Raymond GARCIA, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
No. 03-04-00718-CR.
Court of Appeals of Texas, Austin.
Dec. 29, 2006.
223 S.W.3d 877
BOB PEMBERTON, Justice.
CONCLUSION
Having disposed of all the Division‘s points of error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Connie J. Kelley, Austin, for Appellant.
Holly E. Taylor, Asst. District Atty., Austin, for State.
BOB PEMBERTON, Justice.
We overrule appellant‘s motion for rehearing, withdraw our opinion and judgment issued September 29, 2006, and substitute the following in its place.
The jury found appellant Raymond Garcia guilty of the offenses of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, felony assault-family violence, violation of a protective order, and endangering a child. See
BACKGROUND
The jury heard evidence that on the afternoon of July 17, 2003, Officer William Norell of the Austin Police Department was dispatched to an apartment where a “family disturbance with an assault” had been reported. Norell testified that, upon arrival, he encountered Jessica Garcia and her “probably six or seven year old” daughter sitting on the steps of the stairway outside the apartment. Norell explained that Jessica‘s eyes were swollen and he could tell that she was upset and had been crying. Over a hearsay and Confrontation Clause objection by defense counsel, Norell testified to what Jessica told him about what had happened:
She told me that she had been at her parents’ house the night before, spent the night with them for some reason, and when she came home, Mr. Garcia was in her apartment.
She told me that Mr. Garcia was not supposed to be in the house due to a protective order that was issued. And that Mr. Garcia wanted her and the children to go with him to his parents’ house on Blackson Street. And she told him that she was not going and the children were not going, and that he was not even supposed to be there because of the protective order.
She said that when she told him that she wasn‘t going and the children weren‘t going, that he became upset and started to get violent with her.
He-I believe he-at first, he grabbed the fireplace poker and started threatening her with it. And then she said she feared bodily injury, that he was going to hurt her with the poker and take the child, the younger child. And she said that after the argument, after the threatening with the poker, he eventually ended up punching her in the left eye, in the left forehead and then in her left arm.
Norell also explained that Jessica told him that “there was a struggle” over their two-year-old son and that Garcia “grabbed the child by the arms and pulled extremely hard while she [Jessica] was pulling to maintain control of the child.” Jessica told Norell that Garcia “left out the door” with the child and “boarded a bus that had just arrived.” Jessica told Norell that Garcia told her that “he was going to his parents’ house.” Norell broadcast Garcia‘s description over the police radio so that other officers could try to locate him.
Officer Ricardo Reza of the Austin Police Department testified that he encountered Garcia “walking in a field” and “carrying a two-year-old kid.” Reza explained that, once Garcia noticed him, Garcia began running away, still carrying the child. Reza ran after him. During the foot chase, Reza met up with Corporal Andrew Haynes, who joined Reza in the pursuit of Garcia. Garcia eventually ran through the parking lot of a gas station where, according to Reza, Garcia “takes his kid from his arm, places him on the trunk of a vehicle, and without stopping or slowing down, places his son on the trunk, and then he really takes off sprinting eastbound towards St. Johns.” Reza testified that Haynes remained with the child while Reza continued the pursuit. Garcia was finally apprehended outside the American Inn along the IH-35 frontage road.
Garcia was charged with one count of aggravated assault, one count of assault-family violence, one count of violating a protective order, and one count of endangering a child. The count charging Garcia with endangering a child contained two paragraphs alleging that Garcia committed
The jury found Garcia guilty of all four counts in the indictment. The district court assessed punishment at 20 years’ confinement for the offense of endangering a child and 25 years’ confinement for the offenses of aggravated assault, felony assault-family violence, and violation of a protective order, with the sentences running concurrently. This appeal followed.
