i i i i i i



### MEMORANDUM OPI NIO N No s. 04 -0 7 -0 05 52 -C R & 04 -0 7- 00 55 3- CR

J ohn Eric G AR CI A , Ap pe lla nt
v . The STA TE of

Te xas, Appellee Fr om the 226th J udicial District Court, Be x ar County , Texas Trial Court Nos. 2006-CR-2946 & 2006-CR-2947 Honora ble Sid Harle, Judge Pre siding Opinion by : Steven C. Hilbig, Just ice Sitt ing: Kar en Ang elini, J ustice

Rebec ca Simmons, J ustice Steven C. Hilbig, Just ice Deliver ed and F iled: Fe bruar y 25, 2009 AFF I RMED J ohn Eric Ga

rcia was charg ed in separ ate indictments with the murder of J onathan Sanc hez and the a g g ravated assault of G abrie l Martinez. The ca uses wer e tried tog ether to a jury , which found Gar cia guilty

of both offe nses and a ssessed a life sentenc e on the murde r cha rg e and twe nty

y ear s
on the a g g ra vate d a ssa ult . G arc ia a

pp e a ls the mur de r j ud g me nt i n App e a l N umb e r 0 4- 07 -0 05 52 -C R
and the a g g ra vate d a ssa ult jud g me nt i n App e a l N umb e r 0 4- 07 -0 05 53 -C R. G arc ia argue s in e a c h c a se04
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- 00 55 2- CR & 04
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- 00 55 3- CR

- 2- that th e ind ic tme nts fa ile d to al lege ven ue a nd the e vid e nc e is l e g a lly

and fa c tua lly ins uf fi c ie nt t o
su pp or t th e jud g me nt. We a ff

ir m bo th j ud g me nts
.

V E NUE Gar cia f irst argues t he judgments are void beca use the indictments did not alleg e venue and there fore failed to ve st the trial court with jurisdiction to hear the matters. We disag ree . An ind ic tme nt is r e qu ir e d to “ sh owtha t th e pla c e wh e re the of

fe ns e wa s c omm itt e d is wi thi n the jurisdiction of the cour t in which the indictment is presente d.” T EX . C ODE C R IM . P R OC . ANN . a rt
. 21.02(5) ( Ver

non 1989). Venue is ple aded sufficie ntly in a murder or ag g ravated assault ca se if the i n d i ct m en t alleg es the off ense w as committed in the county wher e the pr osecution is maintained. See id. art . 1 3. 17 (V e rn on

20 05 ); Ne v ar e

z v . S tat e , 503 S.W .2d 767, 768-69 (Te x . Crim. App. 1974). I n th e se c a se s, the fi rs t pa ra g ra phof e a c h in dic tme nt s ta te s: I N TH E N AM E A

ND B Y T HE AU TH OR I TY OF TH E ST AT E O F TE XA S, the Gra nd J ury of B exar County , State of Texas, duly org anized, empa n el led and sworn as suc h at the Marc h term A.D., 2006, of the 399TH Judicial District Court of sai d C o u n t y , i n said Court, at said term, do pre sent in and to said Court that in the Cou nty an d S tat e afo re sa id , and ante rior to the pre sent of this indictment, and . . . (empha sis added). Ea ch indictment continues with alleg ations of the date and ele ments of the char g ed off

ense. The phrase “in the County and S t at e af

oresa id” unmistakably

ref ers to B exar County , Texas, where the g rand jury was empane lled. The indictment the g rand jury prese nted to the court ther efor e ef

fec tively alleg ed that: in Be x ar County , Texas, anterior to pr esentment a nd on or ab o u ta c er t ai nd at e, Ga rc i a co m m i t t ed al l t h e e l em en t s o f t h e o ff en s e. T h i s wa s s u ff

i ci en tt o al l ege
venue. See Los he v . S

tat e , 3 87 S.W. 2d

38 9, 39 0 ( Te x. Cr im. Ap p. 19 65 ); Ow e ns v . S tat e , 1 6 2 T e x. Crim. 212, 283 S.W .2d 749, 754 (1955) ( op. on reh’ g ).04
- 07
- 00 55 2- CR & 04
- 07
- 00 55 3- CR

