### IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS No. 10
- 11 - 00270
- CR ALEX TAYLOR FORD , Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS , Appellee

From the 85th District Court Brazos County, Texas Trial Court No. 10
- 01413
- CRF
- 85

MEMORANDUM OPINION
Alex Ford was charged and co nvicted of the felony offense of intoxication
assault. T EX
. P ENAL C ODE A NN . § 49.07 (West 2011). Punishment was enhanced to a second degree felony because the assault was alleged to have been committed against a police officer. Id . § 49.09(b

- 1) (West Su pp. 2012). Ford was sentenced to six years in prison. We affirm.
B ACKGROUND Ford was a 21

- year - old living in Houston but partying one night in CollegeFord v. State Page 2

Station in a borrowed Maserati. After going to several bars and drinking anywhere
from 5 to 15 drinks , she and several acquaintances piled in the Maserati to take one of them home. Ford drove wildly. After dropping off one person, Ford and the remainder of the group decided to go to Whataburger. She was speeding, going approximately 80 miles an hour, w hen she approached a curve in the road and hit a police cruiser head on. The officer’s hip and ankle were severely damaged. No one, however, was killed.
R ETROGRADE E XTRAPOLATION By Ford’s first issue, she complains that the trial court erred in overrulin g her objection to the State’s expert testimony of Dr. Dennis regarding retrograde extrapolation. The State contends that Ford did not preserve her complaint for review because the objection at trial was not the same as the argument made on appeal and
bec ause Ford did not continue to object each time evidence of retrograde extrapolation
was offered. As a prerequisite to presenting a complaint on appeal, a party must have made a timely and specific request, objection, or motion to the trial court. T EX
. R. A PP
. P

. 33.1(a)(1)(A). Additionally, a party's "point of error on appeal must comport with the objection made at trial." Wilson v. State , 71 S.W.3d 346, 349 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002); see also Broxton v. State , 909 S.W.2d 912, 918 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995) (po int of error raised on appeal must correspond to objection made at trial); Grant v. State , 345 S.W.3d 509, 512 (Tex. App.

— Waco 2011, pet. ref’d). It is also necessary that the objecting party mustFord v. State Page 3

continue to object each time the objectionable question or evidence is offered, obtain a running objection, or request a hearing outside the jury's presence in order to preserve a complaint for appellate review. See Martinez v. State , 98 S.W.3d 189, 193 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003); Fuentes v. State , 991 S.W.2d 267, 2 73 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999); Grant , 345
S.W.3d at 512

- 513. After Dr. Dennis testified about elimination rate of alcohol and tolerance, the State asked a hypothetical question to which Ford objected. Both are set out below. Q. I have a couple of q uestions th at I would like to ask you. If you found

— you took a woman

— female that was 5

- foot 2 inches tall and 110 pounds and that female began drinking at 11:30 and they drank until 1:00 or 1:30, in order for that person to be under a .08 at 3:07 in the morning, how much could they have consumed? Objection: Your Honor, at this time I’m going to object to any kind of retrograde extrapolation without more showing from the State if they had

— how much food was been consumed and those kind of

— I mean, my understanding of the law is you’ve got to have a better showing than just this, Your Honor. Ford appears to be objecting about the lack of a predicate; that is, not enough information has been presented before the hypothetical could be asked. On appeal, she complains tha t Dr. Dennis was not qualified to testify about retrograde extrapolation and that his testimony was neither relevant nor reliable. What Ford argues on appeal does not comport with the objection made at trial. Further, Dr. Dennis answered more questions r egarding retrograde extrapolation such as what the hypothetical female’s blood alcohol concentration would be at 3:07Ford v. State Page 4

