MATTHEW LEE SALAZAR v. THE STATE OF TEXAS--Appeal from 24th District Court of Calhoun County

NUMBER 13-01-595-CR
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG

MATTHEW LEE SALAZAR, Appellant,

 
v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.

 
On appeal from the 24th District Court
of Calhoun County, Texas.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Chief Justice Valdez and Justices Rodriguez and Castillo
Opinion by Justice Castillo

The State of Texas charged Matthew Lee Salazar with the murder of twenty-three-year-old Christopher John Vasquez. (1) A jury convicted Salazar and sentenced him to seventy-seven years in prison. By two issues, Salazar contends the trial court abused its discretion in: (1) admitting an accomplice's admission against interest into evidence without sufficient corroboration of its trustworthiness; and (2) denying his motion for directed verdict without sufficient corroboration of a second accomplice's testimony. We affirm.

I. APPLICABLE APPELLATE RULES

On August 26, 2001, Salazar filed a timely notice of appeal. The rules of appellate procedure governing how appeals proceed in criminal cases were amended effective January 1, 2003. Generally, rules altering procedure do not fall within the prohibition in the Texas Constitution against retroactive application of laws that disturb vested, substantive rights. See Tex. Const. art. I, 16; see also Ibarra v. State, 11 S.W.3d 189, 192 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999). Therefore, this Court applies the current rules of appellate procedure to this appeal. We may not affirm or reverse a judgment or dismiss an appeal for formal defects or irregularities in appellate procedure without allowing a reasonable time to correct or amend the defects or irregularities. Tex. R. App. P. 44.3. We also are prohibited from affirming or reversing a judgment or dismissing an appeal if the record prevents the proper presentation of an appeal and can be corrected by the trial court. Tex. R. App. P. 44.4(a). Accordingly, we abated the appeal on July 22, 2003 and ordered a supplemental record to include, in compliance with rule 25.2(a)(2), the trial court's certification of Salazar's right of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(a)(2). We received a supplemental record on July 30, 2003 that includes the trial court's certification of Salazar's right of appeal. We now turn to the merits.

II. RELEVANT FACTS

This is a memorandum opinion not designated for publication. The parties are familiar with the facts. We will not recite them here except as necessary to advise the parties of our decision and the basic reasons for it. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.

A. Non-Accomplice Testimony

The jury heard that Vasquez owed a $300 drug debt to a man named Jimmy Delgado. Knowing Delgado wanted payment and was looking for him, Vasquez left Victoria, Texas to get away from the drug dealer. He moved in with his girlfriend April Hinojosa in nearby Port Lavaca. Hilburn Hisquierdo told the jury he was at home in Port Lavaca the morning of Friday, March 31, 2000. Around 9:00 or 10:00, a man Hisquierdo knew as Michael D. Martinez, accompanied by three other men, arrived in a Cadillac at Hisquierdo's house. Hisquierdo went for a drive in the Cadillac with Martinez and the others. By the time of trial, Hisquierdo could not identify the other men. The men cruised around and smoked marijuana. Martinez asked Hisquierdo where Vasquez lived. Hisquierdo pointed out where Vasquez was living with April Hinojosa. Martinez then drove Hisquierdo home.

Vasquez had told April Hinojosa the week before that he owed Delgado money and was going to have to pay him. Along with April Hinojosa and Vasquez, April's sister Jaclyn and their brother Ramon were at the house the morning of March 31. Ramon Hinojosa testified that at about 10:00, a dark-colored Cadillac, which looked black in the shade, pulled up to the house. A man got out of the car and approached the house. He knocked on the front door and announced, "Tell Vasquez his home boy, Jimmy Delgado" was there. Jaclyn Hinojosa went to get Vasquez. He came to the door. After stepping outside and talking with Delgado, Vasquez went back in the house to change clothes. He told April Hinojosa he did not want to go, but if he did not "they would do something to him." To avoid it happening there, he told her, he was going to go with them. As he was leaving, he instructed April that if he was not back in an hour-and-a-half to call the police and tell them he was with Jimmy Delgado. She asked if he was "for real." Vasquez confirmed he was.

Ramon Hinojosa testified he watched Vasquez climb in the back seat of the Cadillac. Delgado sat in the front passenger seat. Another man, who had been standing in the front yard while Delgado waited for Vasquez, was the driver. Raymond Hinojosa was unable to see any other passengers in the car because of its tinted windows.

An hour-and-a-half passed. April Hinojosa called Vasquez's mother, who told her to call the police. She did.

Meanwhile, Laura Villarreal testified, she arrived at her ailing father's home in Port Lavaca the morning of March 31. About 10:00, as was their custom, she drove him to Magnolia Beach. On the way, she noticed that a dark-colored Cadillac followed too close behind her car. She turned left. The Cadillac continued straight. She drove past the LaSalle Monument, between Indianola and Magnolia Beach. No one was there.