- 3- S U FF I C I ENC Y OF THE E VI DE NCE The c harg es ag ainst Garc ia ar ose out of a g ang -re lated fig ht that took place on January 20, 2006, on St. J ames Stree t in San Antonio. The fig ht le ft J onathan Sanchez dea d and Ga briel Mar tinez wi th a se ri ou s g un sh ot wo un d in his thi g h. Ga rc ia argue s th e e vid e nc e is b oth le g a lly and fa c tua lly insufficient to prove he shot either ma n. Legal Sufficiency We reviewthe evidenc e for leg al suffic iency by looking at all of the evide nce in the lig ht most favora

ble to the ver dict to determine w hether an y ra t i o n al trier of fac t could have f

ound the essential ele ments of the off ense be y ond a re asonable doubt. Pr ibl e v . S tat e , 175 S.W .3d 724, 729- 30 (Tex. Crim. App.), cert. de nied , 546 U.S. 962 (2005). We re solve any inconsi s t en ci es in the testimony in favor of

the ver dict. Cur

ry v . S tat e , 30 S.W .3d 394, 406 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000). The State’s the ory was that the fight resulted from incre asing tensions betwee n Gar cia a nd the rival g angto which Martinez an d J o n athan Sanc hez belong ed. About two we eks bef ore the shooting, Ga

rcia and fe llow ga

ng member Jesse Wahl had a he ated e x chang e with Martin ez after Martinez alleg edly

tried to r un Gar cia over with a car . Both Gar cia and Martinez fired shots during the conf rontation and Ga

rcia was a ng ry about it. The a fternoon of

J anuar y 20th, Wahl was with his friend Rudy Sanchez, who wa s upset that his common-law-w ife, Peg g y , had moved into a house on St. J ames Stree t. Rudy suspected Ma

rtinez and Jonathan Sanchez, who we re f riends of the people who lived at the St. J ames Stree t house, wer e havin g se xua l r e la tio ns wi th P e g g y . Ru dy ha d c a lle d th e ho us e nume ro us tim e s th a t da y , tr y ingto sp e a k to his wi fe . Fi na lly , J on a tha n g ot on the ph on e and e xch ang e d inf lammator y wo rd s w ithbo th Rudy and Wahl. They

repor ted the incident to Ga

rcia
.04
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- 00 55 2- CR & 04
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- 00 55 3- CR

- 4- Gar cia de cided it was time to “squa sh a bee f” a nd either he or an int er m ed i ar y called J onathan San chez t o arr ang e a f ight to settle their dif

fer ence s. I t was ag ree d that Wahl and Rudy would fig ht J onathan Sanc hez and Martinez that ni gh t
. T h e fig ht was to take pla ce in Ga rcia ’s neig hborhood and w as to be with fists only . Gar cia told J onathan Sanchez to le ave any g uns at home. Martinez and Jonathan Sanchez dec ided not to venture into the riva l ga ng ’s neig hborhood alone a nd unarme d, and ins tead went to the hous e on St. J ames Stree t. When J onathan Sanc hez and M arti n e z fa il e d to s h o w u p f o r th e f ig h t, G ar c ia , h is c o u s in , Wah l, Ru dy Sa n c h e z, L e e Ra

y N u ñ e z, and at lea st three others drove in two car s to the hous e on St. J ames Stree t. When they arr ived and g ot out of their ca

rs, Martinez and J onathan Sanchez, who had bee n on the porc h, hurried out to mee t them. A fe w people shook hands, but sever al fist fig hts soon broke out. Mar tinez testi fied he beg an fi g hti ngwi th Ga

rc ia ’s c ou sin and the n sev e ra l ot he r p e op le jum

pe d o n M art ine z an d k

no c ke d h im to the g ro un d. Th e y c on tin ue d to be a t and kic k him wh ile he wa s on the g ro un d. At on e po int , Martinez looked up and saw a hand with a gun point ed at him, hear d a shot, and fe lt his l ower body g o numb. Martinez testified he did not s ee who was holding the g un, but he saw the person turn
awa y fr om h im a

nd wa lk t o w he re Jonatha

n Sa nc he z wa s f

ig hti ng . M art ine z the n h e ard ano the r s ho t. Wahl and Rudy

Sanchez testified that af

ter the fig hting broke out, they and L ee Ra

y Nunez
wer e fig hting with Jona t h an Sanche z, and Garc ia and his cousin we re f ightingMartinez. Wahl testified he sa

