Court Opinion

ID: 9773149
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:38:26.451563+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:50.417383
License: Public Domain

KINKEADE, Justice,
dissenting.
The majority holds that the trial court committed reversible error with its admission of State’s Exhibit 12, a letter written by the appellant while in jail awaiting his trial. I respectfully dissent from that holding.
*399POINT OP ERROR SIX
Even though the majority opinion does not address point of error six, my view of the case requires that I address it. Henson contends that the admission of his letter to a girlfriend constitutes reversible error. Henson complained of the portion of the letter which stated: “They offered me fifty years and I told them to stick that in their ass, so they said if I take it to court I would probably get 99 or life!” Henson objected because the comment contained references to plea negotiations and its prejudicial effect outweighed its probative value. The State argued that it was admissible under rule 410 of the newly adopted Texas Rules of Criminal Evidence. Under rule 410 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, containing the same language as Texas rule 410, for an accused’s statements to be excluded they must have been made for the purpose of obtaining a concession from the government. Gratuitous remarks made without the intent to negotiate a plea are admissible. See U.S. v. Ceballos, 706 F.2d 1198, 1203 (11th Cir.1983). Henson’s refusal of the State’s offer of fifty years indicates that he had no intent to accept that plea offer. He merely recited what he claimed was the State’s prediction of the sentence he would likely receive if he demanded his right to a trial. He mentioned no incriminating statements of his own. I would overrule Henson’s sixth point of error.
POINT OP ERROR SEVEN
I agree with the majority that Henson put his state of mind in issue when he responded to his counsel’s question as to his state of mind at the end of July. I part company with the majority at that juncture because I believe Henson put his state of mind at issue generally and not just at the time of his arrest. The majority fails to consider Henson’s entire testimony. When that consideration is made in this case, this statement by him about his state of mind plainly reflects that it is merely a part of the defense’s overall strategy of mitigation. I believe Henson’s entire testimony shows that the defense sought to use Henson’s testimony during the guilt-innocence phase of trial about the influence on Henson by the older co-defendants and Henson’s use of drugs and subsequent sobriety as mitigating circumstances. The evidence was a primer for what Henson knew would be the inevitable at the punishment phase of trial.
FACTS

Guilt-Innocence Phase Of Trial

The defense began its approach to mitigation through its direct examination of Henson during the guilt-innocence phase of trial. Henson stated that during his early years in high school he made good grades. He said he was elected Mr. Personality of Princeton High School two years in a row. Henson then stated all this changed when he began regular heavy usage of drugs. Henson described using a smorgasbord of drugs including methamphetamines, cocaine, crack, marihuana, and alcohol. He said these drugs frequently rendered him unable to remember things. As a result of this memory loss, he started failing his classes and ultimately dropped out of school. On the day in question, Henson admitted that he began ingesting drugs early in the day and continued to ingest and inject drugs throughout the day. In addition to Angela Stevens, the victim, Henson described a scene on the day of the murder controlled by his two older accomplices, ages nineteen and twenty. Henson claimed the drugs in his system destroyed any memory of killing Ms. Stevens. Henson claimed that the written statement he signed contains only information provided by the two co-defendants. He said that he only signed the statement because the police told him “things would go better if he cooperated.” He stated that he was “hallucinating” that night, with his memory “coming and going.” The events of that night are still not fully clear in his mind. Henson also admitted that during that entire summer he normally was high on some type of drug. The defense counsel then asked him how long he had been in jail. Henson responded that he had been in jail five months, with a good portion of that *400time in solitary confinement. The following exchange then occurred between the appellant and his attorney:
Q: Have you had an opportunity to clear your head of drugs since July?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Have you had an opportunity to look back on those situations?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Okay. How would you describe to the jury what your situation, what your state of mind was back, — end of — in July, when you were arrested?
A: Um — I don’t know, just total of not all there. The fact that I was on drugs — I believe every day, and totally different, you know, feeling than what I am now.
Later during the State’s cross-examination of Henson, the following exchange occurred:
Q: Mr. Henson, if I understand you correctly, you are not guilty of this offense because you were a walking drug store along last summer?
A: That’s right.
During closing argument, the State informed the jury of the following:
There is an instruction regarding the fact that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to criminal conduct. You have heard Mr. Henson get up here and talk about being a big drug addict. Well, that may be very true. He may be a big drug addict. I don’t know, that is what we heard from him, anyway. If he is, that is no defense. No defense whatsoever. I want you to make sure that you understand and know that.
During closing argument, the defense attorney attempted to portray Henson as an unsophisticated youth made irrational and confused to the point of not knowing what was going on because of narcotics. The defense attorney also characterized Henson as being led astray by his older, more sophisticated co-defendants. The court’s charge, which was not objected to by the defense counsel, clearly informed the jury that intoxication was not a defense. The only purpose of the defense’s introduction of the evidence about the drug use of Henson, the influence of the older co-defendants, and closing argument was for the jury to begin considering these mitigating circumstances during the guilt-innocence phase of trial anticipating the real war zone of this case, the punishment phase.