Around 11:00 a.m., Delbert Woods testified, his wife Dorothy and he drove by the LaSalle Monument on the way to the grocery store. As they neared the beach, they noticed a bronze-colored Cadillac parked near a picnic area. He saw three Hispanic men. One was walking toward another, who was sitting on the picnic table, and the third was "down below the hill." On the Woods' return trip, between 11:45 and 12:45, the men and the Cadillac were gone. Between 10:15 and 10:30 that morning, Dorothy Woods testified, her husband and she were traveling to Port Lavaca from Indianola, a route that took them past the LaSalle Monument. At the monument site, she noticed three well-dressed men at a picnic table. A Cadillac was parked nearby.

Trina Stanfield, a records administrator with the Port Lavaca Police Department, testified she received a dispatch call that morning at 11:49. April Hinojosa told her, Stanfield testified, that two men had come to her house, spoken with her boyfriend, and tried to create a disturbance. Her boyfriend had gone "back into the residence and told April that he was going to go leave with them so that there was not a disturbance starting at the residence and that if he was not back within an hour-and-a-half to call the police." April Hinojosa provided the name "Jimmy Delgado" and described the car as a black Cadillac with shiny rims.

Around 1:00 or 1:30 that afternoon, Della Johnson and her husband were walking on the beach near the LaSalle Monument. Her husband found a tennis shoe in the water and retrieved it, thinking someone might have lost it. He laid the shoe on the beach, turned around, and saw a body in the water. The Johnsons called the police.

At 1:13 p.m., Bryan Redding, a Calhoun County deputy sheriff, was dispatched to the scene. He arrived at 1:24. He spotted a body face-down on the beach, close to the water's edge. The body had multiple stab wounds. April Hinojosa identified the body as Vasquez's. Investigators recovered a blood-splattered gold nugget bracelet at the scene, near some bloody rocks.

Roman Goodwine, a Victoria County deputy sheriff, testified that he was dispatched on April 1, 2000 to a scene involving clothes on fire under a bridge along a county road southwest of the Victoria city limits. The fire was out when he got there. He retrieved a partially burned lace-up shoe or boot, white socks, khaki Dickies, belted white sport pants, boxer shorts, a large white muscle shirt, and a Tool Techs brown tee shirt with "La Vida Loca" on the back. Lisa Baylor, a forensic serologist, testified she found no blood on the partially burned clothing.

Two special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Chris Cole and Gregory Kuntz, testified that in January of 2000, a federal grand jury had indicted Martinez, identified by Hisquierdo as the driver of the Cadillac who had picked him up the morning of March 31, for drug distribution. A warrant issued for his arrest. On April 6, 2000, the agents arrested Martinez. Martinez cooperated with the federal authorities. He confessed his involvement in a number of crimes, including Vasquez's murder. He implicated three other men and provided details of the crime. Martinez originally told the federal authorities that the car used in Vasquez's murder belonged to his girlfriend, but later admitted that he had driven the men to Port Lavaca that morning in his mother's Cadillac.

The authorities impounded the car, a bronze-colored Cadillac that had been concealed under a tarp at the scene of Martinez's arrest. "All the cops in Victoria knew that car," Martinez explained. The authorities searched the Cadillac for trace evidence. Fabric from the right rear passenger door tested positive for human blood. Baylor testified that forensic tests determined that the DNA profile of the blood in the car was consistent with Salazar's, and Salazar could not be excluded as the donor. Baylor also told the jury that other forensic tests determined that the blood on the gold nugget bracelet found at the scene was consistent with Vasquez's DNA profile.

Local investigators and federal agents testified that Martinez assisted in a search for the weapons used in Vasquez's murder. With Martinez's assistance, investigating officers recovered a butcher knife with a wooden handle wrapped in black electrical tape. Baylor testified she found no blood on the butcher knife. Despite a thorough search, the authorities were unable to locate a green folding knife that Martinez informed them also was used in the murder.

Martinez told the authorities that he was a member of a highly structured group of individuals with bonds forged in the Texas prison system. (2) This cadre (3) of felons maintained their ties when released from prison, Cole informed the jury. He testified that the cadre is known to participate in violent crime and drug trafficking.

B. Accomplice Testimony

Martinez testified at trial on behalf of the State. He implicated Delgado and Salazar in Vasquez's murder, along with himself and a fourth man named Amador Anzualda. The jury learned that Delgado, Salazar, Anzualda, and Martinez were members of the cadre. Martinez described Delgado as a "ranking member" whose orders he was required to follow by the cadre's code of discipline.

On March 31, 2000, about 8:00 a.m., Martinez told the jury, Delgado, Salazar, and Anzualda came to his home. They appeared drunk and high on cocaine. They decided to go to Port Lavaca to see Victor Villarreal, another member of the cadre. Martinez knew federal authorities were looking for him and did not want to risk being pulled over. He insisted on driving. Martinez drove Delgado, Salazar, and Anzualda to Port Lavaca in his mother's Cadillac. Salazar had not ridden in the Cadillac before that day.

