# Bellotti, Carl Matthew III AKA Belotti, Carl Mathew Iii > Court of Appeals of Texas · March 11, 2015 URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4048047 ## Case - **Court:** Court of Appeals of Texas - **Decided:** March 11, 2015 - **Precedential status:** Published - **Opinion:** Opinion - **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library ## Citator (automated) - No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases. - Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4048047 ## Opinion text I () -I IN TJIE TEXAS COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS AT AUSTIN, TEXAS I. .. EX PARTE § I § § WR-53,835-05 I CARL MATTHEW. BELLOTTI, ill. •§ § ; r: I I fhf! document contains some pagas that are of poor q4ality ,.... RECEIVED IN COURT OF CRIMIMM APPF.:AI.S at the ilme of imaging. · I Abel Acosta, -Clerk I NOTICE I 0 • I in re the Official R,eporter's- Record I ·I I I I I . . I Philip W. "PhW' Moore, Petitioner Pro $e 15623 Fagerquist Road . Del Valle, Texas 78617-5~00 I Phone: (512) 667-1508 · e-:mail:. pwm11.07@gmail.com -I I I I IN THE TEXAS COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS AT AUSTIN, TEXAS I EXPARTE § I § § WR-53,835-05 I CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, ill § § I I I I NOTICE I in re the Official Reporter's Record I ( I I I I I Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Petitioner Pro $e 15623 Fagerquist Road Del Valle, Texas 78617-5800 I Phone: (512) 667-1508 e-mail: pwm11.07@gmail.com I I I I I I OREWOR I TO BE CLEAR, I A FRAUO has been perpetrated upon this Honorable Court I in the case at bar by Jefferson County officialdom's not-so-veiled insistence upon I depriving our Texas Court of Criminal Appeals of the Official Court Reporter's (trial) Record despite the Strickland Court's mandate(s) that I ''... a court deciding an actual ineffectiveness claim must judge the reasonableness of counsel's challenged conduct on the facts of I the particular case, viewed as of the time of counsel's conduct. A convicted defendant making a claim of ineffective assistance I must identify the acts or omissions of counsel [shown in the Official Reporter's (trial) Record] that are alleged not to have been the result of reasonable professional judgment. The court I must then determine whether, in light of all the circumstances, the identified [in the Official Reporter's (trial) Record] acts or I omissions were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance. . .. " I 466 U.S.@ 690 (1984). Indeed, at least according to the State's Attorney who filed the State's Original Answer pleading(s) in the case at bar- "Rubber Stamped" by the I habeas court below that very next morning - anyway, I "... the Official Reporter's (trial) Record is Off Limits on Habeas Corpusll?" I See, inter alia, pp. 2-3, infra. I -1- I ~- I I Indeed, I "...in a case such as this, where the alleged derelictions primarily are errors of omission de hors the record rather than commission I revealed in the trial record, collateral attack may be just the vehicle by which a thorough and detailed examination of alleged I ineffectiveness [and/or Prosecutorial Misconduct] may be spread upon a record [IN OPEN COURT for all to see]." [emphasis in original/emphasis ADDed] I Ex parte Duffy, No. 64863,607 S.W.2d 507,513 (Tex. Crim. App.-EnBanc-10101/ I 1980) (the Most Honorable Samuel Houston "Sam" Clinton, Judge, writing for the Court), Rehearing Denied (11126/1980) and cases cited therein. I : .. and that "...thorough and detailed examination of alleged ineffectiveness [and/ or Prosecutorial Misconduct] ... spread upon a record [IN OPEN COURT for all I 11 to see] is exactly what the State and its licentious lackies don't want to see happen here and are so very determined to prevent that they have even had the unmitigated gall to I perpetrate (or at least attempt to perpetuate) a fraud upon our Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in their not-so-veiled "C. Y .A." attempt( s) to protect the reputation( s) oftheir so- called "Brothers (and Sisters) of the Bar"- each of whom so proudly style themselves I "Officers of the Court(s)" but all-too-often act as though they are above the Law. . . .and you wonder why so many of our incarcerated citizens- each of whom is I nonetheless a human being deserving of that pseudo-aspirational thing known as Due Process (and/or Due Course) of Law- often lament that I "This isn't justice- it's Just U$11?" I ... and, as stated at page ten (10), infra, right now is the time for this Honorable I Court to set its jaw(s) squarely against the kind(s) of guile and chicanery foisted upon Carl Matthew Bellotti, III ab initio and, in the process, prevent The Great Writ ofHabeas I Corpus from being "suspended" in contravention ofFederal and State constitutional law. I ERRORES SCRIBENTIS NOCERE NON DEBENT I -11- I I I IN THE TEXAS COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS AT AUSTIN, TEXAS I I EXPARTE § § I § § WR-53,835-05 CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, ill § I I NOTICE in re the Official ~eporter's Record I I TO THE HONORABLE JUDGES of said court: I COMES NOW CARL MATTHEWBELLOTTI, III, APPLICANT Pro $e1 in the above-styled and numbered cause, by and through Philip W. "Phi I'' Moore, who presents I this his NOTICE in re the Official Reporter's Record pleading(s) in the above- I styled and numbered cause in accordance with, inter alia, Article 11.12 {Who May Present Petition)2 of our Texas Code ofCriminal Procedure and its "Hornbook Law" I progenies and who, in support thereof, would respectfully show this Honorable Court the I following: I I PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I 1 ALL "emphasi$" belongs to this writer unless otherwise indicated. 2 I Either the party for whom the relief is intended, or any person "for" him, may present a petition to the proper authority for the purpose of obtaining relief. I Acts 1965, 59th Leg., vol. 2, p. 317, ch. 722. - 1- I I I In the interest(s) ofbrevity, Applicant has raised two (2) Grounds for Relief in the habeas pleading(s) filed on his behalf on Monday, February 9th, 2015- ineffective I "assistance" of trial counsel (a/k:/a lAC) based primarily on "trial" counsel's failure(s) I to so much as attempt to impugn the testimony of the State's "Star" Witnesses identified infra and Prosecutorial Misconduct based primarily upon the State's knowing and I intentional subornation of perjured testimony (viz, Inconsistent Statements as defmed by V.T.C.A., Texas Penal Code §37.06) on the part of its two (2) "Star" Witnesses, I Groves Police Department Sergeant Kevin Russell White and a Lay Witness by the name I of Aelisa Faye Sanders . . . .and despite prima facie evidence in support of Applicant's allegations and I lengthy verbatim quotations from the Strickland Court's two-pronged test now required for analysis of such lAC allegations,3 the habeas court below has entered its so-called I Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law asserting that I " ... [A]pplicant has failed to meet his twin-burden of production and persuasion for establishing his lAC claim, as required under I Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-688 (1984), by a preponderance of the evidence .... " I " ...FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS ..."@ p. 5. Worse yet, the habeas court below has ordered the Jefferson County District Clerk's Office to immediately forward to this I Honorable Court I " ... [t]he [C]lerk's [R]ecord in ... [Cause] No. 09-072[83] ... ," ID.@ p. 6 (4), rather obviously intent upon compelling this Honorable Court to reach I the merits vel non of the case at bar without benefit ofthe Official Reporter's (trial) I Record/? ...and then most alarmingly, when this writer placed a telephone call to I I 3 SeeMEMORANDUM@pp.l7-19. - 2- I I I Deborah Ann (Ann) Manes-the Assistant Jefferson County District Attorney who filed the State's Original Answer pleading(s) in the case at bar- to question her about the I habeas court's exclusion of the Official Reporter's (trial) Record from its so-called I "Transmittal" Order, Ann Manes actually had the unmitigated gall to respond that I "...the Official Reporter's (trial) Record is Off Limits on Habeas Corpus/1?" I REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM I Even a cursory review of the Strickland Court's holding(s) reveals that I " ... a court deciding an actual ineffectiveness claim must judge the reasonableness of counsel's challenged conduct on the facts of . I the particular case, viewed as of the time of counsel's conduct. A convicted defendant making a claim of ineffective assistance must identify the acts or omissions of counsel [shown in the I Official Reporter's (trial) Record] that are alleged not to have been the result of reasonable professional judgment. The court I must then determine whether, in light of all the circumstances, the identified [in the Official Reporter's (trial) Record] acts or I omissions were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance. . .. " I Strickland v. Washington, 4 No. 82-1554, 466 U.S. 668, 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 (Argued 01/10/1984 - Decided 03/14/1984) (JUSTICE Sandra Day O'CONNOR I delivering the opinion of the Court). I QUERY: HOW _ _ _ is this Honorable Court supposed to comply with the Strickland Court's ".. .must judge the reasonableness of counsel's challenged I conduct [and/or, for that matter, the Prosecutorial Misconduct issue(s) intertwined ·I 4 ... a true and correct copy of which- downloaded from the Internet @ Google Scholar- I is attached hereto as Applicant's Exhibit "A" and included herein for the readers' perusal. -3- ;I I I therewith] on the facts of[this] particular case, viewed at the time ofcounsel's [and/or the State's Attorneys 1 conduct"mandate(s) without the Official Court Reporter's I (trial) Record for crying out Loud/1//? I CLEARly, 5 if Jefferson County officialdom is allowed to place the Official I Reporter's (trial) Record "Off Limits" in the case at bar, it will have been allowed to do so vis·a·vis the Supreme Law of the Land. I Just for starters, I "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases ofRebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." I Article I, Section 9 of our "United" States Constitution. 