Court Opinion

ID: 9668827
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:27:57.519445+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:48.867569
License: Public Domain

ONION, Presiding Judge
(concurring).
I concur in the result reached, but not in the holding and the reasoning of the majority.
The appellant complains that the “trial court erred in failing to charge the jury on the issue of accomplice testimony as to R. J. Harden.”
He does not make clear whether he contends the court erred in failing to instruct the jury that Harden was an accomplice witness as a matter of law or erred in failing to submit to the jury as a fact issue the question of whether Harden was an accomplice witness. It is observed that he duly requested both charges, both of which were denied by the court.
If there is merit to appellant’s contention, it would be only that the court erred in submitting the fact issue to the jury as to whether Harden was an accomplice witness.
Harden, an undercover narcotics agent, related that he and Joe Hicks, another such agent, went to the appellant’s cafe in Temple around 3:15 a. m. on September 11, 1971 and that the appellant approached him wanting to know if he needed some “reds” (seconal) and, when he agreed on a price, the appellant went to the kitchen area of the cafe and returned with 100 “reds”. The sale was consummated for $100.00.
Hicks corroborated Harden’s testimony.
The appellant testified that Harden had been trying for some time to get him to obtain some “reds” and that at the time in question Harden told him he needed some pills to help him kick his heroin habit; that he obtained 100 “reds” from a man named Overton and gave the money he re*940ceived from Harden to Overton; that he only intended to help Harden and made no profit on the transaction.
No charge on accomplice testimony of any kind was called for by the testimony of Harden or Hicks. It was their testimony that the appellant approached Harden and offered to sell the “pills” to him.
In Alexander v. State, 168 Tex.Cr.R. 288, 325 S.W.2d 139 (1959), this court held that an undercover “ . . . agent is not an accomplice witness so long as he does not bring about the crime, but merely obtains evidence to be used against those engaged in the traffic.” See also Clark v. State, 398 S.W.2d 763 (Tex.Cr.App. 1966); Vela v. State, 373 S.W.2d 505 (Tex.Cr.App. 1963); Masters v. State, 170 Tex.Cr.R. 471, 341 S.W.2d 938 (1960); Ochoa v. State, 444 S.W.2d 763 (Tex.Cr.App. 1969); Jones v. State, 427 S.W.2d 616, 619 (Tex.Cr.App. 1968); Briseno v. State, 450 S.W.2d 865, 867 (Tex.Cr.App. 1970); Ikner v. State, 468 S.W.2d 809 (Tex.Cr.App. 1971); Alvarez v. State, 478 S.W.2d 450 (Tex.Cr.App. 1972); Easley v. State, 478 S.W.2d 539 (Tex.Cr.App. 1972), and Carter v. State, 480 S.W.2d 735 (Tex.Cr.App. 1972). See also Martinez v. State, 471 S.W.2d 399 (Tex.Cr.App. 1971). Cf. Gomez v. State, 461 S.W.2d 422 (Tex.Cr.App. 1971), and Corpus v. State, 463 S.W.2d 4 (Tex.Cr.App. 1971).
Further, when all the evidence offered, State and defense, is considered, it is clear there was a doubt whether Harden was an accomplice witness or not; therefore, the court did not err in refusing to charge that he was an accomplice witness as a matter of law. See Lopez v. State, 92 Tex.Cr.R. 97, 242 S.W. 212 (1922). Cf. Gonzales v. State, 441 S.W.2d 539 (Tex.Cr.App. 1969), and Allen v. State, 461 S.W.2d 622 (Tex.Cr.App. 1971).
The question remains as to whether the coúrt should have submitted a fact issue to the jury as to whether Harden was an accomplice witness.
The appellant, in effect, testified that Harden had entrapped him and that he had acted as an accommodation agent.
The court recognized this testimony by charging on the defense of entrapment and the law of accommodation agent.
If the appellant’s testimony is to be believed that the crime originated in the mind of the undercover agent Harden and that such agent induced him to commit a crime which he would not have otherwise committed, then, of course, the entrapper would be an accomplice witness. Ivy v. State, 161 Tex.Cr.R. 371, 277 S.W.2d 712 (1955), and Owens v. State, 385 S.W.2d 246 (Tex.Cr.App. 1965).1
An accomplice witness is a person who as a principal, accomplice, or accessory, was connected with the crime by unlawful act or omission on his part, transpiring before, at, or after commission of the offense, whether he was present or not. See Silba v. State, 161 Tex.Cr.R. 135, 275 S.W.2d 108 (1954); 24 Tex.Jr.2d Evidence § 690, p. 308.
In Crawford v. State, 148 Tex.Cr.R. 634, 190 S.W.2d 359 (1945), however, it was held that the error, if any, was harmless where the court failed to charge that a certain witness was an accomplice witness, as a matter of law, but there was other legitimate testimony upon which the conviction could be predicated, such as a complete confession of guilt by the accused which was neither contradicted nor denied. See also Haines v. State, 134 Tex.Cr.R. 524, 116 S.W.2d 399 (1938).
I would conclude that the court erred in failing to submit the fact issue of whether *941Harden was an accomplice witness to the jury but that the error was harmless. Here, there was other legitimate evidence on which the conviction could be based. Hicks testified to the sale and the appellant, in raising his defense of entrapment acknowledged the sale, and the court adequately charged on the defense of entrapment and accommodation agent. The charge as given fully protected appellant’s rights. See Article 36.19, Vernon’s Ann. C.C.P.
I would not, as the majority has done, reach out and hold that in any case no charge on accomplice testimony (apparently of any kind) is required if the accused has taken the stand and admitted the acts which constitute the crime charged. There is no necessity to lay down a new rule in order to affirm this conviction.
For the reasons stated, I concur in the results reached.

. It is to be observed that prior to the recognition of the defense of entrapment by this court in Cooper v. State, 162 Tex.Cr.R. 624, 288 S.W.2d 762 (1956), it was held that, in offenses induced by the officer, the responsible officer was an accomplice witness and his testimony must be corroborated in order to sustain the conviction. See Davis v. State, 70 Tex.Cr.R. 524, 158 S.W. 288 (1913) ; Note, 38 Tex.L.Rev. 925.