The men first tried to find Villarreal, who was not home. Searching next for Vasquez, they looked up Hisquierdo, who showed them where Vasquez lived. They dropped Hisquierdo back home and returned to Vasquez's house. Delgado sat in the front passenger seat, Salazar sat behind him, and Anzualda sat behind Martinez. They arrived at Vasquez's house. Delgado and Salazar got out of the Cadillac. Delgado went to the door. Vasquez came out of the house and spoke with Delgado. After going back inside and changing clothes, Vasquez got in the back seat of the Cadillac, between Salazar and Anzualda. It was about 9:45 a.m. Martinez stopped at a convenience store for gas. They bought beer.

Martinez drove toward Magnolia Beach. On the way, he testified, Delgado tore a piece off the beer carton and wrote a note to Martinez, telling him to go "somewhere where - nowhere we could be seen to beat [Vasquez] up real bad and leave him there."

They arrived at the LaSalle Monument about 10:00 or 10:15 a.m. Martinez parked the Cadillac near a park bench. The five men got out of the car. Delgado and Anzualda went into the bushes. Delgado said something to Anzualda that Martinez could not hear. Delgado and Anzualda returned. Martinez "knew something was going to happen" and decided to move the car away from the scene. The other men walked to where he had moved the car anyway. Delgado distracted Vasquez's attention toward the LaSalle Monument. He swung a beer bottle and tried to hit Vasquez in the head. Vasquez put one hand up to block the blow. The other men rushed Vasquez. Anzualda pulled a knife and attacked him. He stabbed him repeatedly.

Vasquez pleaded for his life. Delgado said to get Vasquez's wallet. Someone handed the wallet to Martinez. He handed it to Delgado. When Vasquez lost consciousness, Martinez and either Anzualda or Salazar dragged the body from the road over the rocks. Vasquez regained consciousness. Martinez punched him. Vasquez fell again. Salazar started stabbing him repeatedly. Vasquez lost consciousness again.

Delgado ordered the others to pull Vasquez into some bushes. He observed that the body still could be seen from passing cars. He suggested they put Vasquez in the trunk of the Cadillac. Martinez told the jury he refused. Delgado "went over there to go pull the body by himself towards the bushes some more to hide the body." As Delgado did so, Martinez testified, Vasquez "jumped up and ran into the water" to get away. At Delgado's order, Salazar and Anzualda followed Vasquez. Salazar stabbed Vasquez some more. From the beach, Delgado shouted instructions to Salazar and Anzualda to stab Vasquez in the neck, to cut his throat.

Salazar and Anzualda returned to shore. Vasquez remained on his feet in the water. Martinez testified he convinced the others to leave, arguing that someone in a passing car might see them. Delgado instructed them to pick up all the beer bottles, so they would not leave any fingerprints. They did so. The four men got back in the Cadillac. Vasquez began to wade ashore. As they were leaving, Delgado said, "Stop, let me go show y'all how to do this right." He climbed out and pulled a knife from his waistband.

Delgado waded into the water, Martinez told the jury. He stabbed Vasquez twice in the back. He grabbed Vasquez's hair and dragged his head under water. He quickly slit the man's throat, then slit it again. He left Vasquez floating in the water and returned to the Cadillac.

The four men resumed their earlier seating positions. Martinez drove. Delgado sat in the front passenger seat. Anzualda sat in the left rear passenger seat. Salazar sat behind Delgado in the right rear passenger seat. Delgado repeated to the other men that Vasquez had told him, "Just go ahead and kill me, finish me off." Delgado said he replied, "You don't have to worry about it, that's already going to happen."

Delgado, however, proved no more successful than Martinez, Salazar, and Anzualda. Vasquez did not die from being hit in the head with a beer bottle, beaten, stabbed, or having his throat cut. Medical examiner Roberto J. Bayardo testified that Vasquez had sustained a laceration to the back of his head, caused by blunt force, as well as seventy-seven cuts and stab wounds throughout his body. His injuries included slashes on his face and neck and multiple defensive wounds on his hands, forearms, and one knee. Even so, Dr. Bayardo told the jury, the wounds would not have killed Vasquez immediately. They would have taken about thirty minutes. Vasquez's airways were packed with sand and particles of seashell and seawater, the medical examiner testified. Vasquez did not bleed to death. He drowned.

As they drove back to Victoria, Martinez told the jury, Delgado asked if anyone had any jewelry missing. Anzualda said he had lost his bracelet. Delgado told Salazar to wipe off the knife Salazar had used, a green camouflage pull-out blade, and throw it out. Salazar opened the back seat door and threw the knife on the side of the road. Delgado asked if anybody had any cuts or scratches. Salazar reported he had cut his finger when the knife accidently closed while he was stabbing Vasquez. Martinez could see that Salazar had a cut on his finger, Martinez told the jury. Delgado also wiped off his knife, which was the butcher knife with the taped handle the authorities later recovered, and hurled it out the front passenger window.

The usual practice of the cadre, Martinez told the jury, was to get rid of clothes used in the commission of a crime. The "ranking member" would either give orders to burn them or get rid of them so there would be no evidence. Martinez testified that after he got home that day, he took a shower. He stuffed his shoes and clothes in a bag. He washed and vacuumed his mother's car and threw away all the beer bottles. Then he went fishing. On the way, he tossed the bag containing the clothes he had worn that morning in a dumpster.