6 I "The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one [S]upreme Court ... ," I Article Ill, Section 1 of our "United" States Constitution, and all courts in these I "United" States of America- including our Texas Court of Criminal Appeals- are "bound" by the decisions of our United States "Supreme" Court. Put another way, I "... No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of I I 5 For some definitions of the word clearly, see WEST'S LAW DICTIONARY, Ninth Edition (1990), West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minnesota@ p. 267. I 6 ...and even in Texas I "The writ of habeas corpus is a writ of right, and shall never be suspended. The Legislature shall enact laws to render the remedy I speedy and effectual." Article I [Bill of Rights], Section 12 (Habeas Corpus), effective (with the approval of Texas I Proposition 13) on November 6th, 2007. -4- I I I the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny I to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the II 1aws. I Fourteenth (14th) Amendment to our "United" States Constitution- alkla the I "Supremacy" Clause - adopted July 9th, 1868. 7 ... and, as stated at page three (3), ante, our United States "Supreme" Court has I already decided that I ". . .a court deciding an actual ineffectiveness claim must judge the reasonableness of counsel's challenged conduct on the I facts of the particular case, viewed as ofthe time of counsel's conduct. A convicted defendant making a claim of ineffective assistance must identify the acts or omissions ofcounsel [shown I in the Official Reporter's (trial) Record] that are alleged not to have been the result ofreasonable professional judgment. The I court must then determine whether, in light of all the circumstances, the identified [in the Official Reporter's I (trial) Record] acts or omissions were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance. . .. " I Strickland v. Washington, supra. Accordingly, Deborah Ann (Ann) Manes' I noxious "Off Limits" dirge should be sent packing to Davey Jones' FootLocker to take its rightful place among the other faulty and defective merchandise which I drummers representing the State have brought to the courts of Jefferson County, I Texas (and elsewhere) to sell//? What is really "Off Limits" here is the kind( s) of guile and chicanery foisted I upon the hard-working/ tax-paying/voting citizens of Jefferson County, Texas (and I 7 " ...any person ... "folks, including Carl Matthew Bellotti, lll- his Judgment & Sentence I in the case at bar notwithstanding//? - 5- I I I elsewhere) by licentious lackies who have forgotten that it is their ((...primary duty ... not to convict, but to see that justice is I done. They shall not suppress facts [including facts contained in the Official Court Reporter's (trial) I Record] nor secret witnesses capable of establishing the innocence of the accused [or providing prima facie I evidence of the Prosecutorial .Misconduct and/or Ineffective Assistance of Counsel (IAC) issues hotly I presented by Applicant, viewed as of the time of counsel's (and/or Prosecutors') conduct, as an aid to I this Honorable Court in assessing the merits vel non of Applicant's habeas claim(s)]." I V.A.C.C.P. Article 2.01 - Duties of District Attorneys. They rather obviously have I also forgotten that all lawyers- each of whom so proudly style themselves "Officers of the Court(s)" but too often act as though they are above the Law- are responsible I for the pleading(s) they submit to a tribunal in a(ny) given case and are forbidden to I "...bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless the lawyer reasonably believes that there is a basis for doing so that is not frivolous. " 8 I Rule 3.01 (Meritorious Claims and Contentions)-TEXAS DISCIPLINARYRULES I OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT- a/k/a the State Bar (of Texas) Rules. They have lost their Moral Compass and visited substantial (and substantive) violence upon I not only Carl Matthew Bellotti, III but upon the entire Criminal "Justice" System of I Jefferson County, Texas (and elsewhere) as well .. II I CONCLUSION I 8 ... and there is certainly nothing "reasonable" about Ann Manes' "Off Limits" I noxious dirge- WHAT WAS SHE THINKING? -6- I I I Sadly, the State has been given its chances to "come clean" but has chosen instead to perpetuate its Dog & Pony Show routine in a series of"C.Y.A." attempts I to keep the hard-working/tax-paying/voting citizens of Jefferson County, Texas (and I elsewhere) from finding out just how things really "work" in that Jefferson County Courthouse- all while attempting to shield their "Brothers (and Sisters) of the I Bar·· from the Eyes of Texas so-to-speak. Indeed, on Thursday, January 27th, 2015, Petitioner [accompanied by I Applicant's dearly-beloved eighty-four (84+)-year old ailing/Heart Patient/Pensioner I father] met with thenewly-electedDistrictAttomey of Jefferson County, Texas (Bob Wortham) himself (Kimberly Ann "Kim" Hobbs, Assistant District Attorney, was I also present)9 in an attempt to provide Jefferson County officialdom with an opportunity to "take care of its own business" with a view towards avoiding the I contentious litigation within which we now all find ourselves ensnared and presented I Bob Wortham with a complete BOUND copy of the entire Official Court Reporter's (trial) Record in the above-styled and numbered cause- BOTH TRIALS/all five I (5) Volumes -prepared by SummerTanner(the Official Court Reporter in the case I at bar) and paid for by Applicant's father, CarlS. Bellotti, Jr.long before these habeas proceedings commenced. I BUT all Bob Wortham seemed to want to talk about was having Petitioner file I a "Bill of Review" pleading in the 252nd Judicial District Court of Jefferson County, Texas (Hon. Raquel West,. Judge Presiding) seeking relief in the premises - I 9 ... a meeting "arranged" by a telephone call to Mr. Wortham from the Honorable John Burch I "Johnny" Stevens, Judge of the Criminal District Court (right next door to Judge West's courtroom) of Jefferson County, Texas- one of the most impressive (if not the most impressive)·members of the Bench that this writer has ever encountered- urging him (Wortham) to meet with Petitioner I in an attempt to avoid this Armageddon. Mr. Wortham allocated two (2) hours for that meeting- it lasted for slightly more than one- and-a-half (1 ~)hours and resulted in little (if any) more than Mr. Wortham's "Bill of Review" I ersatz. - 7- I I I ostensibly, relief would come "faster" that way/? .. .but "that dog just won't hunt" so-to-speak- at least according to Randy I Schaffer anyway, I " .. [a] Bill of Review is only applicable to CIVIL cases- the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure specifically states that I the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the only Court that can grant or deny relief to an applicant in cases I involving a final felony conviction. . .. " [emphasis in original] I Petitioner's January 28th, 2015letter to Bob Wortham 10 @ p. 1, ~ 3. I It is against this backdrop that the State's Attorney (Ann Manes) vicariously tarred Petitioner with having utilized mere "snippets" from the Official Court I Reporter's (trial) Record in advancing Applicant's claims and then further stultified I herself by asserting that I "... [t]he snippets presented in Petitioner's memorandum (page 8 et seq.) are not presented in context, and without context the differences between the statements [made by Groves Police I Department Kevin Russell White and a Lay Witness by the name of Aelisa Faye Sanders] cannot be ascertained to rise to I the level of perjury. . .. " State's Original Answer @ p. 2. I OKay, so we'll just let those duly-elected members of our Texas Court of I Criminal Appeals peruse the entire Official Court Reporter's (trial) Record germane I I 10 ... a true and correct copy of which is attached hereto as Applicant's Exhibit "A" and I included herein for all purposes. - 8- I I I to the case at bar -BOTH TRIALS/all five (5) Volumes 11 - prepared by I Summer Tanner (the Official Court Reporter) and paid for by Applicant's father, Carl S. Bellotti, Jr. long before these habeas proceedings commenced and let those I "impartial triers of fact" decide who the "snippet" Shill is. In any event, right now is the time for this Honorable Court to set its jaws(s) I squarely against the kind(s) of guile and chicanery bitterly complained of by I Applicant so that those licentious lackies will all discover that I it ain't no fun when 'da Rabbit gots 'da gun//? Ill I PRAYER I WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Applicant respectfully prays that this Honorable Court will 0 R D E R the habeas court below to ORDER the Official I Court Reporter of the 252nd Judicial District Court of