DISCUSSION
Confrontation Clause violation
In his first issue, Garcia asserts that his constitutional right to confront and cross-examine witnesses was violated when the district court allowed Officer Norell to testify to out-of-court statements made by Jessica. See
Before Officer Norell testified to Jessica‘s out-of-court statements describing what happened on the night in question, Garcia objected to the admission of the statements on the basis of hearsay and “the violation of the defendant‘s right to cross-examine . . . and confront the witnesses against him.” The district court then asked the State about the applicability of Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004).1 Citing to this Court‘s opinion in Cassidy v. State, 149 S.W.3d 712 (Tex.App.-Austin 2004, pet. ref‘d), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 925, 125 S.Ct. 1648, 161 L.Ed.2d 486 (2005), the State responded that Crawford did not apply to “excited utterances”2 and, “even if Crawford applies, his [Garcia‘s] Sixth Amendment right will be satisfied, because Ms. Garcia is present and available to be cross-examined and she will be offered as a witness in this case.” Concluding that Jessica‘s availability “took care of the Crawford question,” the district court overruled Garcia‘s objection. However, although Jessica was subpoenaed to testify and appeared in court on the first three days of the trial, she did not appear in court on the day she was scheduled to testify and, in fact, never testified.
We review alleged violations of the Confrontation Clause de novo. See Wall v. State, 184 S.W.3d 730, 742-43 (Tex.Crim.App.2006); see also Lilly v. Virginia, 527 U.S. 116, 137, 119 S.Ct. 1887, 144 L.Ed.2d 117 (1999) (stating that courts should “independently review” whether out-of-court statements violate Confrontation Clause). We must affirm a trial court‘s ruling if it is correct under any theory of law applicable to the case and supported by the record even if the trial court gives the wrong reason for its ruling. Estrada v. State, 154 S.W.3d 604, 607 (Tex.Crim.App.2005).
In Crawford, the Supreme Court interpreted the Confrontation Clause to prohibit a witness from recounting a declarant‘s out-of-court statements that are testimonial unless (1) the declarant is unavailable to testify and (2) the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the declarant, regardless of whether the declarant‘s statements are deemed reliable by the court. See Crawford, 541 U.S. at 68.
The Supreme Court recently explained the distinction between testimonial and non-testimonial statements:
Statements are nontestimonial when made in the course of police interrogation under circumstances objectively indicating that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency. They are testimonial when the circumstances objectively indicate that there is no such ongoing emergency, and that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution.
Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813, 126 S.Ct. 2266, 2273-74, 165 L.Ed.2d 224 (2006).
In Davis, the Supreme Court addressed whether statements made by a victim of domestic violence to a 911 operator were testimonial in nature. Id. at 2276-77. In concluding that the caller‘s statements were not testimonial and thus admissible, the Court looked to the following factors: (1) the caller was describing events as they were actually happening rather than past events; (2) any reasonable listener would recognize that the caller was facing an ongoing emergency; (3) the nature of what was asked and answered, when viewed objectively, was such that the elicited statements were necessary to be able to resolve the present emergency, rather than simply to learn what had happened in the past; and (4) the caller was frantically answering the 911 emergency operator‘s questions over the phone, in an environment that was not tranquil, or even safe. Id. The Court stated that the caller was “seeking aid, not telling a story about the past.” Id. at 2279.
The Court also observed that “initial inquiries” by law enforcement officers arriving at crime scenes involving “domestic disputes” “may often” produce nontestimonial statements because “officers called to investigate . . . need to know whom they are dealing with in order to assess the situation, the threat to their own safety, and possible danger to the potential victim.” Id. Such statements may be nontestimonial if they constitute “a cry for help” or “the provision of information enabling officers to end a threatening situation.” See id. That is the situation here.3
In this case, Officer Norell testified that he arrived at the apartment approximately “five to ten minutes” after Jessica had called 911 to report that Garcia had taken the child. Upon his arrival, Jessica made several statements concerning an ongoing emergency-the kidnaping of her child-and the nature and extent of any threat Garcia presented to the child or law enforcement attempting to recover the child. Jessica told him that Garcia had forcibly taken their two-year-old son away from her arms and left with the child on a bus. Jessica explained to Norell that she “feared that he [the child] might be injured because of the force that was used when Mr. Garcia pulled him from her arms.” Jessica further explained that
Garcia contends, however, that even if some of Jessica‘s statements enabled the officers to end a threatening situation, others did not, and those statements should have been excluded. Specifically, Garcia argues that Jessica‘s statement that Garcia “grabbed the fireplace poker and started threatening her with it” and her statement that Garcia “eventually ended up punching her in the left eye, in the left forehead and then in her left arm” did not assist the officers in resolving the ongoing emergency. We disagree. Not only the fact that Garcia was acting violently during this kidnaping episode, but the nature and extent of his violence-including conduct rising to the level of a second degree felony, the same classification as if Garcia had threatened Jessica with a gun-enabled law enforcement “to know whom they are dealing with in order to assess the situation, the threat to their own safety, and possible danger to the potential victim.” Davis v. Washington, 126 S.Ct. at 2279. These circumstances “objectively indicat[e] that the primary purpose of the interrogation [was] to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency.” Id. at 2273-74. The statements were thus nontestimonial in nature, and their admission did not violate the Confrontation Clause.5
We overrule Garcia‘s first issue.
