Alicia Esquivel Delgado v. State, 13-15-00004-CR

Background

Alicia Delgado was indicted for murder; jury convicted her of the lesser-included offense of manslaughter and she was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Facts: police arrived after an altercation at the victim (Delgado’s father) Rudy Delgado’s home; victim suffered extensive blunt-force injuries and later died of complications from blunt-force abdominal trauma; appellant admitted to striking, stomping, and kicking the incapacitated victim.
Appellant gave a recorded statement conceding she assaulted her father; she initially told officers she had been assaulted and later admitted kicking and hitting him after the encounter.
Defense elicited and admitted medical/psychiatric records showing long-standing family conflict; multiple family witnesses testified about friction between appellant and other family members (wife/stepmother, stepsister, grandchildren).
Prosecution introduced evidence of appellant’s delay (approximately two hours) in calling 911 and of post-killing conduct (removal of the victim’s motorcycle); trial court allowed relationship and delay evidence over defense objections, with running objections granted in some areas.
On appeal the State argued the evidentiary rulings were proper under Texas Code Crim. Proc. art. 38.36 (admissible prior relationship and mental state evidence) and that any nonconstitutional evidentiary error would be harmless given appellant’s admissions and the record.

Issues

Issue	Appellant's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Admission of testimony about appellant’s relationship with the victim’s wife (stepmother)	Testimony about disputes with stepmother was irrelevant and prejudicial; should have been excluded	Relationship evidence is admissible under Art. 38.36 to show prior relationship and appellant’s state of mind; defense itself admitted medical records showing same facts	Trial court did not err; admission was proper under Art. 38.36 and any error was harmless
Admission of testimony about victim’s relationship with appellant’s children and stepsister’s testimony	Such family-relationship testimony was irrelevant and prejudicial	Relevant to prior relationship and motive/state of mind under Art. 38.36; testimony was limited and not emphasized by State	Trial court did not err; any error would be harmless given appellant’s admissions
Admission of social-media posts by appellant expressing affection for victim	Facebook posts were irrelevant and prejudicial	Posts are probative of prior relationship and mindset; content was benign and supportive of defense, not harmful	Trial court did not err; admission acceptable under Art. 38.36 and harmless if erroneous
Admission of evidence and argument about appellant’s delay in summoning medical aid (two-hour delay) and post-incident conduct (motorcycle removal)	Delay and post-incident acts were extraneous bad acts requiring 404(b) notice or were irrelevant and more prejudicial than probative	Delay and post-incident acts are same-transaction/contextual evidence (no 404(b) notice required) and relevant to consciousness of guilt; State may argue in closing on admitted evidence	Trial court did not err; evidence admissible as same-transaction/similar-context evidence and relevant to consciousness of guilt; any nonconstitutional error would be harmless

Key Cases Cited

Coble v. State, 330 S.W.3d 253 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (framework for harm analysis of non-constitutional evidentiary error)
Davis v. State, 329 S.W.3d 798 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (abuse of discretion standard for evidentiary rulings)
Motilla v. State, 78 S.W.3d 352 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002) (factors for assessing impact of evidentiary error)
Johnson v. State, 967 S.W.2d 410 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (nonconstitutional error must be shown to affect substantial rights)
Pondexter v. State, 942 S.W.2d 577 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) (post-offense conduct admissible to show motive)
Wyatt v. State, 23 S.W.3d 18 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000) (same-transaction contextual evidence concept)
Gallo v. State, 239 S.W.3d 757 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (prosecutor’s reference to admitted evidence in argument permissible)