Jefferson County, Texas to provide this Honorable Court with a certified copy of said trial Record to enable this I Honorable Court to comply with our United States "Supreme" Court's mandate(s) I that " ... a court deciding an actual ineffectiveness claim must I judge the reasonableness of counsel's challenged conduct on the facts of the particular case, viewed as of the time of counsel's I conduct. A convicted defendant making a claim of ineffective assistance must identify the acts or omissions of counsel [shown in the Official Reporter's (trial) Record] that are alleged not I I 11 ... a true and correct copy of which will be hand-delivered to the Clerk of this Honorable Court (Abel Acosta) commensurate ~th the filing of this NOTICE pleading- indeed, true and I correct copies of said Official Court Reporter's (trial) Record can (and will) be delivered electronically to each member of this Honorable Court upon request, but the rather voluminous nature of that Record (and this writer's limited financial resources) make electronic transmission of I that Record the best (if not only) way to "make everybody happy" so-to-speak. -9- I I I to have been the result ofreasonable professional judgment. The court must then determine whether, in light of all the I circumstances, the identified [in the Official Reporter's (trial) Record] acts or omissions that were outside the wide I range of professionally competent assistance. . .. " Strickland v. Washington, supra. In the alternative, this Honorable Court could I (and probably should) rely upon the true and correct copy of the entire Official Court I Reporter's (trial) Record- BOTH TRIALS/all five (5) Volumes 12 - being provided to this Honorable Court by Petitioner at Petitioner's expense to enable it to I reach the merits vel non of Applicant's claims in the case at bar. I CLEARly, 13 because Applicant has alleged facts which, if true, would surely entitle him to the relief sought, the proper course of action is to I ". . .remand this matter to the trial court for resolution of the factual issues presented in accordance with Article 11.07, § 3(d) I of the [Texas] Code of Criminal Procedure." I Ex parte Patterson, No. 72,866,993 S.W.2d 114, 115 (Tex. Crim. App. -05/2611999) (Holland, J., delivering the unanimous opinion of the Court). I "... In these circumstances, additional facts are needed. As [this Honorable Court] held in Ex parte Rodriguez, 334 I S.W.2d 294, 294 (Tex. Crim. App. 1960), the trial court is the appropriate forum for findings of fact. ... " I Ex parte Hinojosa, WR-82,619-01 & WR-82,619-02 [ORDER@ p. 3] (Tex. Crim. I 12 ... a true and correct copy of which will be hand-delivered to the Clerk of this Honorable I Court (Abel Acosta) commensurate with the filing of this NOTICE pleading- indeed, true and correct copies of said Official Court Reporter's (trial) Record can (and will) be delivered electronically to each member of this Honorable Court upon request, but the rather voluminous I nature of that Record (and this writer's limited financial resources) make electronic transmission of that Record the best (if not only) way to "make everybody happy" so-to-speak. I 13 See footnote five (5)@ p. 4, ante. - 10- I I I App.- Per Curiam- 02/25/2015) 14 (not designated for publication) and cases cited I therein. At the very least, this Honorable Court should 0 R D E R the habeas court below to I " ... conduct a live [E]videntiary [H]earing [in this case], at which [Groves Police Department Sergeant Kevin Russell White, I A elisa Faye Sanders and both Prosecutors- Ernest Perry Thomas and Patrick W. (Pat) Knauth] shall be called to testify.... " I Ex parte Contreras, 15 WR-80,635-02 [ORDER @ p. 3] (Tex. Crim. App. - Per Curiam- February 4th, 2015) (not designated for publication) and cases cited therein. I The Challenge is issued - the Clarion Call is made. I Respectfully submitted, I ~~~ I Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Petitioner Pro $e I IV CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I I, Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Petitioner in the above-styled and numbered cause and I the Amicus Curiae "person" alluded to throughout pleadings filed in the case at bar, hereby certify that the original and ten (1 0) true and correct copies of these NOTICE in I re the Official Reporter's Record pleading(s) have been served upon the members I of this Honorable Court by hand-delivering them as follows: I 14 I 15 Can't get much more "current" than that/? Relief was finally GRANTED on February 25th, 2015 because "the truth, the whole I truth and nothing but the truth" was finally allowed to prevail///? - 11 - I I I Hon. Abel Acosta, Clerk Texas Court of Criminal Appeals I Supreme Court Building 201 West 14th Street, Room 106 P.O. Box 12308 Austin, Texas 78711-2308 I Phone: (512) 463-1551 FAX: 512/463-7061 e-mail: a.acosta@courts.state. tx. us I I Date: C1? /u U4·~~· Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Petitioner Pro $e -4- PWM!pwm cc. Hon. Lawrence E. Meyers, Judge Hon. Robert C. "Bert" Richardson, Judge Hon. Kevin Patrick Yeary, Judge Hon. Cheryl Johnson, Judge Hon. Michael E. "Mike" Keasler, Judge Hon. Barbara Parker Hervey, Judge Hon. Elsa R. Alcala, Judge Hon. David Christopher Newell, Judge Debbie Folse, Deputy District Clerk Felony Criminal Section Jefferson County District Clerk's Office Hon. Raquel West, Judge Presiding 252nd Judicial District Court of Jefferson County, Texas Deborah Ann (Ann) Manes, Asst. Dist. Attn. Jefferson County District Attorney's Office s e v e r a 1 others file(s) - 5- J . ... I ·"' I THE STATE OF TEXAS .§ IN THE DISTIUCT COURT OF § . I vs. § § JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS · CARL MATTBEW BELLOTTI, J11 § [252ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT] I I (} I I \ I 4 REPORTER'S. RECORD I Volume 1 of 1 **************************** I BOND 'HEARING I . August26th,2009 ~**************************** IJ RECEIVED IN COURT OF CRIMINAl APPEALS MAR .11 '2015 I Abel Acosta, Clerk I . I I Philip. W. "Phil" Moore, Amicus Curiae 15623 Fagerquist Road Del Valle, Texas 78617-5800 o I~. Phone: (512) 667-1508 (I e-mail: pwm11.07@gmail.com ·I .I I I THE STATE OF TEXAS § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF § I V& § § JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, III § [252ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT] I I I I I REPORTER'S RECORD I Volume 1 of 1 I **************************** BOND HEARING I August 26th, 2009 **************************** I I I I I Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Amicus Curiae 15623 Fagerquist Road Del Valle, Texas 78617-5800 ~I Phone: (512) 667-1508 e-mail: pwm11.07@gmail.com :I I I 1 I .-.,-.... -~-- • -~ .. ~ 1 REPORTER'S RECORD 2 VOLUME 1 OF 1 3 TRIAL COURT CAUSE NO. 08-04604 I 4 THE STATE OF TEXAS * IN THE 252ND DISTRICT I 5 * * 6 vs. * COURT OF I 7 * * CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, * I 8 I II, AKA CARL MATHEW BELLOTTI, III AKA CARL 9 MATHEW BELO.TTI, III, AKA * * * CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI * JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS I 10 11 I ,....... .... ·..:-· 12 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BOND HEARING I 13 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 14 I 15 On the 26TH day of AUGUST, 2009, the following 16 proceedings came on to be heard in the. above-entitled I 17 and numbered cause before the Honorable Layne Walker, I 18 Judge Presiding, held in Beaumont, Jefferson County, 19 Texas: I 20 I 21 22 Proceedings reported by Machine Shorthand. I ......... 23 24 I __jJi$' 25 I c, : y·- O~ p· ·~ SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR "' 252nd District Court I 2 1··- 1 r:JII 1 2 A P P E A R A N C E S 3 FOR THE STATE: I 4 Mr. Perry Thomas SBOT NO. 19849120 I 5 Assistant District Attorney 1001 Pearl, 3rd Floor 6 Be a urn on t , Texas 7 7 7 0 1 I 7 FOR THE DEFENDANT: I 8 Mr. Bryan Laine SBOT NO. 24011488 9 Attorney at Law 1045 Redwood I 10 Kountze, Texas 77625 11 I 12 I 13 14 I 15 16 I 17 I 18 19 I 20 I 21 22 I 23 24 ·(~ 25 I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I 3 I- . . l~ ''-:JJI 1 VOLUME 1 1 2 BOND HEARING ~-- 3 PAGE 4 Case Called 4 I- 5 Motion to Amend Indictment 4 6 Motion Granted I 7 Court Orders Drug Test 6 8 I 8 Case Reset 9 9 Drug Test Results 9 I 10 Court Raises Bond 11 ~--- 11 Reporter's Certificate 13 12 1 ~ ~ 13 14 I 15 I 16 17 I 18 19 I 20 I 21 22 I 23 24 ·J~ 25 I SOMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court ~ I I 4 I I~~ 1 THE COURT: Carl Bellotti? 2 MR. LAINE~ He is present. 3 MR. THOMAS: Judge, we have a motion in I 4 that case, a Motion to Amend the Indictment. I would I 5 like to file it at this time. 6 THE COURT: Okay, Y'all can come on up. I 7 Let me see the file on Carl Bellotti. This is I 8 9 Cause No. 4604. H~w MR. THOMAS: many prior DWI's does he have? Quite a few. And the I 10 amendment then adds some to that enhancement count, 11 too, Judge. I 12 THE CbURT: five, six -- am I right on . • 'fi:::; I ;,'::17~~.. . .=s:·-~ 13 that? 14 MR. THOMAS: Two misdemeanors, and then, I I 15 think, four felony DWI 's, Judge. 16 THE COURT: 1999, 1999, 1998 -- what is I 17 the amendment? I 18 MR. THOMAS: The amendment -- there's a 19 number of amendments, Your Honor. The first begins I 20 with-- it's going to be in the second paragraph of the 21 indictment, the first enhancement counts. If the Court I 22 goes down, i t says, "January 19th, 1988." That should I 23 be "January 5th, 1989." 