On March 31, Martinez testified, Salazar was wearing a brown shirt with a "low rider" decal on it and a muscle shirt. Martinez identified items of partially burned clothing retrieved by Goodwine as worn by Salazar on the day of the murder. He identified other partially burned items of clothing as having been worn by the other participants in Vasquez's murder.

Salazar initially asserted his right not to testify. Both sides rested and closed. Salazar changed his mind about testifying. The trial court permitted the defense to re-open. An alibi witness, Salazar's cousin Ramiro Anzualda, reluctantly testified. He placed Salazar in Victoria between 8:00 and 11:00 the morning of March 31, 2000. Then Salazar testified in his own behalf.

C. Salazar's Testimony

Salazar denied participating in Vasquez's murder. He admitted being associated with the cadre of felons but denied being a full-fledged member. He told the jury he knew Delgado from "the streets, we just- he'd come stay at my house sometimes, we'd drink beer and party and just stay at my house." Martinez and Salazar grew up in the same neighborhood, Salazar testified. Amador Anzualda is also Salazar's cousin. Vasquez he met in prison.

While in jail awaiting trial for Vasquez's murder, Salazar testified, he received a letter from Delgado. The trial court sustained the State's hearsay objection to Delgado's letter. Over Salazar's objection during the prosecutor's cross-examination of Salazar, the trial court admitted a letter written to Delgado's lawyer by Amador Anzualda, also charged with Vasquez's murder. Anzualda wrote: (4)

Mr. Castas, 9-16-00

 

Let me make this clear and state that on the '31' day of March 2/00 Mr. Jimmy D. Delgado was not at or in the scene of the crime. I Amador Anzualda Jr. am a witness and I was a participant in this incident, but had order's from 'Mike D." full name Michael Delgado Martinez a member of an organization. ([the cadre]) Mike D. and Mateo (5) came and picked me up about 8:45/9:00. Well, we then left to 'P.L.' (6) in which he told me and Mateo that an individual known as (Chris Vasquez) had owed him some money and he wanted us to beat him down a little. We picked up 'Chris' about 9:50/10:15 while waiting for Chris he told us that if we understood we replied yes. Well, Chris came out and got in the car willingly. So, we stop at a store in which 'Chris' purchased a '12' pack of budweiser or bud light.

 

I write a note to Mike D. telling him that to go somewheres where on one could be a witness. I lid-up a 'sweet' with weed so we smoked but Chris did not. I still had a drunkin feeling from the night before and Mateo was still drunk from not sleeping all night. We got to the beach in which I was not familiar with, but I do remember a statue. We all then get off and grab a beer and start having small talk playing it off. I then go behind a bush to throw a piss and Mike D. come's to tell me that if we were ready. I said yes. So, we back laughing I then hit 'Chris' and Mateo gets in. While we are fighting I hit Chris in the head with a bottle. He's on the ground while Mateo still hitting him. Mike D pull's out 2 knives I then told him 'no' that it was not to go down like that. Mike D. get mad and starts telling me that I am supposed to follow's my order's. If I don't that I will pay when we get back to Victoria. That he will run court on us, because we were prospect's and we disobeyed his order's.

That this time I grab them and Mateo an I started to stab Chris. We first stabbed Chris a couple of time's then stop, so Chris jumps into the beach and Mateo go's after him. The two of them are struggling and Mateo is drunk so he is getting tired. So, I then go to them both I grab Chris and Mateo stab's him, but I get mad so I start stabbing Chris. While this I and Mateo get tired, so we head back to shore. We are exhausted and Mike D. got mad because Chris is still standing in the water. Mike D. keep's telling us to go finish it, but we don't, so he go's himself and take one of the knive's.

 

While this he tell's us that when we get back Mateo and I were going to pay. Well, he go's and grab's Chris by the neck and stabbs Chris in the back. Then held's Chris underwater and cuts his throat. As Mike D. walk back on land he stress-out that that's how to kill a m/f. He then started telling us that we are going to pay.

 

Well, we get in the car and leave on the way back to Victoria. While on the road we don't talk, but Mateo clean's the knives and whipes off for finger prints to throw them out the door.

 

We get to Mike D. trailor and we leave Mateo and I. Mateo and I get to the house and I call Jimmy to explain what went down. Jimmy came over and told us not to worry that we won't get court run on us. But Mike D [expletive]-up making us do that [expletive].

 

So, you see, 'Jimmy D. Delgado' does not have part of the incident. Mike D. Martinez ordered this hit, because Chris owed him money. That's why Mateo and I did what we did, because our life's were on the line at the time. Mike D. as I said is a member of the organization [the cadre] and Mateo and I were prospects in this organization. Once more we followed our order's for our live's and it was a order from Michael Delgado Martinez.

 

Signed,

Amador Anzualda Jr.