Deadly weapon instruction
In his second issue, Garcia contends that the district court‘s instructions to the jury regarding a deadly weapon definition constituted an impermissible comment on the weight of the evidence.
The jury charge defined “deadly weapon” as “anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury; or anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.” This definition tracks the language provided in the penal code. See
Now bearing in mind the foregoing instructions, if you believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Raymond Garcia . . . did then and there: intentionally or knowingly threaten Jessica Garcia with imminent bodily injury, and did then and there use or exhibit a deadly weapon, to wit: a fireplace poker, which in the manner of its use or intended use was capable of causing death or serious bodily injury, during the commission of this
offense; you will find the defendant guilty . . . .
(Emphasis added).
Garcia asserts that “[e]xplaining two ways an object can meet the definition of a deadly weapon in the first paragraph of the charge and including only one of those ways in the application paragraph can imply to the jury that the judge is thereby informing them that [the judge] has found the object in question to meet the legal definition of a deadly weapon.” The State responds that the charge “provided the jurors with the exact definition from the Texas Penal Code, then tailored the definition in the application to include only the law applicable to the case.” We agree with the State.
The code of criminal procedure provides that the judge shall deliver to the jury “a written charge distinctly setting forth the law applicable to the case; not expressing any opinion as to the weight of the evidence, not summing up the testimony, discussing the facts or using any argument in his charge calculated to arouse the sympathy or excite the passions of the jury.”
We can find no authority for Garcia‘s contention that including only the second part of the deadly weapon definition in the application paragraph constitutes a comment on the weight of the evidence. We conclude that the district court permissibly tailored the definition to include only the law applicable to the case. As Garcia concedes, a fireplace poker is not a deadly weapon per se. It is not “manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury.” Therefore, the first part of the deadly weapon definition does not apply to this case, and it was not error for the district court to exclude that part of the definition from the application paragraph. We overrule Garcia‘s second issue.
Jury unanimity
In his third and fourth issues, Garcia asserts that he suffered egregious harm when “two separate offenses of endangering a child were submitted to the jury in the disjunctive,” thus depriving him of his “right to a unanimous verdict.”
The Texas Constitution requires a unanimous verdict in felony criminal cases.
Paragraph VIII of the jury charge contained the application paragraph for Count IV of the indictment, Endangering a Child:
Now bearing in mind the foregoing instructions, if you believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Raymond Garcia . . . did then and there:
intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly, engage in conduct that placed Raymond Garcia, Jr., a child 14 years of age or younger, in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental im-
pairment, by striking Jessica Garcia with his hand while the said Jessica Garcia was holding Raymond Garcia, Jr.; and / or intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly, engage in conduct that placed Raymond Garcia, Jr., a child 14 years of age or younger, in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental impairment, by pulling Raymond Garcia, Jr. with his hand;
you will find the defendant guilty of Endangering a Child. . . .
Paragraph XVII of the jury charge instructed the jury that its “verdicts must be unanimous.”