24 THE COURT: Okay. 25 MR. THOMAS: Then if the Court goes down SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I 5 I (·J}.Z!: 1 one, two -- the third line below that, and it says, I ... - · .Abel Acosta, Clerk I c I I. Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Amicus Curiae 15623 Fagerquist'Road I Dei Valle, Texas 78617-5800 Phone: (512) 667-1508 · e-mail: pwmll:07@gmail.com , I I ,'J I I THE STATE OF TEXAS § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF § I vs. § § JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, III § [252ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT] I I I I I REPORTER'S RECORD I Volume 2 of4 I ***************************** GUlLT I INNOCENCE I October 13th, 2009 ***************************** I I I I I Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Amicus Curiae 15623 Fagerquist Road I Del Valle, Texas 78617-5800 Phone: (512) 667-1508 e-mail: pwml1.07@gmail.com I I I I 1 1 REPORTER'S RECORD I 2 VOLUME 2 OF 4 3 .TRIAL COURT CAUSE NO. 09-07283 I 4 THE STATE OF TEXAS IN THE 252ND DISTRICT * 5 I 6 vs. * * * COURT OF * I 7 CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, * * 8 III, A/K/A CARL MATHEW * I BELLOTTI, III, A/K/A 9 CARL MATHEW BELLOTTI, A/K/A CARL MATTHEW * * * I 10 BELOTTI, III, A/K/A 11 CARL MATHEW BELOTTI, III * * JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS I ,·. 12 I ~r_;},· 13 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GUILT/INNOCENCE 14 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I 15 16 On the 13TH day of OCTOBER, 2009, the following I 17 proceedings came on to be heard i.n the above-entitled 18 I __ 19 and nUmbered cause before the Honorable Layne Walker, Judge Presiding, held in Beaumont, Jefferson County, I 20 Texas: 21 I 22 Proceedings reported by Machine Shorthand. 23 24 25 I I I 2 I .. ·rl"'j;;;J) 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 I 3 FOR THE STATE: I 4 Mr. Perry Thomas SBOT NO. 19849120 5 Assistant District Attorney I 6 1001 Pearl, 3rd Floor Beaumont, Texas, 77701 I 7 8 Mr. Pat Knauth SBOT NO. 11585500 Assistant District Attorney 1001 Pearl, 3rd Floor I 9 Beaumont, Texas 7 7 7 01 10 I 11 FOR THE DEFENDANT: Mr. Bryan Laine I 12 13 SBOT NO. 24011488 Attorney at Law 1045 Redwood Kountze, Texas 77625 14 15 16 17 18 1- 19 20 1--- 21 1- 22 23 1-- 24 . 1 _\~ 25 I I I 3 1 VOLUME 2 2 GUILT/INNOCENCE 3 PAGE I 4 Stipulations 5 5 Rule Invoked 8 I 6 Jury Sworn 9 I 7 8 State Reads Indictment Defendant Pleads Not Guilty 9 11 I 9 Defendant Pleads True to Enhancements 12 10 State Testimony Begins 13 I 11 STATE'S WITNESSES DIRECT CROSS I ( . 12 Aleisa Sanders 13 21 C,.. ~A 13 Sergeant Kevin White 27 46 I_~ 53 14 Deputy Robert Phillips 60 I __ 15 State Rests 16 Motion for Instructed Verdict by Defense 65 67 1-- 17 18 Court Denies Motion Defense Rests 69 69 1- 19 Reading of the Court's Charge 74 20 Closing Arguments by the Defense 81 21 Closing Arguments·by the State 86 1- 22 Jury Deliberations 91 23 In Chambers Hearing 91 1- 24 Reporter's Certificate 93 25 I I I 4 I JSP 1 VOLUME 4 2 EXHIBITS I 3 JURY'S EXHIBITS I 4 NO. DESCRIPTION 5 1 Jury Question No. 1 I 6 2 Jury Question No. 2 I 7 8 3 4 Jury Question No. Jury Question No. 3 4 I 9 5 Jury Question No. 5 10 I 11 I 12 13 ._~ 14 15 I __ 16 I._ 17 18 1-- 19 20 1--- 21 1- 22 23 1- 24 25 1---iJ I I I 5 I _(~ 1 (OPEN COURT, JURY NOT PRESENT, DEFENDANT PRESENT) I __ -··~- 2 THE BAILIFF: All rise. 252nd 3 District Court's now in session. The Honorable 1 4 Judge Layne Walker presiding. 5 THE COURT: Thank you. Please be seated. I 6 All right. Before we get the jury in -- I dealt with I 7 the Motion to Compel. We need to clear up on the 8 stipulation before we read the indictment. I 9 And, Mr. Bellotti, I'm going to ask 10 you, sir: Have you had an opportunity to review this I 11 agreement in this stipulation? I 12 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir, 13 THE COURT: Okay. And do you stipulate on I 14 the record that these prior convictions are true and I 15 16 correct? THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. Now, I've I 17 got -- I_ 18 19 explanation. THE COURT: I I don't I don't need an just want to know if you agree and you I 20 stipulate that your prior convictions, as they are 21 alleged in the indictment, are true and correct? I._. 22 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 23 THE COURT: Okay. ·And, Mr. Thomas, do you I 24 agree and stipulate that they'r~ true and correct? 1-~ 25 MR. THOMAS: They are, but there is one I I I 6 • I (~ 1 2 technical change that needs to be made to the document . It reads (Reading): 3 prior felony -- DWI convictions. Agreement to stipulate to two I 4 THE COURT: Okay. 5 I 6 MR. THOMAS: s a y s s m a 1.1 1 e t t e r It should be -- down where it " b , " it reads , " 0 n Jan u a r y 1 9th , I 7 1988." 8 It should read, "January 5th, 1989." I 9 THE COURT: Okay. I 10 11 MR. THOMAS: agree i t matches the indictment. With that change, I would I 12 THE COURT: It would be the same as little .,- 13 ''a"? 1~ · _:~.;r-> . 14 MR. THOMAS: Yes. The dates would be the I 15 same, yes, sir. 16 THE COURT: Mr. Laine, what do you say I 17 about that? 18 MR. LAINE: I agree, Your Honor. I think I 19 I took the datB of the arrest of the firSt prior I 20 conviction and not the date of the actual conviction. 21 THE COURT: Okay. So, is there an I 22 agreement to change your agreement to stipulate to two I_ 23 24 prior DWI convictions where little "b" -- I'm going to change that to "January 5th, 1989" 1-0 25 M.R. LAINE: Right. I I I 7 I ._. ( 1 THE COURT: Is that the agreement of the --~ I 2 parties? 3 MR. LAINE: Yes. No objections. I 4 MR. THOMAS: Correct. I 5 THE COURT: Mr. Bellotti, to the agreement 6 as it's been changed, do you stipulate that these two I 7 prior convictions are true and correct? 8 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir; but I 9 THE COURT: Okay. Here's t~e deal -- and I 10 11 I want to make sure the record's clear-- there is no "buts." You either agree to this or you disagree with I 12 it, one of the two. If you disagree with it, he's 13 going to prove them up; and he's going to read this to I~ 14 the jury. So, whatever it is y6u want to do, that's I 15 fine; but I don't want the record to have any confusion 16 a s to " but s " or "rna y b es " or " i f s . " So , you either I 17 agree to this as it's submitted or you disagree with 18 it. I 19 THE DEFENDANT: I agree with it. I 20 THE COURT: Okay. I'm going to make this 21 a part of the record. Anything further bef6re we get I 22 started? I __ 23 MR. THOMAS: No, sir, Your Honor. 24 THE COURT: All right. 1-\~ 25 MR. THOMAS: Other than the State is going I I I 8 I 1 to invoke the Rule for trial. -CVJJ I 2 THE COURT: Okay. If there's anybody that 3 plans on testifying here I 4 MR. LAINE: ~ossibly Mr. Bellotti. 5 THE COURT: Okay. Then I need him to Btep I 6 out. I 7 Sir, don't discuss your testimony or 8 anything about this case with anybody; okay? I 9 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, if I may have one I 10 11 second with Mr. outside? Bellotti to give him some instructions I 12 THE COURT: Okay. 13 (PAUSE IN PROCEEDtNGS) I 14 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, if we could I 15 16 admonish Mr. James Shipley. I believe he will to be a FOssible -- possible punishment witness. ~tep out I 17 THE COURT: I have already admonished any 18 witness not to talk to anybody or have any contact with 19 any other witnesses until they testify or thereafter. 20 Anything further before we get 21 .started? 22 MR. THOMAS: No, sir, Your Honor. 23 THE COURT: Ready whenever y'all are, I---- 24 Wayne. 1 -l .J_-_:;;1:1 \~ 25 (JURY ENTERS COURTROOM) I I I 9 1 THE COURT: Good morning to you. 2 THE JURY: (Response) 3 THE COURT: Let the record reflect all 4 members of the jury are present. 5 Ladies and gentlemen, will you raise 6 your right hand for ~e, please. I 7 (JURY SWORN) 8 THE COURT: Okay. Is the State ready to I 9 proceed? 10 I 11 MR. THOMAS: THE COURT: State is ready, Is the Defense ready to Your Honor. I 12 proceed? I (~ 13 14 MR. LAINE: THE COURT: Yesi Your Honor. Would the defendant stand for I 15 16 the reading of the i.ndictment. THE DEFENDANT: (Standing) I 17 MR. THOMAS: (Reading): In the name and 18 by the authority of the State of Texas, the grand 19 jurors for the County of Jefferson, State aforesaid, 20 duly organized as such at the July Term A.D., 2009, of 21 the Criminal District Court of Jefferson County, in 22 Said State, upon oath in said Court present that 23 Carl Matthew Bellotti, III, A/K/A Carl Mathew Bellotti, 24 III, A/K/A Carl Mathew Bellotti, A/K/A Carl Matthew 1--~ 25 Be 1 ott i , I I I , A I K/ A Car 1 Mathew Be 1 ott i , III, here aft e r I I I 1.0 I -I..JJJJ / 1 styled the Defendant, committed an offense hereafter I 2 3 styled the primary offense, on or about the 21st day of September of 2008, and anterior to the presentment of I 4 this indictment, in the County of Jefferson and 5 State of Texas, did then and there unlawfully ope·rate a I 6 motor vehicle in a public place while the Defendant was I 7 intoxicated. 8 And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon I 9 their oaths aforesaiq, do further present in and to 10 I 11 said Court, at said term, presentment of this indictment, and anterior to the and before the I 12 tommission of th~ '\. primary offense by the Defendapt, on January 5th, (~ 1989,) in the County Court at Law No. 2 of I .,----------------------L---~ 14 Jefferson County, in Cause No. 132178, the Defendant I __ 15 was convicted of the misdemeanor offense of driving and 16 operating a motor vehicle in a public place while I __ 17 intoxicated; and on January 5th, 1989, in the County 18 Court at Law No. 2 of Jefferson County, Texas, in 1-- I - 19 Cause No~3803S., the Defendant was convicted of the 20 misdemeanor offense of driving and operating a motor 21 vehicle in a public place while intoxicated; against 1- 22 the peace and dignity of the State, signed by the 23 foreperson of the Grand Jury. 1--· 24 THE COURT: Mr. Bellotti, to this 25 indictment, sir, do you enter into a plea of guilty or I I I 11 I , _. ___ (?:JI·-;;:c,, ·>-Pull .