app el l an t en te r ed C .K .’ s b ed r oo m, touc hed her

br east s a nd v ag ina , and penet ra ted h er anus w it h his fing er , w hil e C .K. pr etended to be as lee p. The foll ow ing day , w hile a t schoo l, C .K. tol d tw o of her fri ends about the inc ide nt. Her tw o frie nds then communi cat ed w it h Gi lbe rt o Iz q uie rd o, an on- duty
sc hool pol ic e off ic er
. The subj ect of thi s c ommunic ati on forms the basi s o f this appeal

. II. B A CKDOO R H EA R SA Y Appel lan t’ s s ole co ntent ion i s t hat t he tr ial co urt er red b y ov er ru li ng hi s h ear say obj ect ion to Off ic er

Iz q uie rd o’s testim o ny
. Acc or din g to appel lan t, all ow ing Officer Iz q uie rd o to tes ti fy that C.K.’ s tw o f ri ends tol d him that C.K. had a “ pr obl em” that happened “t he nig ht before” w as bac kdoor hear say that se rv ed onl y

to pr ov e the matte r ass erted. A po lic e o f

f ice r’ s t est imony

i s n ot he ar say

w hen i t i s o ff er ed for the p ur pose of
ex pla ini ng how

a de fendant bec ame a s uspec t rath er than for t he tr uth o f the matt er
ass er ted. Dinkins v

. Stat e , 894 S.W .2d 3 30, 3 47 ( Tex . C ri m. App. 1995)

. In ad dit ion , an off ic er ’s tes ti mony

is not hears ay

w hen it is admitted, not for the tr uth, but t o es tabl is h the
cour se of ev ents and ci rc umstan ces leadi ng to a def endant’ s arr est

. Thor ton v

. Stat e , 994 S. W .2 d 84 5 , 8 5 4 (T e x. Ap p .– Fo rt W o rt h 1 9 9 9 , p e t. ref ’d ) (ci ti n g Ree d v

. Stat e , 794 S.W .2d 806 , 809 (Tex. App. –Hou ston [ 1 4 t h D ist.] 19 90, pet. ref ’d)). “ T he critical question is whe ther ther e i s a n ine sc apabl e c oncl usi on t h a t a p i e c e o f e v i d e n c e i s b e i n g o ffe r ed to prove state me nts made outsid e the courtroo m. ” Id . (qu o ti n g Scha ffer v

. Stat e , 777 S.W .2d 111, 114 ( Tex . C ri m. App. 1989) ).3

Ass uming , w it h o u t d eci din g , t hat O ff ic er Iz q uie rd o’s tes ti mony

r ela y ed an out- of
c o u rt -s t a t e m e n t , we n o n e t h e le s s co n c lu d e t h a t h is t e s t im o n y d id n o t co n s t it u t e h e a rs a y. W e c annot ine sc apabl y co ncl ude t hat O f

f ice r Iz q uie rd o’s tes ti mony i n thi s i nst ance w as off er ed to pr ov e sta tements made outs ide the cour tr oom. See T

hor ton , 994 S.W .2d a t 854 (ci ti n g Shaff

er , 777 S.W .2d at 114 ). Instea d, w e con clude t h a t O f f icer Iz quierdo’s tes ti mony

w as admit ted t o ex pla in how appel lan t became a sus pect in the i nv est ig ati on and to es tabl is h the co ur se of ev ents and ci rc umstan ces l eadi ng to appella n t’ s a rrest. See Di nki ns , 894 S.W .2d a t 347 ; see als o T hor ton , 9 9 4 S. W .2 d at 85 4 (cit in g R e ed , 794 S.W .2d at 80 9) ; Gar

ci a v
. Stat e , No. 13-0 5-40 8-CR, 2007 Te x . App . LEXIS 50 80, at *8-9 (Tex . Ap p.–C or pus Chr is ti Ju ne 28, 2007, no p et.) ( mem. o p ., not desi g nated for publ ic ati on)

. Even if th e ad mission of Of f icer’s Iz quierdo’s state me nt w as error, it w as ha rmless under ru le of ap pel lat e pr ocedu re 44.2( b)

. W e must di sr eg ar d a n on- cons ti tuti onal er ro r that does not a f

f e ct a p p e llant ’s su bst anti al ri g hts

. T EX
. R. A PP
. P. 44.2( b)

. At t ri al, the Stat e c all ed G. P, C .K.’ s f rie n d , w ho te sti fied, w it hout obj ect ion , t o the sa me i nformati on provided by Of

f icer Izq uierdo . Moreover, assistant principa l Leticia Gon z alez testif ied, a lso
w ithou t obje ction, that Of f icer Iz quierdo had inf orme d he r that C.K.’s two frien ds ha d told him that “C .K. w as cr

y ing and upset .” Thus , i n l ig ht of this proper ly

admi tted ev ide nce and
v iew ing the re cor d as a w hol e, w e hav e a fair as sur ance that any

pur por ted e rr or i n r ela ti on to t he admi ss ion of Off ic er Iz q uie rd o’s sta tement nei ther influ enced the fact finder nor had
more than a s li g ht effect. See Gar ci a v
. Stat e , 126 S. W .3d 9 21, 9 27 ( Tex . C ri m. App. 2004) ; Johns on v
. Stat e , 9 6 7 S. W .2 d 41 0 , 4 1 7 (T e x. Crim . A p p . 1 9 9 8 ) (ci ti n g T EX
. R. A PP
. 44.2( b) ; Ki

ng v
. Stat e , 953 S.W .2d 2 66 ( Tex

. Cr im. App. 1997) ); s e e a l s o P e r e z v
. Stat e ,4

1 1 3 S. W .3 d 81 9 , 8 3 1 (T e x. Ap p .– Au s t i n 2 0 0 3 , p e t. ref ’d ) (ci ti n g Brooks v

. Stat e , 990 S.W .2d 2 78, 2 87 ( Tex . C ri m. App. 1999) ( hol din g tha t any er ro r in the a dmis si on of hear say tes ti mony

w as har mles s in li g ht of oth er pr oper ly admi tted ev ide nce pr ov idi ng the same fact s) ). Appel lan t’ s s ole i ss ue on appeal i s o v er ru led

. III
. C ONCL US I ON The ju dg ment of the tr ial co urt i s a ff ir med.

RO GELI O VA LDE Z Chief Justice Do not p ubl is h. T EX
. R. A PP
. P. 47 .2(b). Me moran dum Opi nio n del iv er ed and filed thi s t he 25 day

of Aug ust , 200 8. th