w Gar cia f

all, then ge t u p , wa l k t o one of the car s, and then wa lk back to whe re Gar cia’ s cousin was fig hting Ma rtinez. W ahl hea

rd a gunshot, saw a “flame” out of the cor ner of his ey e, and sa

w Martinez fa ll to the gr ound. Ac c or din g to Wa hl, a t t he tim e he he ard

the fi rs t g unshot, Rudy

was still fighting with J onathan Sanchez. Rudy testified he was fig hting J onathan a nd04
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- 00 55 2- CR & 04
- 07
- 00 55 3- CR

- 5- ha d fa lle n to the g ro un d w he n h e he ard the fi rs t g un sh ot f

ro m th e dir e c tio n w he re Ga rc ia and his cousin wer e fig hting with Mar tinez. Wahl and Rudy

testified they

ran to the ca rs af

t er the first shot, leaving Nunez fig hting J onathan Sanc hez. Accor ding to Wahl, when he arr ived at the car, Rudy was a lrea dy

sitti ng in the dri v er ’s seat. Wahl looked bac k and sawGar cia wa lk to where Nunez was holding J onathan Sanc he z an d s aw G arc ia

sh oo t Sanc he z. Rudy

te sti fi e d h e wa s in

the c ar w he n h e saw G arc ia wa lk to where J onathan Sanc hez was fig hting a nd saw a g un in G arc ia’s hand. He he ard a g unshot, but did not see the actua l shooting. He further testified the onl y person he saw with a gun w as Ga rcia
. After the sec ond shot, e veryone ran back to the car s and drove awa y leavingMartinez and Jonathan Sanchez wounded on the g round. Sanche z died before medical he lp arrive d. Two of the State’ s witnesses, Romel Ray os and J immy Almendar ez, testified about Ga rcia ’s la te r s ta te me nts a

bo ut t he sh oo tin g . Ra

y os wa s a me mbe r o f G arc ia ’s g ang , wh o wa s n e ve rt he le ss
ve ry c los e to Jon a tha

n Sa nc he z an d c on sid e red

Mart ine z a f

ri e nd . Ra y os we nt t o G arc ia ’s ho us e afte r g etting of

f work on the night of

J anuar y 20th. Ray os testified Gar cia appea red to be “in shock”
and the n h e tol d Ra

y os he ha d s ho t Ma

rt ine z. Ga

rc ia vis ite d Al me nd are z the mor nin g a ft e r t

he St. J ames Stree t shooting. Wahl and Almenda rez’s brother -in-law w ere also prese nt. Al mendar ez testified Gar cia talke d about what ha ppened the night be fore , saying he had “bla sted” Mar tinez and J onathan Sanc hez and fel t b ad about i t. Garc ia told them all not to say any thing a bout it or “something would happen.” Ra y o s an d Al mendar ez also testified about a shooting incident that occ urre d in front of Gar cia’ s house on J anuar

y 14th, approxim ately

one we ek bef

ore the St. J ames Stree t shooting. Ray os testified Gar cia wa s upset that night be cause his young er sister was late coming home. When she04
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- 00 55 2- CR & 04
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- 00 55 3- CR

- 6- finally arr ived in a vehic le driven by a male f riend, Ga rcia went outside, g un in ha

nd, to confront the dri v er ab o u tt h e l a t e h o u r. T h e d ri v er b ega nfi ri n g at Ga rc i a a n d h i tGa rc i a’ s co u s i ni nt h e l eg. Gar cia r eturne d fire, a

nd Ray os estimated Gar cia f ired seve n or eig ht times. After the c ar drove off , Ga rc ia g a ve Ray os the g un

and tol d h im t o “ sta shit. ” Ray os ide nti fi e d St a te ’s Ex hi bi t 20 a s a photogr aph of G arc ia holding a .45 caliber

pistol. R ay os te s t i fi ed the wea pon in the picture w as Gar cia’ s g un and wa s the g un Gar cia g ave him to hide afte r the January 14th shooting. Almenda

rez testified he he ard “ a lot” g unfire c oming f rom the direc tion of Gar cia’ s house that night and saw a
car speedingawa