·me: ·•out ;- 1- 22 He couldn't· really sta.nd, '·but •.. 23 Q. Did anybody·· stop to help- him? 1-~ 24 A. No. No. 1--fJ 25 Q. Did :the· police eventually get there? I I I 20 I .-.. 1 A. Oh, yes. I {z:J 2 Q. the person-- the person that's sittin~rig~t 3 there (pointing) on the far side of that table, is-·that I 4 the ~an that 0as behind the wheel of that car? 5 A. Ye s , ·s i r , it i s . I 6 MR. THOMAS: Your Honor, I'd ask the I 7 record reflect she's identified the defendant in this 8 case. I 9 THE COURT: The record will so reflect. 10 BY MR. THOMAS: I 11 Q. And is that the man -- the man you have I .. ---....... 12 identified here today, is that the man the police came 13 and took charge of whan they got to the scane? I 14 A. Yes, sir. I 15 16 Q. What ·was his· reaction when.· the .police pulled up to the scene? . I __ 17 A. He kind~ of. put his haad down and shook and 18 I_ 19 said; Q. There· they are. He 1. _ 20 A:. He wasn.' t happy. 21 Q. Okay. All right. I guess what I'm looking 22 for he was sad to see them there? 23 A. Correct. 1- 24 Q. Thank you, Mrs. Sanders. 1---~.JJ 25 MR. THOMA.S: I pass the witness. I I I· 21 1 THE COURT: Mr. Laine? 2 CROSS-EXAMINATION 3 BY MR. LAINE: I 4 Q. Mrs. Sanders, when the officer arrived, did he 5 arrive on his own; or was there another vehicle with I 6 him or I 7 A. There were two. 8 Q. There were two officers? ... I • 0 ·~·· •• -, .-. 9 A. Correct. I 10 11 Q. A. Two Groves police officers? The I ..... - .. 12 Q. Cars? 13 A. Yes. I 14 Q. Okay. Anyone else? I 15 A. No. 16 Q. Okay. ·So, there was another officer involved. I 17 Did both of those officers get out at the same time to 18 assist the accident? I 19 A. I don't know if they both got out at the exact I 20 same time. 21 Q. Well, I guess they -- did they arrive at the I 22 same time? 23 A. I really -- I don't know. I really don't. It 24 wasn't far between each other, no. 25 Q. Oh, okay. Okay. And yo~ stated that your I I 22 1 husband-was- with you. 2 I.s he here today? 3 A. No. 4 Q. HoW long did you stay out, I guess, viewing 5 what was going on? Did you stay·until the officers I 6 drove off?. I 7 A. Yes.···And they pulled.his truck. out._- Yes, we 8 watched.- I 9 Q. Okay. And you.stated ear~ier that he hit a I 10 stop. si9n _and then went into the ditch; 11 __ co.r.rect? is that I 12 A. Well, actually he had to go in the ditch 13 first. The stop sign is, like, in the ditch. So, the I 14 roads are small, s·o-you~d- h'ave:to _·go.in.the ditno·ti-ce' that :the .·win.d"shie·ld ,was I \:·,; \ ....&..,.,.- >v'of it? · It had to· have· a wrecker? 13 A. Co.rrect .· ~- I 14 Q. When you -- when the officers got there, did I 15 16 you talk with the officers? A. Yes. I 17 Q. Do you remember who you talked with? 18 A. Gentlemen, uh-huh. I 19 Q. Who was that? I 20 A. Uh, I don't know their names. One of them is 21 White, I believe. I 22 Q. Okay. Sergeant White? 23 A. I thin.k so. 1-.-- 24 Q. Okay. And at that time, did-you give a 1-(h·ad·. just occurred· in·soutl:leas-t 'rexas back ·.,,,·on 8 September 21st? I 9 A. Hurricane Ike·. I 10 11 Q. And September 21st, was that -- was that the day that the Evacuation Order was lifted for I 12 Jefferson County? (, .1 13 A. Yes,· it was. I ~ 14 Q. Did you re·c:eive· ·a caTr of· a -,_ of a wrec'~'- that I __ 15 had occurred in the City of Groves? 16 A. Yes. I __ 17 Q. Where was that wreck located at? 18 A. The 5200 block of 32nd Street. 1--- 19 Q. City of Groves, is that here in 1-- 20 Jefferson County, Texas? 21 A. Yes, it is. 1-- 22 Q. When you got to that location, what did you 23 observe? 1--- 24 A. There was a maroon Ford Ranger pickup truck. in 25 the ·ditch on the westbound. side. In other words, on I I I 29 I·-~);P. 1 2 the north side of 32nd Street, ·. ~ . at the intersection with a street called Kleepsies. facing westbound right 3 And standing outside the truck was a gentleman. I 4 Q. That person you said standing outside the I 5 truck, do you see him in the courtroom today? 6 A. Yes, I do. I 7 Q. Point to him and describe for us what he's 8 wearing. I 9 A. This gentlemart to the right with the ~- kind I 10 of the tannish-colored suit jacket (pointing). 11 MR. THOMAS: I ask that the record reflect I 12 he's identified the defendant. 13 THE COURT: The record will so indicate. I 14 BY MR. THOMAS: I 15 Q. When' you got' there· and saw that man, what, did 16 you do first? I 17 A. .I approached him. I 1.8 19 Q. A. And what happened? Well, I asked him if he was the driver of the I_ 2 0 truck. I was just as king general quest ions like what 21 had happened and so forth. I __ 22 Q. What did he respond to you? 1. . 23 A. He· really didn't respond. 24 Q. Ho~ was he acting~ 1.-J,~ 25 A. He seemed confused. I could almost -- L~LnO UlS~rlC~ ~our~ I - - - - - - - - - - - - - · - · · - - - - · ......... ···---- ------····------ - - - I I 30 I r· _j~ 1 immediately as I got close to him, I detected an odor I 2 of. alcoh.ol. When he d.id try to· talk, his speech was 3 ve-ryl"ER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I I I 32 I 1 the brief time that we have been here -- less than .-\JJ) 2 30 minutes -- I've h·e,ard 'you speak now twice. The last 3 comment you made was the term "bullshi t." I will tell I 4 you one time and one time only: If you want to sit in I 5 6 here during your trial, I encourage you to do so. you are more than welcome to. It's in yout best interest I 7 to remain in the courtroom. If T he.a,r you· spea·k-:'one 8 more .time, ,you, will be• removed .. from the courtroom. I 9 Your outbursts, if I can hear them~ the jury can hear I 10 them. So, if you can sit there and keep your mouth 11 shut, then you're more than welcome to stay in this I 12 courtroom. If you apeak again where I can hear it, I~ 13 then I'm going to put you in the holding cell; and 14 that's where you will spend the rest of the trial. Do I 15 you have any questions abdut that? 16 THE DEFENDANT: No, I don't. I 17 THE COURT: Okay. Ready for the jury -- 18 the jury is still not present. I 19 know there I want both sides to you mentioned·a name of James Shipley, I 20 Mr. Laine? 21 MR. LAINE: Yes, s lr. I 22 THE COURT: There was a. James·shipley that I 23 tr·ied to come back and talk to me this morning a):)_qut 24 this case, and I want the record to .reflect tha~ he I -- -~-~tha:t he.:was I 12 intoxicated:-:-::-: 1-?-?,.ghly; • • • -· ~ • • • • '·' •• • • • • •• • 2 •.•.• - • •• • ·.: • • ~ntoxic;at~d,- • • • ••• -~ • •• ·.~: •• • •• and_ :- • '': ,r . jus,;t::~fel:t li~e 13 I '""-. L'Ne .made I -.:···· .... ', ... 14 se;ve·.ra;L.o_f- tne~e :arrest::>:•. the~-~·: f,ie.ld; sobr·iety fe·s-fs-- .,..-~ · _-. _,_-- 16 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, I'm going to I 17 object to the narrative -- 18 THE COURT: Overruled. I- 19 MR. LAINE: -- and nonresponsiveness. I __ 20 THE COURT: Overruled. 21 A. Jus~_ b_ased,, on_ ey~Fyth,_ing:. I wa-s·, s~eing, I; felt I_ 22 like~the best course-of action then was to get him in 23 custody~-_ 1--- 24 BY MR. THOMAS: 1--~, him t·o where you I 4 n6rmalL~·take dti~ing-whil~~intoxlcaf~d suspects? •·s correct. I 5 6 A. Q. That So, you took him to the Groves Police I 7 Department? 8 A. That's correct. I 9 Q. And there; with the condition of· t.he I 10 Groves· ~alice Department, were you able to 11 any video camera or -- operating, ·anything at that wa~ there I 12 time? 13 10:ui 14 A. Q. The-re's no- Breathalyzer rnachirie at the I 15 County Jail -- I mean at· the Groves· Police· .Department; 16 is there? I 17 A. No, thete isn't. 18 Q. Okay. When you get him back to the I 19 Groves Police Department, what was his conditiDn when I 20 you got ~- when you get back there and he's there, 21 what's his condition? I-- 22 A. Well, we have what we call a patrol room, 1 23 which has a bench where we usually sit our prisoners. 24 When !~Walked in, he was sitting on the bench. 25 Q. And what condition was he in then? I I I 39 I / 1 A. When I first got in there, he appeared .-\:eJ 2 MR. LAINE: Your Honor -- 3 A. to be sieeping. I 4 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, if I can, I object I 5 to the relevance of these particular questions. 6 THE COURT: It's overruled, I 7 BY MR. THOMAS: 8 Q. When you first walked in, he was what? I 9 A. He: appeared to be sleeping. I 10 Q. About what time of the afternoon was the 11 first -- when you got the call initially? I 12 A. It was ri~ht ~ro~nd 5:22 p.m. 13 Q. I~ When you get to the Groves Police Department, 14 he appeared to be sleeping on the bench; is that I 15 correct? 16 A. That's correct. I 17 Q. What happened then? 18 A. I Well, I began the paperwork that's involved in 19 a DWI arrest; and it includes a series of questions I 20 that we ask, read him his Miranda warningB and 21 request·ing. t'o subml t a. speciiri"en·, :which~. 'in. this I 22 p~rticular case, I was asking for blood becaus~ I knew I __ 23 .the hospital was open. 24 Q. Okay. You couldn't get a Breathalyzer test; 1-~ 25 but yo~ ·thou~ht~ Maybe I could ask him for blood? I I I 40 I 1 A. That's correct. I-\J7 ( . .4 2 Q. What's the purpose of taking a blood test? 3 A. To -- we get a sample of blood, and it's I 4 sub.mi tted to the crime lab for examination and 5 determine if there's alcohol content and/or any drugs. I 6 Q .