During the State's case-in-chief, the jury learned from Delgado's attorney that on September 19, 2000, Salazar, too, wrote a letter to him. Salazar wrote: (7)

O.K. Me and Jimmy stayed up all night drinking and snorting coke. Then I sneaked in Maria's bedroom and stole the keys to the car. Me and J took of cruzing about 7:00 we went to Fermin's house and talked for a little while. When we left, I took the newspaper and we got in to the car and left. We went cruzing for a little while. We went to Alex's house and thats where we found M.D. We "Me, J, MICHAEL D. MARTINEZ" went riding [in Mike D's car]. (8) About 8:00 AM or 8:30 we went to P.L. and talked to a couple of people. I don't remember who but we stopped a couple of places. We came back to Victoria and dropped off Jimmy and we "MICHAEL D MARTINEZ, ME, FEO (9) went back to P.L.! (10) The rest of the story has nothing to do with Jimmy. So I'll leave it at that till we go to court. Oh Jimmy came over to my house and we told him what happened. And thats it.

 

Mr. Costas. Saludos y Respeto.

 

Watcha ase. (11) You don't know me and I don't know you. So don't be assuming nothing about me. I'll go and testify that Jimmy is innosent. ITS all for one and one for all. (12) Abate y paz!! (13)

/s/ Matthew Salazar

Jimmy Delgado

Matthew Salazar

Amador Anzualda

At trial, Salazar testified that what he wrote to Delgado's attorney was not true. He told the jury he wrote the letter to help Delgado, who had a wife and two children. "He's helped me out a lot this whole time I've been out," Salazar explained, "and I wanted to give him back, you know, help him out on his case."

Salazar told the jury the truth was that his cousins Amador Anzualda and Ramiro Anzualda, Delgado, and he were together at a nightclub in Victoria the night of March 30, the night before Vasquez's murder. After the club closed, Salazar testified, Delgado, Amador Anzualda, and Martinez went to Salazar's house. Ramiro Anzualda came by later. They "were drinking, smoking pot and doing coke," Salazar told the jury. Ramiro Anzualda left. Amador Anzualda fell asleep. At daybreak, Salazar told the jury, Delgado and he cruised around town in a brown Delta 88 for an about an hour. They went to "Fermin's" house, whom Delgado spoke with, and then to Martinez's house. They bought two "sweets" (14) from Martinez. About 8:00 the morning of March 31, 2000, Salazar left Delgado at Delgado's mother's house and went home. He woke Amador Anzualda. They smoked the "sweet." Amador Anzualda went back to sleep. Martinez showed up and wanted to go cruising. They left in Martinez's Cadillac, Salazar told the jury. His blood, however, must have gotten in the Cadillac a few days before, Salazar testified, when he rode in Martinez's car after a bar fight.

Martinez dropped him off at Ramiro Anzualda's house, Salazar testified. He stayed there until about 11:00 a.m. Then he walked to a girlfriend's house. He denied being with Martinez and Delgado that morning when they went looking for Vasquez. He denied riding with them in Martinez's car to Port Lavaca. He denied being at the LaSalle Monument on March 31 when Vasquez was murdered.

On May 7, 2001, the jury learned, Salazar wrote a letter to his cousin Amador Anzualda while both were in jail awaiting trial. Salazar wrote:

Orale primo (15) it was good to receive your most welcomed letter. . . . Check this out primo you're always talking about "I don't ever want to hear about this tema ever again. Well to bad if i got something to tell you im going tell you and if you don't like it pues that's on you. Ora check this out!! That letter you wrote to Costas is really [expletive] up. If it fell in to the wrong hands of someone who didn't know what was up then you could be in a lot of trouble. S.C.D.! And i had it pero all my property stayed in P.L. I pulled it out through my discovery. I wonder how it got there?!? That's what i tried to tell you. Remember when you asked me if i wrote to J's lawyer and i said yes, pero i didn't put nothing on the letter. And you said that you did and . . . well you know the rest!! C.T.R. Every letter its like that. What kind of escuela is that. Nobre pero a its cool cause im getting my wisedom and knowledge everyday. Your letters and everybody elses only make me a stronger person.

 

Ora del Gavilan, watcha primo all my directas soap ETC ETC stayed in P.L.. Todo. I'm having to borrow this [expletive] to stay en contacto con todos. I didn't have anybodies directas no pen, paper. ETC ETC . . . im was writing to el Capone you need to get on the ball and stop making false accusations toward me. I also know that el Gato no longer holds it down so im going to Chano. You always think a Meskins one step behind you when in fact im right next to you!! I got nothing but love for you primo pero im not going be taking to much more of you ATTITUDE. Oh yes and you do have one. This i know for a fact. No other homie has ever come to me like that and believe me i have had a couple of [illegible]. Pero nothing like one of your most precious letter.

 

Ora i don't have anybodies directa so there is no way for me to send this paperwork out.

 

Well primo i guess I'll let you go. Abate y paz!!

Salazar explained to the jury that when he told Anzualda that if Anzualda's letter fell into the wrong hands he would be in trouble, he meant it would make Anzualda look bad. The reason it would make Anzualda look bad, Salazar continued, was Anzualda had implicated the cadre. If a member of the cadre "was to get ahold of this letter then he would be in a lot of trouble for putting the family in there." "The family," the jury learned from Salazar, meant the cadre of felons.