y from the house . Gar cia later t old him the people in the ca r starte d shooting a

nd that he shot bac k at the ca r. Almenda

rez testified Ga

rcia car ried a .45 caliber

pistol. The B exar County

medical e x aminer te stified J onathan Sanc hez died from a sing le g unshot wound to the che st that pierce d the hea rt and a lung. T he State’s f irea rm’s examiner, Eda

rd L ove, testified the bullet re cover ed fr om Sanchez’s body was .45 caliber
. Ba sed on t he mar kings on the sp e nt s lug , L ov e de te rm ine d it wa s f ir e d f ro m a we a po n ma nu fa c tur e d b y

on e of thr e e c omp a nie s – L lama, Rug er, or

Tanfog lio. L ove identified the wea po n i n State’s Exhi bit 20 as a pistol manufa cture d by Tanfog lio. One shell ca sing w as re cover ed at the St. J ames Stree t shooting sce ne, wh i ch L o v e i d en t i fi edas a . 4 5 ca l i b er ca s i n g. L ove also e x amined e i gh t shell casing s collecte d by police in front of

Gar cia’ s house on Janu ary 14 th, and c omp are d the m to the .4 5 c a sin g fo un d on St. Jame s Str e e t. L ov e c on c lud e d a ll eig ht .45 caliber casing s found at Gar cia’ s home wer e fired from the same we ap o n . He fu rt her
co n cl u d edt h e c as i n g fo u n d at S t
. J am es S t re et wa s fi re d fr o m t h e s am e we ap o n t h at fi re d t h e c as i n gs found at Ga

rcia ’s home.04
- 07
- 00 55 2- CR & 04
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- 00 55 3- CR

- 7- Ga rc ia c on te nd s th e e vid e nc e is le g a lly ins uf fi c ie nt be c a

us e no bo dy wi tne sse d G arc ia a ssa ult Martinez and the e y ewitness testimony that he shot J onathan was unreliable . The State’s w itnesses testified that immediately befor e Martinez was shot, Gar cia went to the ca r and the n walked to whe re Martinez was fig hting. Immediately afte r Mar

tinez was shot, both W ahl and Ru d y S an ch ez saw Gar cia, with a gun in his hand, walk to J onathan Sanc hez. Wahl sa w Ga rcia shoot J onathan Sanchez, and it is rea sonable to conc lude from Martinez’s testimony that Martinez was shot by the same pe rson who shot J onathan. Ga rcia told both R ay os and Almenda rez he wa s the shooter. F urther, the State pre sented e vidence linking the bullet that killed J onathan Sanc hez to Garc ia’s g un. The jury was fr ee to be lieve any

part of the se witnesses’ s testimony and to dra w re asonable infere nces f rom the e vid e nc e . Aratio na l tr ie r o f f a c t c ou ld h a ve c on c lud e d f ro m th e State ’s e vi den ce that Ga rc ia murdere d J onathan Sanc hez and committed ag g ravated assault o n Martinez. Acc ording ly , the evidenc e is leg ally

sufficie nt to support the judgments.

Factual S ufficiency I n a cha lleng e to the fa ctual suff iciency of the e vidence , we look at the e vidence in a neutra l light, g iving a lmost complete defe renc e to the jury ’s deter minations of cre dibilit y . Lan c on v . S tat e , 253 S.W .3d 699, 705 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008). We rever se only i f t h e evidenc e supporting the verdic t is so weak that the ve rd ict seems cle arly wrongand manife stly

unjust or if the evidenc e supporting the verdic t is outweig hed by the g reat weig ht and pre pondera nce of the evidenc e. W

atson
v . S tat e , 204 S.W .3d 404, 414-15 (Te x . Crim. App. 2006). I n his c h a l l e n g e t o t h e f a c tu a l s u f

f i c i e n c y o f t h e e v i d e n c e , G ar c i a

p o i n t s o u tm u l t i ple inconsistencies in the testimony about who initiated the fig ht, why they wer e fig hting, a

nd who rode in w hic h v e hic le to a

nd fr om S t. Jame s Str e e t. H e c on te nd s Wahl’ s e y ewi tn ess t e sti mony is04
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- 00 55 2- CR & 04
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- 00 55 3- CR