• Did you think, based on your experience.' that .····! I 7 drugs···might- also be a factor?- 8 MR. LAINE: Yotir Honor~ I'm going to I 9 object to the speculation of this question. I 10 11 A. Yes, THE COURT: I did. It's overruled. I 12 BY MR. THOMAS: I~ 13 Q. So, you asked him for a blood sample. 14 What did he tell you about giving a blood I 15 sample? 16 A. He refused to give a specimen. I 17 Q. And like you said, the blood sample would 18 have -- could have been analyzed to determine alcohol I 19 and/or drug contents; is that right? I __ 20 A. That's correct. 21 Q. But he didn't want to give you that? I_ 22 A. That's correct. I -- 23 24 Q. Did yo a t·ry to perform any of the field sobriety tests back at the Groves Police Department? 1--(~~ 25 A. No. I I I 41 I 1 Q. Did you think it was actually more .-~ 2 endangering him more to try to do those tests -- 3 MR. LAINE: Your Honor -- Your Honor, I 4 again, I'm going to object to the speculation and I 5 6 leading the witness with his question. THE COURT: Overruled. I 7 A. The patrol room's not set up for that. It's a 8 very small room. It's got desks. It's got computers. I 9 Again, ~·ve seen people fall in our patrol room; and I I 10 just -- you don't want to take a chance they're going It's -'- 11 to fall downr strike their head on something. I 12 and to be quite honest with you, I I t~ 13 14 MR. LAINE: object to the narrative of his testimony. Your Honor, I'm going to I 15 THE COURT: It's overruled. 16 A. I generally was -- if I've got somebody in I 17 c~stody an~~handcuf£s are on them, the hand~affs don't 18 come off until they go to jail. I 19 BY MR. THOMAS: I 20 Q. Arid while you're still at the Groves. Police 21 Department, is th~ odcir of ~lcohol stil~ present on his I 22 person? I 23 24 A. Q. Yes. Go back out to the scene where the wreck I _ _\J 25 occurred. You did an inventory of the. truck that he I I I 42 I __ (_jj;} 1 was driving; is that right? I 2 A. That's correct. 3 Q. And inside:.. the.truck you. found no evidence I 4 of -- there was no bottl~s or anything !ike that, was 5,.there? I 6 A. No, .there w~sn't anything. I 7 Q. Now back to the Groves Police De~artment 8 station. Was there -- back to the confusion of the I 9 days after the hurricane, did you -.,.. some question in I 10 your mind, Whatare 11 we've got ,·him? }'le going to. d-o with· him .now that What .. do we do. with him? Where:do we I 12 ta.ke him? I I~ 13 A. 14 Q. Did you finally determine where they were I 15 taking prisoners? 16 A. At that time, we were st~ll bringing them he~e I 17 to Beaumont. 18 Q. And that's not normally where the County Jail I 19 houses their prisoners; is that right? I 20 A. That's correct. 21 Q. That was where they had to make do after the I_ 22 storm? I_ 23 A. Right. 24 Q. This street that you described in Groves where 1.-..,~j, 25 he wrecked from, is that a public street? I I I 43 1 A. Yes, it is. 2 Q. Public place? 3 A. Yes, it is. I 4 Q. And was there some work being done on the 5 street? I 6 A. Yes, there was. I 7 Q. What was going on on the street? 8 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, again, I object to I 9 the relevance of the question. I 10 11 A. THE COURT: Thera~were.utility. It's overruled. crews out-there do~ng storm I 12 debri-s.· .......- cl-eanup·" The_ 5200 block of 32nd 'St'ree-t is I~ 13 almost Twin City Highway where the H-E-B store is, and 14 they were probably in the 5100 block. So, they were I 15 just west of where he had gone off in the ditch. Q. Was he'driving·in a direction toward whe·re 16 I 17 those workers were? 18 A. Yes. He· was driving westbound towards I __ 19 T w·i n city Highway . 1. . 20 Q. Did it appear, based on your experience as a 21 p o 1 ice officer -- 22 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, I'm going to 23 object to any speculative questions that he's asking 24 the witness. 25 THE COURT: It's overruled. ...... -- ...---------..--------------------------------------~---·--'---~---'-,---- I I I 44 I f_>:c-~:-1 1 BY MR. THOMAS: --\~ I 2 Q. Bas:ed on· your experience, did i t appear he -- 3 the 8efendarit was .d-rivin.g a-long, ·looks up and realizes, I 4 oh, there's. these workers in the road, and drives off 5 into -- I 6 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, if I may have a I 7 running objection to these questions. They're highly 8 speculative. I 9 THE COURT: It's overruled. I 10 A. That.' s ·the conclusion .I reached. 11 cr.e.w- had. the enti.r.e. west. lane blocked.· The -work They had I .-- .... 12 tr.affic: cones .an.d tr.ucks with lights- going~. ·• They: even I~ 13 had a;_Llagil\an ~oqt. there·-. So,. -they: were bas-ically dqi;ng 14 what we calL a "default" ~·-back in :t-he- mil-ita-ry, ~whe:re I_ 15 .yoli'.r~--- using ,one •. lane for··both directions. 16 BY MR. THOMAS: 1. . 17 Q. And in the days after Ike, that -- that was 18 going on all over Southeast Texas, wasn't it? 1-- 19 A. Very much so. 1. . 20 Q. For most of us, that would have not been a 21 surprise to drive along a power line crew or I~ 22 tree-trimming road crew, would it? 23 A. 1- 24 No, it wouldn't MR. LAINE: Your Honor, I object to 25 relevance. I I I 45 I ( 1 THE COURT: He's already answered it. --~lil I . 2 BY MR . THOMAS : 3 Q. Sergean~ White, based. on your training and I 4 experience and your years in law enforcement, on I 5 September 2ls.t, 2008, was that man 6 your opinion, was he intnxicated? (pointing) in I 7 MR ... LAit-JE: Again, I object to that, 8 Your Honor. .· TI:ere' s no s~-- he's not I 9 . == ::;z: - qualified to answer that, and calls for speculation. I 10 THE COURT: It's .overruled. 11 BY MR. THOMAS: I .~··-~ .. 12 Q. Was he intoxicated? ( 13 A. Yes, he was. I '-J:d 14 Q. Did he have any business being behind a wheel I 15 of a vehicle? 16 A. No, he didn't. I 17 Q. Your investigation of this man, did it reveal 18 him to be Carl Matthew Bellotti, III? I 19 A. Yes, it did. I 20 Q. The Ford Ranger truck, is that a motor 21 vehicle? I 22 A. Yes, it is. I 23 24 Your Honor . MR. THOMAS: I pass the witness, .... - .. I '' --'~ 25 THE COURT: Mr. Laine? I I I 46 I 1 MR. LAINE: Thank you, Your Honor. •...(z!iJ 2 CROSS-EXAMINATION 3 BY MR. LAINE: I 4 Q. Sergeant White, was there any -- ever any t~me I 5 t.hat you called an E.M.S. or anything of that nature 6 out? I 7 A. No, I didn't. 8 Q. You stated earlier that you were possibly I 9 goinq. to get blood because you wanted to take him to I 10 the hospital; is that correct? 11 A. That~s correct. I 12 Q. How many offi~ers arrived on the scene? Do I~~ 13 you remember? 14 A. Just ·myself and De~uty Phillips. I 15 Q. You· stated earlier that' you attempted· to do 16 field··.sobriety tests with Mr. Bellotti;· is that I 17 correct? I 18 19 A. I considered-doing them: out to arr area where it would have been level ground to I began to walk him I 20 do them. 21 Q. Okay. I 22 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, may I approach the I 23 witness? 24 THE COURT: Yes, sir. 1--': Bellotti was I 13 hang::i~g,_on -you, o-r,. y9u. were having to-. hold him up. I ~ 14 Is .. that:. what ypu test:ified. :to',?,_._. I 15 A. I didn't say he was hanging onto me. I~had 16 hold of him with my left hand walking hi~-out--onto the I 17 leve~ portion of the roadway. 18 Q. Is· that what you put in your statement? Did I 19 you put that in your statement? I 20 A. It may not. be all ih there worded th~~ way. 21 Q. That would be a "yes" or "no." Did ·you'put I 22 that in your statement? I 23 24 A. Q. No.· At what point dithere was no evidence :of -- 3 yo.u. -found no ··i·riven·tory in the di.r of alcohol; .corr.ec.t? I 4 A. That's correct. I 5 6 Q. A. What:abo~t Nothing. druqs? I 7 Q. And that you then later took him from the -- 8 Port Neches to I guess i t ' s GEO -- over here, the I 9 downtown jail? I 10 A. He. was .. taken from 'the Gr·oves Police· Department 11 and . boo ked into the· downtown' jail. I :12' · Q. Okay. Was· he :as ked for. a_ Breat:.haly;z;er there? ... I(~ 13 A. No~ ·But he wouldn ~ t 'have. been 'able to. 14 Ther.e's ·no Breathalyzers at this .jai·l anymore·,) I 15 Q. Did you- ask. for any type- of, video or, a.nything 16 of. that -- of him at that time? I 17 A. There's no-- I'm not aware that there would I __ 18 19 be any video. Q. Did you -- There's no DWI process-. at this}-- I_ 20 A. -- jail. 21 Q. I'm sorry, Sergeant. I_ 22 Did you drop him off? Did you transport I 23 24 him? A. No. I had one of the officers do it.· 1--\,:J 25 Q. Okay. So, you woul~n't know what they did at . .-:· .. · --------·-- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - · -- I I I 51 I ~ 1 the j ai 1; correct? I J"'?fi 2 A. Not specifically, but the paperwork was done. 3 All they were doing was transporting. I 4 Q. But wasn't the entire County Jail basically I 5 6 transported to the downtown jail; correct? your testimony? Wasn't that I 7 A. The prisoners were transported down here. 8 When we would get dowrt here, we were having to do I 9 paperwork that we wguld normally do by computer by hand I 10 because they didn't have it set ~P here for that. 11 Q. I understand. I ----... _ 12 But~you didn.'t -- you didn't transport r. ,i!JdJ 13 him down; correct? I 14 A. No. r· really- don I t transport.. L~ ID- a I 15 supervisor. 16 Q. And you didn't ttansport him from the street I 17 to the Groves Police Department, did you? I_ 18 19 A. Q. No. - Deputy -:PhilTips did->: How lon~ after Deputy ~- how long was it from I __ 20 the time Deputy Phillips left the street till the time 21 Deputy Phillips got to the station --_I mean, until you 1-- 22 got to the station? I'm sorry. 