Punishment Phase Of Trial

The defense continued this approach to mitigation during the punishment phase of the trial. The State’s first witness was the mother of Henson’s girlfriend. She described Henson’s behavior around the time of Ms. Stevens’s disappearance. During cross-examination of the witness by the defense, the following exchange occurred:
Q: Mr. Prosecutor didn’t ask you what the words messed up means to you. Tell the jury what you meant by that?
A: Yes, Lee had told me that he had taken some—
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[Hearsay objection entered and overruled.]
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A: Lee had told me that he had taken some blue pills, and later, he told me that they were, it was acid, that he had taken several hits of acid, is what he said.
Q: By virtue of his behavior, was there any doubt in your mind about that?
A: No, I knew that he was messed up that night. I knew he was.
The defense attorney further went on to question the witness about Henson’s actions at the time. During the direct examination of a following witness,, the State introduced the letter at issue. The defense attorney (1) generally objected to the letter as irrelevant or immaterial to any issue before the jury in this particular phase of the trial and (2) specifically objected to the mention of plea negotiations in the letter. The court overruled both objections.
Initially on appeal the State alleged that the letter was relevant to rebut Henson’s above statement, during the guilt-innocence phase of trial, as to his state of mind both in July and at the time of trial. On rehearing the State alleges that the letter was *401also introduced to rebut Henson’s defensive theory of drug intoxication raised by Henson during the guilt-innocence phase of trial solely for the purpose of mitigation in the punishment phase. Apparently the State merely seeks to expand the reasoning behind its earlier argument, rather than setting out a new argument.