Garcia asserts that Paragraph VIII contained two separate offenses, and that Garcia was deprived his right to a unanimous verdict because some of the jurors could have believed Garcia struck Jessica while she was holding the child while other jurors believed Garcia pulled the child. The State argues that the paragraph contained two different means of committing a single offense, and that the jurors need not agree on the manner in which Garcia committed the offense for the unanimity requirement to be satisfied.
A person commits the offense of endangering a child “if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence, by act or omission, engages in conduct that places a child younger than 15 years in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental impairment.”
“[I]t has long been the general rule that when a single crime can be committed in various ways, jurors need not agree upon the mode of commission.” Francis, 36 S.W.3d at 124. When alternate manners and means of committing an offense are submitted to the jury in the disjunctive, it is appropriate for the jury to return a general verdict for that offense if the evidence supports a conviction under any one of them. Kitchens, 823 S.W.2d at 258; Marinos v. State, 186 S.W.3d 167, 175 (Tex.App.-Austin 2006, no pet.).
The State presented evidence of and alleged two different ways in which Garcia could have endangered the child. Officer Norell testified that Jessica told him that, during a single incident, Garcia struck her while she was holding the child and that Garcia then proceeded to pull the child away from her arms. Thus, there is evidence supporting a conviction under either of the ways Garcia could have committed the offense. In a case such as this, in which the State alleges different manners or means of committing a single offense, this satisfies the unanimity requirement. See Marinos, 186 S.W.3d at 175. We overrule Garcia‘s third and fourth issues.
Constitutionality of section 25.07 of the penal code
In his fifth and sixth issues, Garcia argues that section 25.07 of the penal code, which makes it an offense to violate a protective order, is facially overbroad and vague in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. See
The penal code provision at issue provides, in relevant part:
(a) A person commits an offense if, in violation of an order issued under Section 6.504 or Chapter 85, Family Code, under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, or by another jurisdiction as provided by Chapter 88, Family Code, the person knowingly or intentionally:
. . . .
(2) communicates:
(A) directly with a protected individual or a member of the family or household in a threatening or harassing manner;
(B) a threat through any person to a protected individual or a member of the family or household; or
(C) in any manner with the protected individual or a member of the family or household except through the person‘s attorney or a person appointed by the court, if the order prohibits any communication with a protected individual or a member of the family or household;
Garcia contends that the statute is overbroad because it prohibits all communication with the protected individual, except through the protected individual‘s attorney or a person appointed by the court, see
Standard of review
Whenever we are confronted with an attack upon the constitutionality of a statute, we presume that the statute is valid and that the legislature has not acted unreasonably or arbitrarily. Rodriguez v. State, 93 S.W.3d 60, 69 (Tex.Crim.App.2002). The burden rests upon the individual who challenges the statute to establish its unconstitutionality. Id. In the absence of contrary evidence, we will presume that the legislature acted in a constitutionally sound fashion. Id. We will uphold a statute if we can determine a reasonable construction that will render it constitutional and carry out legislative intent. See Sheldon v. State, 100 S.W.3d 497, 500 (Tex.App.-Austin 2003, pet. ref‘d) (citing Ely v. State, 582 S.W.2d 416, 419 (Tex.Crim.App.1979)).
A facial challenge to a statute-the type that Garcia asserts here-is the most difficult challenge to mount successfully because the challenger must establish that no set of circumstances exists under which the statute will be valid. Santikos v. State, 836 S.W.2d 631, 633 (Tex.Crim.App.1992); Shaffer v. State, 184 S.W.3d 353, 364 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2006, no pet.); Frieling v. State, 67 S.W.3d 462, 473 (Tex.App.-Austin 2002, pet. ref‘d).