23 A. 20 at the most, 30 minutes. I had to wait for 1-- 24 the wrecker. 25 Q. Mr. Thomas went into a lot about what you saw ··-··----------- I I I 52 I 1 or what you did at the station. I 2 3 that he wa& Did you write any. of that ~leeping i~ pr appeared to be sleepipg? your_ report, -,- -.. . -~--· I 4 A. No, I didn't put that in the report. 5 Q. Did yqu take. any pictures or photos or I 6 anything of that nature? I 7 A. No, I .did not. 8 Q. You talked' about aggression ··and him· going from I 9 angry .to happy; or based on your experience, that often 10 happens. I 11 Did you • put that in· your report? I 12 A. · · No ~ I did not . 13 MR. LAINE: No further questions. I 14 THE COURT: Mr. Thomas? I 15 16 Your Honor. MR. THOMAS: No further questions, I_ 17 THE COURT: Sir, you mai step down. 18 Call your next witness. 19 MR. THOMAS: Call Deputy Robert Phillips, I 20 Your Honor. 21 (WITNESS ENTERS COURTROOM) 1- 22 THE COURT: Good morning, sir. 23 THE WITNESS: Good morning. I 24 THE COURT: Will you raise your right hand I '·:J· --·· ·....:·. .. --~:.' :-;· 25 for me, please. I I I 53 I 1 (WITNESS SWORN) (?§J I 2 THE COURT: Come on up and have a seat, 3 please. I 4 You may proceed. 5 I 6 Your Honor, MR. THOMAS: Thank you, Your Honor. I have tendered a copy of his report to I 7 Counsel. 8 ROBERT' ANTHONY PHILLIPS~ I 9 having first been duly sworn, testified as follows: I 10 11 BY MR THOMAS: DIRECT EXAMINATION I 12 Q. Could you state your name for the ladies and 13 I '0...PJ{.::·~--~·~ito, ':.-."':...,~ gentlemen of the jury. 14 A. My name is Robert Anthony Phillips. I 15 Q. What do you do for a living? 16 A. I'm employed by the City of Groves as a police I 17 officer. 18 Q. I_ How long have you been employed with the 19 City of Groves? I - ·- 20 A. Since F~bruary of '08, 21 Q. What are your job duties with the City of I 22 Groves? 23 A. I do patrol, I field calls for service, 24 investigate motor vehicle accidents, do citations, work 25 traffic, just basic stuff. I I I 54 I .Ju 1 Q. Back on Septe~ber 2l~t, 2008, were you working I 2 that day? 3 A. Yes, sir. I 4 Q. Did you·get a call to gp out and,assist 5 Sergeant White? I 6 A. Yes, sir. He.called for me over the radio to I 7 come assist him .. 8 Q. Why did he need your assistance? I 9 A. To. transport his prisoner~· I 10 11 Q. A. Okay. Where was he at? He was at the 5200 block of 32nd. It I 12 intersects with Kleespies. ty 13 Q. And that was in the City of Groves? I 14 A. Yes, sir. I 15 Q. Here in Jefferson County, Texas? 16 A. Yes, sir. I 17 Q. When you got there, did Sergeant White tell 18 you about where his prisoner was at? I. 19 A. Yes, sir.· 1. . 20 Q. Where was he at? 21 A. He was over next to his car already in 1--·- 22 custody. 23 Q. So, what did you do? 1-- 24 A. I theh went over to his car~ I talked to him I ' 1 Court, based on that, to ~rant an instructed verdict. 2 THE COURT: Okay. It's denied.~ I 3 Tony, we are ready. (JURY ENTERS COURTROOM) I 4 5 THE COURT: Let the record reflect all I 6 members of the jury are present. The defendant is 7 present, along with his attorney. I 8 Mr. Laine, you may proceed. I 9 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, at this time the 10 Defense would rest. I 11 THE COURT: Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, 12 the Defense has rested. What I'm going to do, at this I ~~- .. . _-;,.a• :'2! 13 point I've got to prepare a charge. I will read that ~"- I 14 charge to you. That will be the document that you take 15 back there that c.ontains all of the law th~t's I 16 necessary to enable you to reach a verdict. What I~ll do is this: We are going I 17 18 to try -- and I hate to keep you waiting around, but we I_ 19 are going to try 2 0 minutes. We will try to start back 20 at 11:00. I think that we can reasonably do that. As I ·- 21 soon as we come back, I ' l l read the charge. I'm going 1- 22 23 to give the attorneys 10 minutes a side to argue th.e case to you. At that point, I'm going to turn you I 24 loose to the jury room; and you can begin your 25 deliberations. If you will give us -- now it I I I 69 I \~ 1 Court, based on that, to ~rant an instructed verdict. II f 2 THE COURT: Okay. It's denied. 3 Tony, we are ready. I 4 (JURY ENTERS COURTROOM) I 5 THE COURT: 6 members of the jury are present. Let the record refle~t The defendant is ~11 I 7 present, along with his attorney~ 8 Mr. Laine, you may proceed. I 9 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, at this time the I 10 Defense would rest. 11 THE COURT: Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, I 12 the Defense has rested. What I'm going to do, at this ~ 13 point I've got to prepare a charge. I will read that I 14 charge to you . That will be the document that you take i,l I 15 back there that_ contains all of the law that's 16 necessary to enable you to reach a verdict. I 17 What I'll do is this: We are going I __ 18 19 to try -- and I hate to keep you waiting around, but we are going to try 2 0 minutes. We will try to start back I __ 20 at 11:00. I think that we can reasonably do that. As 21 soon as we come back, I'll read the 9harge. I'm going 1-- 22 to give the attorneys 10 minutes a side to argue the 1-- 23 24 case to you. At that point, I'm going to turn you loose to the jury room; and you can begin your 25 deliberations. If you will give us -~ now it I I I 70 I ~--_· .{JfJ) 1 will be right at 21 minutes. Meet back out front at I 2 11:00 o'clock, and we will try to have everything ready 3 to argue to you at that time; okay? I 4 Remember the instructions I gave you. I 5 Don't start 6 done. de~iberating now. Wait until everything's And we will get you back in here at 11:00. You I 7 are free to go. 8 (JURY EXITS COURTROOM) I 9 THE COURT: Let the record reflect the I 10 jury is not present. 11 And I want to make. sure that we get I 12 it pn· the re.cord. that _ -- Mr .. Bello.tti, you' understand I c~ 13 you, had a right. to testify;.· qnd. you gave -up ... that right . ,• ; ·-, .. 14 t 0\ test it Y? I 15 THE DEFENDANT: Yes·, Your. Honor. 16 THE COURT: Mr. Laine explained a~l that I__ 17 to you? I_ _ 18 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 19 THE COURT: And do you have any questions ,I __ . 20 of me about the right that you gave up? I 21 THE DEFENDANT: No, sir. 1- 22 THE COURT: Okay. I need -- do you have 1-- 23 24 your proposed charge? MR. LAINE: Your Honor, I looked at one 25 an old one .that the State had; and I'm in agreem~nt I I I 71 I ___(_>x,/1 I -'0J]V 1 with it. THE COURT: Okay. Do you have a propo~ed 2 3 charge? I 4 MR. LAINE: No, I don't have a proposed I 5 charge. 6 THE COURT: Okay. You understand that the I 7 Discovery Order says that you're to have that -- I 8 9 provide it to me? MR. LAINE: No, sir. I 10 THE COURT: Well, that's· what. the, order 11 says~ I 12 MR. LAINE: Okay. ' I am in . agr_eement, with I~ 13 theirs, -·Your Honor. 14 ~ ~ THE C'oU!iT:',, Okay. But that -- l,didn',t I 15 ask you i,f .. you was in· agreement.·· I 16 MR. LAINE: Well, you have I 17 THE COURT: ~- asked you -- and~you)re 18 talking. while I am talki:ng; okay? My quest·ion is·: Did 19 you do what the Discovery Order- re.quires? 20 MR. LAINE: Not at this time. I have been 21 in the process of doing -- 22 THE COURT: Well, thiS ~s the time. So, 1- 23 are you -- anticipate havin~ that to me in the next 24 10 minutes? 1-{:_J 25 MR. LAINE: Yes, sir. I I I 72 1 THE COURT: You do? 2 MR. LAINE: Yes, sir. 3 THE COURT: Okay. As so.on as you can, get I 4 that to me. I 5 6 MR. LAINE: THE BAILIFF: Okay. All rise. I 7 (RECESS FROM 10:42 A.M. TO 11:07 A.M.) 8 (OFEN COURT, JURY NOT PRESENT, DEFENDANT PRESENT) I 9 THE COURT: Let the record reflect the I 10 jury's not present. The defendant is present, along 11 with his attorney. I 12 I have tendered a copy of the charge .~ 13 to both State and Defense counsel. The first page is 14 the "Introduction" page, second page is "Definitions," I _ __ 15 third page is "Driving While Intoxicated," fourth page, 16 "Prior Conviction," the next page is "Felony Offenser" I __ 17 the next one is the "Intoxication" definition, "Public 18 Place"- definition, "Unlawfully" definition, "Vehicle" 1-- 19 definition, ".Defendant's Failure to Testify," the 1-- 20 charge, three pages of "Genera 1 Instruct ions, " a "not 21 guilty" verdict form and·a "guilty" verdict form. 1-- 22 Is there any objections to the charge 23 by the Defense? 1--- 24 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, the only objection 1--/J 25 that we would have would be that in the "Intoxication" I I I 73 I 1 definition -- we would ask that the State make an .-V:?JJ 2 election at this time whether they would want to use 3 "mental or physical faculties," and whether they were I 4 going to use "by the induction of alcohol or drugs." I 5 Basically, we ask the election not be made. We don't 6 feel that there was any -- I 7 THE COURT: Any other objections to the 8 I 9 charge? MR. LAINE: No, sir, Your Honor. I 10 THE COURT: Okay. That's overruled. 11 Mr. Thomas, does the State have any I 12 objections to the charge? I 13 14 MR. THOMAS: THE COURT: No, I wilL sir, Your Honor. givey'a:ll._lOminutes .···;-·::·..... · ' . . I 15 to argue. I will hold you 100 percent to those t~mes. 16 Please don't make me cut either one of you off. I will I 17 giv~ you a 2-minute warning. I will give you a I 18 1-minute warning; but after that minute expires, I'm 19 going to ask you to stop. I--- 20 We are ready. I'm sorry. I __ 21 22 (JURY ENTERS THE COURT: COURT~OOM) Let the record reflect all 23 members of the jury are present. The defendant is 24 present, along with his attorney. 