Salazar admitted to the jury that he learned he was wanted in connection with Vasquez's murder. To avoid apprehension, he testified, he fled to Houston, Corpus Christi, and Robstown. When detained during a drug raid in Robstown a month after Vasquez's murder, he gave a false name. The law enforcement officer who arrested Salazar corroborated that portion of his testimony.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Admission of Evidence

In his second issue, Salazar asserts the trial court abused its discretion in admitting Amador Anzualda's letter of September 16, 2000. He argues that Anzualda's admission against interest was neither corroborated nor reliable. The State responds that the trial court correctly admitted the letter as an admission against Anzualda's interest. See Tex. R. Evid. 803(24).

1. Standard of Review

We review a trial court's admission or exclusion of evidence under an abuse-of-discretion standard. Montgomery v. State, 810 S.W.2d 372, 379-80 (Tex. Crim. App. 1990). The abuse-of-discretion standard applies to our review of a trial court's admission or exclusion of a hearsay admission against interest under rule 803(24). Tex. R. Evid. 803(24); see Cunningham v. State, 877 S.W.2d 310, 313 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994) (excluding statement). An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court acts arbitrarily or unreasonably, without reference to guiding rules or principles. Montgomery, 810 S.W.2d at 380. In other words, an abuse of discretion occurs only when the trial court's decision is so wrong as to lie outside that zone within which reasonable persons might disagree. Id. A trial court has a "limited right to be wrong." Our inquiry on appeal is whether the result was reached in an arbitrary or capricious manner. Id.

2. Rule of Evidence 803(24)

A statement is not excluded by the hearsay rule if, at the time it was made, the statement so far tended to subject the declarant to criminal liability that a reasonable person in the declarant's position would not have the made the statement unless the person believed it to be true. Tex. R. Evid. 803(24). Even then, an admission against interest is not admissible unless corroborating circumstances supply clear indicia of the trustworthiness of the statement. See id. Thus, any determination of the admissibility of an admission against interest pursuant to rule 803(24) requires a two-step inquiry. Bingham v. State, 987 S.W.2d 54, 57 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994). First, the trial court must determine if the statement tends to expose the declarant to criminal liability. Id. Second, the trial court must determine if corroborating circumstances clearly indicate the trustworthiness of the statement. Id. If both these criteria are met, rule 803(24) is satisfied. Id. The statement is admissible. Id.

The focus of our inquiry is on verifying, to the greatest extent possible, the trustworthiness of the admission against interest. Id. at 58. Our goal, and that of the trial court, is to avoid the admissibility of a fabrication. Id. Factors include: (1) whether the guilt of the declarant is inconsistent with the guilt of the accused; (2) whether the declarant had the opportunity to commit the crime; (3) the timing of the declaration and its spontaneity; (4) the relationship between the declarant and the party to whom the declaration was made; and (5) the existence of independent, corroborative facts. Id.

We consider evidence that undermines the reliability of the admission as well as evidence corroborating its trustworthiness. Id. We are careful not to weigh the credibility of the declarant. Id.

3. Evidentiary Analysis

Amador Anzualda's letter exposed him to criminal liability for his role in Vasquez's murder. We find that the State met the first prong to establish admissibility of the letter under rule 803(24). See id. Further, the jury heard corroborating testimony that Martinez and several other men were in Port Lavaca the morning of March 31, 2000. They were seen in Port Lavaca in a bronze-colored Cadillac, asking where Vasquez lived. Non-accomplice testimony corroborated that Martinez drove a bronze-colored Cadillac and that the men had found out where Vasquez lived. Other non-accomplice testimony corroborated that Vasquez left with at least two other men in a dark Cadillac around 10:00 or 10:15 the morning of March 31. Meanwhile, about 10:00 or 10:30 that same morning, another non-accomplice witness noticed a dark-colored Cadillac on the way to Magnolia Beach. The car was not at the LaSalle Monument a few minutes later. Shortly thereafter, however, other non-accomplice witnesses in the vicinity of the LaSalle Monument saw three Hispanic men standing near a bronze-colored Cadillac. By 11:49 a.m., Vasquez's girlfriend had reported him missing. By 1:13 p.m. the same day, Vasquez lay dead on the beach near the LaSalle Monument.

Forensic tests connected Salazar to blood found in a bronze-colored Cadillac in Martinez's possession six days after the murder. The medical examiner's descriptions of Vasquez's injuries and manner of death corresponded to Anzualda's description of the murder. The scene of the crime, near the LaSalle Monument, corresponded with Anzualda's description of the location. Finally, Salazar's own testimony placed him in Martinez's company in Martinez's Cadillac the morning Vasquez was murdered. Salazar argues that the letter is inherently unreliable in that it does not reflect the truth because Anzualda wrote it to exonerate Delgado. Applying the factors suggested by Bingham to the circumstances surrounding Anzualda's admission, particularly with regard to the corroborated details, we find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the letter possessed adequate indicia of trustworthiness. See id. at 58. We find that Anzualda's motivation for writing the letter to Delgado's lawyer raises an issue of his credibility, not an issue of the admissibility of his statement against interest. See id. Accordingly, we hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting under rule 803(24) Anzualda's letter to Delgado's attorney. See id. We find no evidentiary error. We overrule Salazar's second issue.

