Court Opinion

ID: 9756695
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:48:20.149739+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:28.316195
License: Public Domain

CONCURRING OPINION
Concurring Opinion by:
STEVEN C. HILBIG, Justice.
I cannot agree with the majority’s conclusion that Alcocer waived his point of error because “the error presented on appeal does not comport with the objection raised in the trial court....” At trial, Alco-cer requested the court to include in the jury charge an instruction under Article 38.23 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, based on a purported violation of the criminal trespass statute by the police. In his sole point of error, Alcocer complains the trial court erred when it failed “to instruct the jury concerning alleged illegality by the trespassing police in obtaining evidence without a search warrant in violation of Art. 88.23(a), Tex.Code of Crim. Proc. [sic] ...” Alcocer’s complaint is the same before both tribunals.
The majority opinion however, refuses to consider the merits of Alcocer’s complaint because the argument on appeal in support of his point of error was not made to the trial court. On appeal, Alcocer asserts the jury instruction should have been given because a factual dispute existed concerning a “no trespassing” sign. The sign is clearly visible in a photograph admitted as Defendant’s Exhibit 1, yet a police witness denied the sign was present on the day the evidence was seized. During the jury charge conference, the trial judge requested Alcocer to detail what facts concerning the seizure of the drugs were in dispute. Alcocer never mentioned the “no trespassing” sign. The majority seizes upon this failure to avoid addressing the merits of Alcocer’s complaint.
To preserve error, our appellate rules simply require that the “complaint was made to the trial court by a timely request ... that stated the grounds for the ruling ... with sufficient specificity to make the trial court aware of the complaint, unless the specific grounds were apparent from the context.” Tex.R.App. P. 33.1(a)(1)(A). From the context of the discussion during the charge conference, it is clear Alcocer’s complaint was that he was entitled to an Article 38.23 instruction because the police illegally trespassed upon his property by proceeding around to his backyard. A plain reading of the record reveals that during the charge conference, the trial judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney were discussing whether Alcocer was entitled to such instruction on that basis. Both sides had presented testimony before the jury that the house was enclosed by a fence that would have provided sufficient notice that entry was forbidden under the criminal trespass statute. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 30.05 (Vernon Supp.2007); Jackson v. State, 3 S.W.3d 58 (Tex.App.Dallas 1999, no pet.) However, the trial judge properly focused the discussion on whether there were sufficient disputed facts concerning the seizure of the drug evidence to warrant the Article 38.23 instruction. Because Alcocer did not articulate what facts were in dispute, the trial court denied the instruction. On appeal, in order to support his point of error, Alcocer points to the only apparent fact in dispute concerning the alleged trespass by police-the existence of a “no trespassing” sign. In doing so, Alcocer is not changing the basis of his objection but attempting to demonstrate that the trial court erred in failing to give the requested instruction because there was at least one fact in dispute.
*402This court should address the merits of Alcocer’s point of error. Public confidence in our criminal justice system is eroded when we fail to address the merits of a complaint because we too broadly construe the rules applicable to waiver. By finding waiver, the majority seemingly engrafts a new requirement onto Rule 33.1 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. Based on its conclusion, the majority appears to require a party not only to object to a court’s action and state the ground for the objection, but also to make all supporting arguments to the trial court or else waive such argument on appeal. The presentment of all arguments versus presentment of grounds for the objection has never been required to avoid waiver on appeal.
While Alcocer preserved his complaint, I agree with the trial court that the evidence did not raise a sufficient factual dispute requiring submission of the requested instruction to the jury. Accordingly, I concur in the judgment of this court.