Coronel, Israel v. State, 416 S.W.3d 550

Israel Coronel was convicted by a jury of aggravated sexual assault of A.R., a child under 14; punishment assessed at 50 years imprisonment. Judgment also ordered payment of $242 in court costs.
The victim testified that when she was five Coronel assaulted her in his bedroom, including vaginal penetration with a condom; she disclosed the incident years later to relatives.
During deliberations the jury sent notes requesting clarification about certain testimony and asked to have portions of three witnesses’ testimony read back. The trial court read back narrowly tailored portions after instructing the jury that rereading is allowed only if jurors are in disagreement.
A juror requested to review her personal notes privately during deliberations; the court allowed her to do so outside the presence of the other jurors. Defense later objected that the juror should have been given further instruction about using notes.
The clerk’s record initially lacked a bill of costs; the appellate court ordered supplementation and the certified bill of costs was filed. Coronel challenged sufficiency of evidence to support the assessed costs and objected to the form and timing of the bill.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by permitting readback of witness testimony during jury deliberations	Coronel: Readback was improper because the jury did not expressly show a disagreement about testimony	State: Jury’s notes and the court’s repeated instructions show a dispute; readback limited to specific topics permitted	Affirmed — no abuse of discretion; judge made affirmative effort and read back only specific disputed portions
Whether allowing a juror to privately review her notes during deliberations required further instruction or was reversible error	Coronel: Court should have instructed the juror not to share or lead others with her notes	State: Court had previously instructed jurors notes were for individual use; no authority required additional private admonition	Affirmed — no abuse of discretion and no showing of harm to substantial rights
Whether the judgment’s assessment of $242 court costs was unsupported because clerk’s record lacked a bill of costs	Coronel: Clerk’s record omitted a bill of costs, so costs lack evidentiary support	State: Appellate supplementation supplied a certified bill of costs; statutes require certification when appealed and do not require bill be presented to trial court before judgment	Affirmed — supplementation cured omission; certified district clerk bill sufficient and no statutory requirement to present bill before judgment

Howell v. State, 175 S.W.3d 786 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (readback allowed only when jury disagreement is shown; trial court’s inquiry reviewed for abuse of discretion)
Robison v. State, 888 S.W.2d 473 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994) (reading limited portions when dispute exists; trial court discretion)
Moore v. State, 874 S.W.2d 671 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994) (trial court abused discretion by reading testimony without determining juror dispute)
Johnson v. State, 887 S.W.2d 957 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994) (trial court discretion to allow juror note-taking)
Price v. State, 887 S.W.2d 949 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994) (recommended procedures to minimize risks of juror note-taking)
Hubbard v. State, 892 S.W.2d 909 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995) (review of trial court’s note-taking decisions for abuse of discretion)
Armstrong v. State, 340 S.W.3d 759 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011) (court costs are compensatory, not part of sentence; need not be orally pronounced)
Taylor v. State, 131 S.W.3d 497 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004) (distinguishing fines from costs; fines are punitive and generally must be orally pronounced)