B. Denial of Salazar's Motion for Directed Verdict

In his first issue, Salazar asserts that the trial court erroneously denied his motion for directed verdict at the close of the State's case-in-chief. Excluding Martinez's testimony, Salazar contends, the State did not produce any witness who saw Salazar with Vasquez on the day of the murder. Salazar argues, therefore, that Martinez's testimony was not corroborated.

The State replies that other non-accomplice testimony sufficiently corroborated Martinez's testimony to implicate Salazar in the crime. The State emphasizes that Salazar's blood was found in the car used in the murder.

1. Standard of Review

A challenge on appeal to the denial of a motion for directed verdict is a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Williams v. State, 937 S.W.2d 479, 482 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). A legal-sufficiency challenge calls on us to review the relevant evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979); Swearingen v. State, 101 S.W.3d 89, 95 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003); Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1, 7 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000). We consider all the evidence that sustains the conviction, whether properly or improperly admitted. Conner v. State, 67 S.W.3d 192, 197 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001) (citing Garcia v. State, 919 S.W.2d 370, 378 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994)). Similarly, we consider all the evidence that sustains the conviction, whether submitted by the prosecution or the defense, in determining the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Cook v. State, 858 S.W.2d 467, 470 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993). The legal sufficiency of the evidence is measured against the elements of the offense as defined by a hypothetically correct jury charge for the case. Malik v. State, 953 S.W.2d 234, 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997). This standard of legal sufficiency ensures that a judgment of acquittal is reserved for those situations in which there is an actual failure in the State's proof of the crime rather than a mere error in the jury charge submitted. Id. We then determine if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319; Johnson, 23 S.W.3d at 7.

If we reverse a criminal case for legal insufficiency, we reform the judgment of conviction to reflect conviction for a lesser offense only if a jury charge on the lesser offense was either submitted or requested but denied. Collier v. State, 999 S.W.2d 779, 782 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999). Otherwise, we vacate the judgment of conviction for legal insufficiency and order a judgment of acquittal. Swearingen, 101 S.W.3d at 95.

2. The Hypothetically Correct Charge

A hypothetically correct charge is one that accurately sets out the law, is authorized by the indictment, does not unnecessarily increase the State's burden of proof or restrict its theories of liability, and adequately describes the particular offense for which the defendant was tried. Malik, 953 S.W.2d at 240. A person commits the offense of murder by intentionally or knowingly causing the death of another. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. 19.02(b)(1) (Vernon 2003). With sufficient evidence of Salazar's participation in the planning and commission of Vasquez's murder, the indictment supported a jury instruction on the law of parties without a parties allegation in the indictment. (16) See Goff v. State, 931 S.W.2d 537, 544 n.5 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). In determining whether an accused participated as a party in an offense, a fact finder may examine the events occurring before, during, and after the commission of the offense and rely on actions of the accused that show an understanding and common design to commit the offense. Hanson v. State, 55 S.W.3d 681, 690 (Tex. App.-Austin 2001, pet. ref'd). Thus, conviction was authorized under the evidence in this case if a rational jury could find that Salazar intentionally caused Vasquez's death, either as a principal or as a party. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. 19.02(b)(1) (Vernon 2003); see also Hanson, 55 S.W.3d at 690.

3. Corroboration of Accomplice Testimony

An accomplice is a person who participates in an offense before, during, or after its commission to the extent that the person can be charged with the offense or with a lesser offense. Herron v. State, 86 S.W.3d 621, 631 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002) (citingBlake v. State, 971 S.W.2d 451, 454-55 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998)). A prosecution witness indicted for the same offense as the accused is an accomplice as a matter of law. Id. (citing Ex parte Zepeda, 819 S.W.2d 874, 876 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991)).

As an accomplice, Martinez's testimony must be "corroborated by other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the offense committed; and the corroboration is not sufficient if it merely shows the commission of the offense." Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 38.14 (Vernon 1979). We look for corroboration to all non-accomplice evidence, both prosecution and defense. Cook, 858 S.W.2d at 470. The required corroborative evidence may be either circumstantial or direct and need not directly link the accused to the crime. Richardson v. State, 879 S.W.2d 874, 880 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993); Reed v. State, 744 S.W.2d 112, 126 (Tex. Crim. App. 1988). Further, the corroborating evidence need not establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

Finally, "proof that the accused was at or near the scene of the crime at or about the time of its commission, when coupled with other suspicious circumstances, may tend to connect the accused to the crime so as to furnish sufficient corroboration to support a conviction." Brown v. State, 672 S.W.2d 487, 489 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984). Apparently insignificant incriminating circumstances may afford satisfactory corroboration. Munoz v. State, 853 S.W.2d 558, 559 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993). Evidence that an accused was in the company of the accomplice at or near the time or place of a crime is proper corroborating evidence to support a conviction. Hernandez v. State, 939 S.W.2d 173, 178 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997).