Open Door

Former section 3(a) of article 37.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure allowed the admission of the defendant’s character if the defendant “opens the door.” Murphy v. State, 777 S.W.2d 44, 46 (Tex.Crim.App.1989); Drew v. State, 777 S.W.2d 74, 76 (Tex.Crim.App.1989); King v. State, 773 S.W.2d 302, 303 (Tex.Crim.App.1989). In Murphy, the court held that the defendant’s answers to three questions to establish an initial right to probation did not “open the door” to the introduction of specific bad acts by the State. Murphy, 777 S.W.2d at 46. In Drew, the court held that the responsive testimony of a psychologist, as to defendant’s nonthreat to society if placed on probation, did not “open the door” to previous testimony offered by the State of specific bad conduct. Drew, 777 S.W.2d at 76. In King, after the defendant affirmatively stated he could and would meet the terms of probation, if granted, the court held that the defendant “opened the door” to the State’s responsive questions as to specific acts of misconduct. King, 773 S.W.2d at 303.
Henson’s trial took place after the adoption of the Texas Rules of Criminal Evidence, which favor the admission of all logically relevant evidence for the jury’s consideration. Montgomery v. State, Nos. 1090-88 & 1091-88, slip op. at 2 (Tex.Crim.App., May 30, 1990) (not yet reported). Furthermore, concomitant with adoption of the Texas Rules of Evidence, there should be a corresponding reluctance on the part of an appellate court to reverse trial court decisions which admit or exclude evidence. Courts and commentators universally recognize that with the enactment of federal rule 403, there was a conscious decision to give the trial court a considerable freedom in evaluating the probative value of the proffered evidence in relation to its prejudicial effect. Id. at 7. The court, affirming this court’s opinion in Montgomery, specifically dealt with the trial court’s admission of an extraneous offense. In a trial for indecency with a child, the defendant objected to the introduction of testimony that he had on several occasions paraded naked in front of his complainant minor daughters with an erect penis. The court held that even though the testimony did not fit snugly into any extraneous offense exception, the testimony was relevant evidence and the trial court’s decision to allow its admission should be upheld. In this case, during the guilt-innocence phase of trial, the defense “opened the door” to Henson’s character and state of mind at the time of the offense and, subsequently, through the date of the trial. In cross-examination during the punishment phase of trial prior to the introduction of the letter, the defense once again “opened the door” to the introduction of the letter with its request for answers from the witness about his taking of “acid” around the time of the victim’s disappearance. The responsive offer of the letter by the State rebuts the defense’s approach to mitigation, first begun during the guilt-innocence phase and continued during the punishment phase, that drugs and powerful, older companions caused Henson to kill. Clearly the letter shows the jury that five months later, with Henson now sober and free of drugs and in solitary confinement away from the influence of his older companions, his criminal state of mind remained unchanged.
Although the State only cites to Henson’s answer during the guilt-innocence phase in response to the defense’s question as to his state of mind during the end of July, when arrested, we should look at Henson’s entire testimony during the guilt-innocence phase.
(1) Throughout Henson’s testimony the defense sought to characterize Henson as the victim of drug abuse. He admitted using narcotics almost daily during the summer at issue. From the entire context of Henson’s testimony *402as to what he was like before drugs, while on drugs, and his state of mind five months after being off drugs, the defense attorney opened the door to state of mind evidence at least from the time of the arrest through the trial.
(2) The defense’s approach to mitigation during the guilt-innocence phase demonstrated that Henson had good grades and was “Mr. Personality” pri- or to drug use. Then after he used drugs, he changed to a crazed zombie that committed crimes with only glimpses of a memory of them. That Henson, now sober and drug free, saw the error of his wicked ways making him a good candidate for mercy. All of these facts placed in evidence by the defense put Henson’s state of mind into issue at least from the time of the offense through the date of trial.
(3) The defense’s characterization of Henson, during the closing argument of the guilt-innocence phase, as unsophisticated and under the influence of older companions, opened the door to evidence of Henson’s character.
The defense’s affirmative pursuit of a trial with only mitigation evidence both during the guilt-innocence phase and during the punishment phase of trial opened the door for the introduction by the State of relevant evidence of Henson’s character and/or state of mind at the time of the offense through the time of the trial. The letter at issue constitutes relevant evidence of both. Once Henson opened the door of evidentia-ry protection, the State may assault through that open door with all relevant evidence. The defense’s question, set out above, as to Henson’s state of mind should not be so narrowly construed, as the majority has done, to limit Henson’s statements of state of mind to only the time of his arrest.
Through its approach of mitigation, characterizing Henson as an unsophisticated youth made irrational by drugs and led astray by his older more sophisticated co-defendants throughout the guilt-innocence phase of trial, the defense “opened the door” for the State’s introduction of the letter into evidence during the punishment. The trial strategy of pleading not guilty, but offering no defense other than mitigation during the guilt-innocence phase of a trial, can be an effective strategy to prevent waiving any error that would have occurred by pleading guilty to an offense. But we must not allow a defendant to “open the door” during the guilt-innocence phase and expect it to close during the punishment phase of that trial. Because the defense “opened the door,” we should uphold the trial court’s decision to allow the admission of the letter into evidence. I would overrule Henson’s seventh point of ‘ error and affirm the judgment of the trial court.