Overbreadth
In analyzing a facial challenge to the overbreadth and vagueness of a law, we first determine whether the statute reaches “a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct.” Village of Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489, 494, 102 S.Ct. 1186, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982). A statute is overbroad if it sweeps within its coverage speech or other conduct protected by the First Amendment. Clark v. State, 665 S.W.2d 476, 482 (Tex.Crim.App.1984). Speech is not protected by the First Amendment when it is the very vehicle of the crime itself. Frieling v. State, 67 S.W.3d at 473. A statute will not be invalidated for overbreadth merely because it is possible to imagine some unconstitutional applications. State v. Holcombe, 145 S.W.3d 246, 250 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2004), aff‘d, 187 S.W.3d 496 (Tex.Crim.App.2006). “Because of the wide-reaching
At the outset, we note the limited applicability of this statute. It applies only to persons who are currently subject to certain kinds of court orders. See
With the narrow scope of the statute in mind, we first address sections 25.07(a)(2)(A) and (B), which prohibit persons from communicating “directly with a protected individual or a member of the family or household in a threatening or harassing manner” or from communicating “a threat through any person to a protected individual or a member of the family or household.”
These sections do not prohibit all communication with a protected individual, but only communication that is threatening or harassing. Contrary to Garcia‘s assertion, threats and harassment are not entitled to First Amendment protection. See, e.g., Watts v. United States, 394 U.S. 705, 707, 89 S.Ct. 1399, 22 L.Ed.2d 664 (1969) (“What is a threat must be distinguished from what is constitutionally protected speech.“); Test Masters Educ. Servs. v. Singh, 428 F.3d 559, 580 (5th Cir.2005) (stating that there is a “distinction between communication and harassment” and that “courts have the power to enjoin
We next address section 25.07(a)(2)(C), which prohibits persons from communicating “in any manner with the protected individual or a member of the family or household except through the person‘s attorney or a person appointed by the court, if the order prohibits any communication with a protected individual or a member of the family or household.”
We conclude that section 25.07 does not reach a “substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct.” See Village of Hoffman Estates, 455 U.S. at 494. We overrule Garcia‘s fifth issue.
Vagueness
A statute can be void for vagueness even if it does not reach a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct. City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41, 52, 119 S.Ct. 1849, 144 L.Ed.2d 67 (1999). A law is void for vagueness if its prohibitions are not clearly defined. Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 33 L.Ed.2d 222 (1972). A law must give a person of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited. Id. A law also must provide explicit standards to those who enforce and apply it. Id. A vague law “impermissibly delegates basic policy matters to policemen, judges, and juries for resolution on an ad hoc and subjective basis, with the attendant dangers of arbitrary and discriminatory application.” Id. at 108-09. A scienter requirement can overcome problems with vague statutory language. See Wisenbaker v. State, 860 S.W.2d 681, 689 (Tex.App.-Austin 1993, pet. ref‘d); see also Village of Hoffman Estates, 455 U.S. at 499.
Section 25.07 contains a scienter requirement-the prohibited conduct must be done “knowingly or intentionally.”
In his brief, Garcia relies primarily on Long v. State, 931 S.W.2d 285 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). In Long, the court of criminal appeals addressed the constitutionality of the 1993 version of the stalking statute, focusing on the provision that made it an offense to engage in repeated conduct “that is reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass” another person. Id. at 288. The court found that these words were “susceptible to uncertainties of meaning.” Id. at 289. The court did not, however, focus exclusively on the term “harass,” but examined it together with the surrounding words in the provision. The court found that the words “harass,” “alarm,” “abuse,” and “torment” were “of low enough emotional intensity” that they “implicate First Amendment freedoms.” Id. at 296. Concluding that the “legislature obviously intended low intensity emotions to trigger the statute,” the court refused to save the statute by applying a narrowing construction that “increased the intensity of the conduct under scrutiny.” Id. The court held the statute to be “unconstitutionally vague on its face.” Id. at 297.