4. Inferences of Guilt

Evidence of flight is admissible as a circumstance from which a jury may draw an inference of guilt. Bigby v. State, 892 S.W.2d 864, 883 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994). Similarly, a jury may conclude that an accused's use of a false name immediately after the commission of an offense tends to connect the accused to that offense. Cockrum v. State, 758 S.W.2d 577, 582 (Tex. Crim. App. 1988).

5. Legal-Sufficiency Analysis

As is almost always the case, Salazar's intent must be established by circumstantial evidence. See Dillon v. State, 574 S.W.2d 92, 94 (Tex. Crim. App. [Panel Op.]1978). The jury may infer the requisite intent from Salazar's conduct. See Conner, 67 S.W.3d at 197.

Salazar's own testimony placed him in Martinez's company in Martinez's Cadillac the morning Vasquez was murdered. We must consider this evidence in determining the legal sufficiency of the evidence, even though Salazar moved for directed verdict at the close the State's case-in-chief. See Cook, 858 S.W.2d at 470. The rest of the non-accomplice testimony and forensic evidence that corroborated Amador Anzualda's admission against interest also corroborated Martinez's testimony. In addition, Martinez's testimony included the detail that Salazar had been cut during the struggle with Vasquez and had ridden in the Cadillac afterwards. Forensic tests identified Salazar's blood in the Cadillac where Martinez said Salazar sat after the murder. Other forensic evidence connected Vasquez to blood on a gold nugget bracelet found at the scene. Martinez's testimony tied the bracelet to Amador Anzualda, placed him at the crime scene, and confirmed that he had lost the bracelet during the struggle with Vasquez. The authorities recovered a weapon that matched a description Martinez gave them, where Martinez said they would find it. Finally, Martinez's testimony described the cadre's practice of destroying evidence and connected Salazar and other participants in the murder to partially burned clothing found in the vicinity. Accordingly, we find that Martinez's testimony implicating Salazar as a principal in Vasquez's murder is amply corroborated. See Hernandez, 939 S.W.2d at 178; see also Munoz, 853 S.W.2d at 559; Brown, 672 S.W.2d at 489.

Moreover, the jury learned that Delgado, Amador Anzualda, and Salazar corresponded with one another from jail as they awaited trial for Vasquez's murder. The jury read Salazar's letter chastising Anzualda for implicating the cadre of felons to which all four men implicated in Vasquez's murder belonged. Salazar's own words confirmed that members of the cadre were "all for one and one for all." We find that the jury could have inferred that Salazar's actions before, during, and after Vasquez's murder showed an understanding of the offense as a party. See Hanson, 55 S.W.3d at 690.

Finally, the jury heard that Salazar fled to escape apprehension for Vasquez's murder. He admitted to the jury he gave a false name when he was detained for another offense a month later. See Bigby, 892 S.W.2d at 883; see also Cockrum, 758 S.W.2d at 582. We find that the jury could have inferred Salazar's consciousness of guilt from his efforts to avoid detection after Vasquez's murder. See Bigby, 892 S.W.2d at 883; see also Cockrum, 758 S.W.2d at 582.

Considering only the evidence in favor of the verdict, both prosecution and defense, and applying the evidence to a hypothetically correct jury charge on murder and the law of parties, we find that any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319; see also Johnson, 23 S.W.3d at 7. Accordingly, we hold that the trial court did not err in overruling Salazar's motion for directed verdict. We overrule his first issue.

IV. CONCLUSION

We have overruled both of Salazar's issues. We affirm the trial court's judgment.

 

ERRLINDA CASTILLO

Justice

 

Do not publish.

Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).

 

Opinion delivered and filed

this 28th day of August, 2003.

1. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. 19.02(b)(1) (Vernon 2003).

2. We find the organization discussed in published and unpublished cases in Texas dating from 1990. See, e.g., Esparza v. Diaz, 802 S.W.2d 772, 778 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1990, no writ).

3. "Cadre" is defined as "[a] nucleus or core group especially of trained personnel or active members of an organization who are capable of assuming leadership or of training and indoctrinating others." Webster's Third New Int'l Dictionary 312 (1993).

4. Errors in the original handwritten text are reproduced here.

5. Mateo is Salazar's first name in Spanish.

6. The jury heard this meant Port Lavaca.

7. Errors in the original handwritten text are reproduced here.

8. The phrase was written in the margin with an arrow pointing to "riding."

9. Salazar testified "Feo" was Anzualda's street name.

10. The jury heard this meant Port Lavaca.

11. Salazar's translation was "Check this out, Dude."

12. Salazar's translation was "like a loyal thing between us."

13. Salazar's translation was "Neighbors in peace."

14. Salazar explained, "It's a Swisher Sweet cigar cut open with marijuana stuffed inside."

15. Salazar translated that "primo" means cousin.

16. Salazar does not assert charge error.