- 8- unreliable beca

use Wahl admitte d ly ing dur ing his fir st interview with police a nd beca use Wahl him se lf ha d a mot ive fo r r e ta liatin g a g a ins t th e oth e r g ang . G arc ia c ha lle ng e d th e S tate ’s ba lli sti c evidenc e with his sister’s and c ousin’s testimony that Gar cia did not have a g un or shoot a we apon during the shooting at Garc ia’s house on January 14. Gar cia a lso relies hea

vily on the testimony

of Ronald Robinson, who lived down the block fr om w he re the St. Jame s Stre e t shoo tin g oc c ur re d. Rob ins on , who wa s in pr iso n at th e tim e of

tr ia l, t e s t i f i e d h e s aw t w o c a

r s , a w h i t e o n e an d

a d ar k o n e , p u l l u

p t o t h e h o u s e an d

s e v e no r e i g h tg u ys jump out and start fig hting with two men at the hous e. He testified t hat all the m en but one g ot back into the car s befor e the shooti ng started. The one who r emained the n shot the two victims and left in the da rk c ar. B e c a

us e the oth e r w itn e sse s c on sis te ntl y te sti fi e d G arc ia

le ft the sc e ne in t

he wh ite
car , Gar cia c ontends the evide nce e stablishes he could not have been the shooter. Howe ver, Robinson concede d he sawthe eve nts from at lea s t four houses away , it was dark, a nd there wer e no lights. More over, his testimony that ever y one ex cept the shooter had r eturne d to the car s befor e the shooting star

ted is contradic ted by

all the par

ticipants who testified. F i n a l l y, G ar c i a

ar g u e s “ t h e g r e a tw e i g h tan d p r e p o n d e r an c e o f t h e e v i d e n c e p o i n t e d t o R u dy”
as the person who shot Ma rtinez a nd J onathan. There was substantial e vidence that Rudy Sanchez
was e x tremely

upset about his wife living at the house on St. J ames Stree t. Martinez testified Rudy
c a ll e d th e h o u s e o nth e d ay o f th e s h o o ti n g , s ay in g h e w a s c o mi n g o v e r to k il l M arti n e z an d

Sa n c h e z. A S an Antonio police detective who spoke t o Martinez in the ambulanc e just after the shooting a sked Mart ine z if

Rud y Sanc he z sho t hi m. T he de te c tiv e te sti fi e d M art ine z, w ho wa s in a g re a t dea l of p a in at t he ti me, gave what the detec tive interpre ted as a positive response. Samuel Me ndoza, who lived at the St. J ames Stree t house and spoke to Ma rtinez imm ediately

afte r t he shoot ing, also told poli ce04
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- 00 55 2- CR & 04
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- 00 55 3- CR

- 9- Martinez said Rudy

shot him. At t rial, howe ver , M en d o z a clar ified that he a sked Mar tinez what happene d and Mar

tinez responded, “Rudy

and the WD something , or W – that other g ang .” Martinez testi fied he did not remember telling a ny one that Rudy

shot him. Martinez l ater picked Rudy out of a photo lineup, telling the police he r ecog nized Rudy as a pe rson who wa s prese nt at the fig ht, but not as the shooter. I t w as t h e j ury ’s re sponsibili ty to resolve the c onflicts in the evidenc e and w eig h the
cre dibilit y

choice s. We must aff

ord “af ford almost c omplete def

ere nce to a

jury ’s dec ision when that decision is based upon a n evaluation of cre dibilit y .” Lancon , 253 S.W .3d at 705. Her e, the jury resolved those issues in f

avor of the State’s theory that Gar cia, not Rudy Sanchez, was the shooter. Gi vin g de fe re nc e to t

he jur y ’s re so lut ion of the c re dib ili ty iss ue s, the State ’s e vid e nc e that G a rc ia
s h o tG a b r i e l M art i n e z an d J o n a t h an S an c h e z i s n o t g r e a t l y o u t w e i g h e d b y e v i d e n c e t o t h e c o n t r a r y. Nor wa s the evidenc e so we ak that the ve rdict is clea rly wrongand manife stly

unjust. We theref ore a ffirm the judg ments of the trial c ourt.
Steven C. Hilbig , J ustice

Do No t Pu

bli sh