Two years after Long was decided, the supreme court directly addressed the meaning of the word “harass.” See Commission for Lawyer Discipline v. Benton, 980 S.W.2d 425 (Tex.1998). At issue was the constitutionality of a disciplinary rule of professional conduct that prohibited lawyers from making comments to a juror “that are calculated merely to harass or embarrass the juror or to influence his actions in future jury service.” See
We are thus confronted with two possible constructions of section 25.07, one in which the statute is found to be vague because of the “low emotional intensity”8 of the
“Where a statute is susceptible of two constructions, by one of which grave and doubtful constitutional questions arise and by the other of which such questions are avoided, [the court‘s] duty is to adopt the latter.” State v. Edmond, 933 S.W.2d 120, 124 (Tex.Crim.App.1996) (quoting United States ex rel. Attorney General v. Delaware & Hudson Co., 213 U.S. 366, 29 S.Ct. 527, 53 L.Ed. 836 (1909)). We are “obliged to assume that the Legislature intended the interpretation which secures the statute‘s constitutional application.” Id.; see also
We accordingly construe “harass” in a manner consistent with the construction adopted by the supreme court in Benton.9 See Benton, 980 S.W.2d at 439-40. Thus defined, we hold that section 25.07 is not impermissibly vague.10 We overrule Garcia‘s sixth issue.
CONCLUSION
Having overruled Garcia‘s issues on appeal, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Because I disagree with the majority‘s assertion that the admission of the only evidence supporting Garcia‘s conviction for aggravated assault did not violate the Confrontation Clause, I respectfully dissent. Because Garcia‘s three other convictions were supported by evidence whose admission did not violate the Confrontation Clause, I concur in the majority‘s affirmance of those convictions.
While the portions of Officer Norell‘s testimony recounting Jessica Garcia‘s statements about the abduction of her child constituted nontestimonial hearsay because those statements were provided in an effort to resolve an ongoing emergency, the Supreme Court has noted that “a conversation which begins as an interrogation to determine the need for emergency assistance” may “evolve into testimonial statements once that purpose has been achieved.” Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813, 126 S.Ct. 2266, 2277, 165 L.Ed.2d 224 (2006) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The Supreme Court provided a solution for such a situation: “[T]rial courts will recognize the point at which, for Sixth Amendment purposes, statements in response to interrogations become testimonial. Through in limine procedure, they should redact or exclude the portions of any statement that have become testimonial, as they do, for example, with unduly prejudicial portions of otherwise admissible evidence.” Id. The trial court erred by not taking such measures in this case.
It strains credulity to suggest, as the majority does, that Jessica Garcia‘s statements to Norell about being threatened with a fireplace poker were elicited to assist the police in resolving an ongoing emergency by giving them information about “whom they are dealing with in order to assess the situation, the threat to their own safety, and possible danger to the potential victim.” A more plausible explanation is that Jessica Garcia viewed the assault on her and the abduction of her child as one transaction and detailed all the events involved in this traumatic incident in response to a general question by Norell. Indeed, Norell testified:
A. I asked her what happened and she told me what happened.
Q. Did she just spill the whole story out all at once, or did you listen to part of it and then ask her questions to develop more details, I guess?
A. I would ask her a question, you know, if she said a particular thing that I needed more information on.
Jessica Garcia‘s conversation with Norell evolved from nontestimonial statements, elicited to enable the police to meet the ongoing emergency of her child‘s abduction, to testimonial statements when she began detailing past events in the criminal episode. When she described being threatened with a fireplace poker, she was acting as a witness; what she said was “a weaker substitute for live testimony.” See id. Therefore, the trial court should have excluded that portion of Norell‘s testimony. Because Norell‘s testimony was the only evidence supporting Garcia‘s conviction for aggravated assault, I would reverse that conviction.
Because Garcia‘s simple assault conviction was supported by nontestimonial hearsay from Jessica Garcia‘s 911 call, his endangering a child conviction was supported by nontestimonial hearsay from the 911 call and Jessica Garcia‘s conversation with Norell, and his violation of protective order conviction was supported by nontestimonial hearsay from the 911 call, the conversation with Norell, and the admission into evidence of the protective order
BEA ANN SMITH
JUSTICE
at trial, I concur in the majority‘s affirmance of those three convictions.
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, Appellant, v. STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST COMPANY, CMS Viron Corporation, and CMS Energy Resource Management Company, Appellees.
Nos. 01-05-00758-CV, 01-06-00497-CV.
Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).
Jan. 11, 2007.