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Hooks v. State3/7/2001
Ray Dale Hooks appeals his conviction for intoxication manslaughter. Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 49.08 (Vernon Supp. 2001). Hooks was indicted on two counts, the first for intoxication manslaughter and the second for leaving an accident scene. Hooks pleaded guilty to the second count, and after pleading not guilty to the first count, was tried before a jury. The jury found Hooks guilty of both counts and assessed punishment at life in prison. On appeal Hooks challenges both the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence and contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for continuance because of pretrial publicity regarding a similar case. He also contends that the trial court committed cumulative harmful error. We overrule each of Hooks' points and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
On the evening of March 14, 1999, Roger Carney and his common-law wife, Lari Patterson, were traveling east on U.S. Highway 80 from Longview to their home in Marshall, Texas. Following a minor altercation during the trip, Patterson stopped at a convenience store to purchase a snack. While in the store, Carney left the vehicle and began walking toward Marshall, proceeding eastbound on the grassy edge abutting the concrete shoulder of U.S. Highway 80. Despite Patterson's repeated attempts to convince Carney to get back into her vehicle, she was unsuccessful and later left Carney to walk the rest of the way home. However, shortly after leaving Carney on the roadside, Patterson returned and found his lifeless body slumped over on the shoulder of the road. Emergency medical technicians, Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers, Longview police officers, and Harrison County sheriff deputies arrived on the scene in response to an emergency call placed by a passerby. DPS officer Odie Hitt advised the various law enforcement personnel at the scene to be on the lookout for a pickup truck that was leaking antifreeze, because there was evidence at the scene of radiator coolant having leaked out onto the roadway, indicating the probability that a vehicle's radiator had suddenly ruptured near the point where the coolant was first visible. Shortly after Carney was transported to Good Shepherd Hospital, he was pronounced dead. While searching for a suspect, Harrison County deputies found a gray 1992 Chevrolet pickup truck at the home of Hooks' mother. The truck had extensive frontal damage and a radiator leak. The deputies inquired of Hooks' mother as to the whereabouts of her son, and after indicating that she had taken him to his apartment, she accompanied them there. After announcing their presence and getting no response, the deputies entered Hooks' apartment and found him asleep in the living room. The officers had difficulty rousing Hooks, but ultimately succeeded and took him into custody. While in custody he consented to the taking of a blood specimen for a determination of his blood alcohol content. Later, in a voluntary statement given to Westy Meisenheimer, an investigator for the Harrison County district attorney's office, Hooks admitted that he and his common-law wife had been driving around and drinking beer since about 4:00 p.m. that day.
On appeal Hooks attacks both the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction. Legal and factual challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence require the use of separate and distinct standards. Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1, 7 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000). A legal sufficiency review calls on this Court to view the relevant evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d at 7; Hines v. State, 978 S.W.2d 169, 172 (Tex. App.-Tex
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