a.m. after drinking seven drinks between 11:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. and whether Dr. Dennis could conceive of a situation, after reading Ford ’s statement, where Ford’s blood alcohol concentration would be below .08 at 3:07. Ford did not object again to the doctor’s testimony in this area and did not request a running objection. Ford’s complaint about the retrograde extrapolation testimony is not preserved,
and her first issue is overruled.
P UNISHMENT E VIDENCE In her second and third issues, Ford contends the trial court erred by admitting
into evidence during the punishment phase , in violation of Texas Rules of Evidence 401
and 403 , a stateme nt made by Ford. T EX
. R. E VID . 401, 403. Zach Bimslager, a passenger with Ford before the accident, testified at punishment. He had been “bar hopping” and had asked Ford for a ride home. On the way home, Ford drove aggressively: speeding, passing pe ople in turn lanes, and almost running red lights. It concerned him. At his house, when he and the other passengers were commenting on how Ford was driving, Ford scoffed and commented that the others were country bumpkins and that was the way people in H ouston drove. Also at the house, Zach asked Ford where she got the Maserati. Ford said she was a lawyer, but Zach knew that she was not. So he asked again and she replied, “Pussy rules the world.” Ford objected, prior to the completion of the statement , on the grounds that it was irrelevant and even if relevant, its probative value was substantially outweighed byFord v. State Page 5

its prejudicial effect.
Rule 401

— Relevance At the punishment phase of a criminal trial, evidence may be presented as to any
matter that the court deems relevant to sentencing, including evidence of the defendant's background or character. See T EX
. C ODE C RIM
. P ROC
. A NN . art. 37.07 § 3(a)(1) (West Supp. 2012). Determining what is relevant is a question of what is helpful to the jury in determ ining the appropriate sentence for a particular defendant in a particular case. Rogers v. State , 991 S.W.2d 263, 265 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999); Woodward v.
State , 170 S.W.3d 726, 729 (Tex. App.

— Waco 2005, pet. ref’d). Ford had filed an application for commun ity supervision with the trial court. The statement was relevant to show Ford’s character and helpful to the jury in determining whether Ford was a good candidate for community supervision. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in overruling Ford’ s Rule 401 objection, and her
second issue is overruled.
Rule 403

— Probative Value vs. Unfair Prejudice Although relevant, evidence may still be excluded under Rule 403 if the danger of unfair prejudice substantially outweighs the probative value of the evi dence. T EX
. R. A PP
. P. 403. Rule 403 favors admission of relevant evidence and carries a presumption that relevant evidence will be more probative than prejudicial. Allen v. State , 108 S.W.3d 281, 284 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003); Jones v. State , 944 S.W.2d 6 42, 652

- 53 (Tex. Crim. App.Ford v. State Page 6

1996). The trial court has broad discretion in conducting a Rule 403 balancing test, and we will not lightly disturb its decision. Allen , 108 S.W.3d at 284. All testimony and physical evidence are likely to be prejudicial to one party or the other. Davis v. State , 329 S.W.3d 798, 806 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010); Jones , 944 S.W.2d at 653. It is only when there exists a clear disparity between the degree of prejudice of the offered evidence and its probative value that Rule 403 is applicable. Id . A proper Rule 403 analysis by either the trial court or a reviewing court includes, but is not limited to, the following factors: (1) the probative value of the evidence; (2) the potential to impress the jury in some irrational, yet indel ible, way; (3) the time needed to develop the evidence; and (4) the proponent's need for the evidence. Erazo v. State , 144 S.W.3d 487, 489 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004). The statement was probative of Ford’s general attitude of selfishness. It took no
time to d evelop and although an offensive word was part of the statement, it was not repeated after the trial court’s ruling, 1 and was not likely to make the jury behave irrationally in its decision. The State needed this statement to show Ford’s attitude and
to c ounter the coming testimony from family and friends as to Ford’s sweet nature and
tender

- heartedness. After reviewing the evidence in light of the factors, we find the trial court did not abuse its discretion in overruling Ford’s Rule 403 objection. Her third issue is

1 The statement was referenced again several times, however, by Ford’s counsel.Ford v. State Page 7

overruled.
C ONCLUSION Having overruled the issues properly presented, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

TOM GRAY Chief Justice Before Chief Justice Gray, Justice Davis, and Justice Scoggins Affirmed Opinion delivered and filed September 20, 2012 Do not publish [CR25]