25 Ladies and gentlemen, at this time I I I 74 I -- 1 I'm going to read to you this charge; and as I go I·····DJJ 2 through this, remember, you're going to take this 3 entire document back with you. The attorneys will have I 4 10 ~inutes to argue their case to you. I will cut them I 5 off at 10 minutes. 6 warning, I'm going to give them a 2-minute a 1-minute warning; and the reason it is that I 7 way is bscause the arguments are not evidence. You've 8 heard all the evidence, but th~y will have an I 9 opportunity to argue that. But, again, you'll take I 10 this back with you. At that particular point in time, 11 you'll select a foreperson; and then you will begin I 12 your deliberations. I ($Jj) 13 READING OF THE .COURT'S CHARGE 14 THE COURT: (Reading): Members of the I 15 jury, Introduction: The defendant~s~ands charged with 16 the offense of felony driving while intoxicated, I __ 17 alleged to have been committed in Jefferson County, 1. . . 18 Texas, on or about the 21st day,of September of 2008, 19 and that the defendant was convicted of the offens-e of I __ 20 driving ~bile intoxicated on two -~revious caseg~ in 21 Caus.e No. 132178 on January -S.th, 198-9, and in Cause 1- 22 No. 138038 on January 5th, 1989, in Jefferson County, 1- 23 24 Texas, and those convictions became final prior to the offense for wh~ch the defendant stands charged. To. I __( .· _ \~ .,j 25 these jurisdictional elements, the de"feridant· has agreed I I I 75 I (:::} ... 1 that. these convicti~n~ were final and true. The I 2 defendant has entered a plea of not guilty to the 3 indictment. I 4 Our law requires that I submit the I 5 following charge to you in this case. This charge 6 contains all of the law necessary to enable you to I 7. reach a verdict. If any evidence was presented to 8 raise an issue, the law on that issue must be provided. I 9 Definitions: So that you can better I 10 understand some of the words and terms used in the 11 charge, the law provides the following definitions. I 12 Drivi-ng While··rntoxic'ated: A person I\0J!) 13 commits an offense if the p·erson is' intoxicated-.wh:ile 14 dfivfng or ··operating a motor vehicle in a public. place. I 15 The offense is a felony if the person has been 16 convicted twice before for this same offense. I 17 Prior Conviction - DWI: Evidence has I 18 been admitted in this case concerning the defendant's 19 having been at leas~ two times previously convicted of 1~­ 20 being intoxicated while driving or operating a motor 21 ·vehicle in a public place. If- he was, you are ~-- 22 instructed that such evidence cannot- be con·sidered hy 1-- 23 you as in any manner proving or teriding to prove that 24 the defendant was intoxicated while driving or l_ _i _j ~ 25 operating a motor vehicle in a public place on or about I I ,/ 1- 76 I 1 SepternbE:r 21st, 2008. 2 Felony Offense: Our law further 3 provides that a person commits a felony offense if he I 4 commits the crime of driving while intoxicated at a I 5 time when he had been pre~~ously convicted of two 6 offenses of driving while intoxicated. The de f.endant I 7 has .stip,ulated and agreed that he has· been previously I 8 convicted of. driving while intox-icated- on two"- s.eparate 9 occasiocns previous- to the offense for- which.-he _stands I 10 charged. 11 Intoxication: Int6xication means I 12 that the defendant does- not- have ,the> normal· u·se of·_, his I 13 mentaL or. physical -faculties>.hY rea:son- of· the -voluntary 14 introd1J);:tion of. aJco.hoL.o.r drugs intoc,hi_~ boqy.,, I 15 Public Place: Public place means any 16 place to which the public or a substantial group of the I 17 public has ac~ess and includes, but is not limited to, I 18 streets, highway$, in the common areas of schools, 19 hospitals, apartment houses, office building, transport I __ 20 facilities and shops. I __ 21 Unlawfully: Unlawfully means 22 criminal or tortuous or both and includes what would be I _ __ 23 criminal or tortuous but for a -- but for a defense not 24 amounting to justification or privilege. l_i. ~ 25 Vehicle: Vehicle includes any device I I I 77 I r ~ --- C•·-~Y;' 1 in, on, or by which a person or.property is or may be I 2 propelled, moved or drawn in the course of commerce or 3 transportation except such devices as classified as I 4 habitations. I 5 Defend;c3.nt' s·; Fa-ilure> to ,Te.s-tify: Our 6 law provides that a defendant may testify in his own I 7 behalf if he elects to do so. This is a right given to 8 a de fen dan t; and in . the event he elects; -·not to testify, I 9 that fact cannot_.be taken as circumstances again$t him. I 10 In this case, the defend(int has elected not to. te.sti fy, 11 and you are instructed that you cannot .and must not I 12 r~fer .- _.-.- ·-· . to or. allude to that fact .:_: "·- . '·: . throug~out your (; I l$11 13 14 deliberations. or. take it into consideration;.for any pu~~,o~_e s whatsoever. I 15 Charge: If you bel_ieve ..:- -.. .. from. the . . . 16 evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. that in I 17 . .. Jefferson County, ' . .. '; ' .-- Texas, that on or about the 21st day I 18 of September of 2008, and anterior to the presentment 19 of this indictment, in the County of Jefferson and I 20 State of Texas, that the defendant Carl Matthew I_ 21 22 Bellotti, III, did then and there unlawfully operate a motor vehicle in a public place while the defendant wa$ I_ 23 intoxicated~ and you further find that, as agreed, the I -- I. 24 defendant was previously convicted of two prior driving .:..J 25 while intoxicated offenses and those convictions became I I 1 I 78 I 1 .-L...L...J...VL... ..._..._.,u...1.. ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------- --·- -- - -------------- - - - - - · -~- --- -- I I 92 I ---0;p 1 two, three, four, five, six, seven -- eighth line down, I 2 we would ~- the eighth line starts with "have 3 disagreed." I would like it to say "comma during I 4 direct or cross-examination comma," then to read on I 5 from there. So, I guess it would read this way -- the 6 whole sentence, "unless the jury had disagreed upon I 7 some part of the testimony, under the law you are not I 8 9 entitled to have any of the testimony reread; but if you have disagreed upon any point or points in the I 10 testimony, you will so state to the Court in writing 11 and point out in writing the point or points upon which I 12 you have disagreed" -- I put "during direct or I~ 13 cross-examination comma" -- "then the Court will have 14 the court reporter read back to you only the testimony I 15 on the point or points in dispute and no other." 16 THE COURT: And the Court's response is I 17 that I don't even know if they have a disagreement at I __ 18 all as to what the testimony is, and I will send this 19 in and see where we go from there. I __ 20 So, your request 1s denied; and I 21 will send this in to them. 1--- 22 1- 23 -- 24 1-,:,J 25 I I I 93 I ---~~f 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE I 2 THE STATE OF TEXAS) COUNTY OF JEFFERSON) 3 I 4 I, Summer Tanner, Official Certif~ed Shorthand I 5 Reporter in and for the State of Texas, do hereby 6 certify that the above and foregoing contains a true I 7 and correct transcription of all portions of evidence 8 and other pr6.ceedings requested in writing by counsel I 9 for the parties to be included in this volume of the I 10 Reporter's Record, in the above-styled and numbered r1 ,-- .\Jji 11 12 13 cause, all of which occurred in open court or in chambers and were reported by me. I further certify that this Reporter's Record o£ 14 the proceed~ngs truly and correctly reflects the 15 exhibits, if any, admitted by the respective parties. 16 I further certify that the total cost for the 17 preparation of this Reporter's Record is 18 $ ___ (f_{t_j__tJ}!_____ and was paid bY _iJdn._J/MltU------· 19 WITNESS MY OFFICIAL HAND this is t~ 20 ___ _}~--~------day of--~~----' 2009. 21 22 ~-------- 23 Summer Tanner, RPR Texas CSR #8208 24 Expiration Date: 12/31/10 Official Court Reporter --v- 25 Jefferson County, Texas I I THE STATE OF TEXAS § ' IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF 1._ § VS. § JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS §. CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, Ill § . [252ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT] I D I. I • I- I I . REPORTER'S RECORD I Volume 3 of4 'l· I. I ·***********************~***** GUlLT I INNOCENCE I (HUNG JURY) October 13th, 2009 0 ' ***************************** I I ' RECEIVED IN. COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS a -I. MAR. "1 1 2015' 0 Abel Acosta, Clerk I I· , 1': Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Amicus Curiae 15623 Fagerquist Road I Del Valle, Texas 78617-5800 Phone: (512) 667-1508 e-mail: pwmll.07@gmail.com I 0 I d I I THE STATE OF TEXAS § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF § I vs. § § JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, III § [252ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT] I I I I I REPORTER'S RECORD I Volume·3 of 4 I ***************************** GUlLT I INNOCENCE I (HUNG JURY) October 13th, 2009 ***************************** I I I I I _Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Amicus Curiae 15623 Fagerquist Road I Del Valle, Texas 78617-5800 Phone: (512) 667-1508 e-mail: pwmll.07@gmail.com I I I 1 1 REPORTERiS RECORD 2 VOLUME 3 OF 4 3 TRIAL COURT CAUSE NO. 09-07283 4 THE STATE OF TEXAS * IN THE 252ND DISTRICT I 5 * * 6 vs. * COURT OF I 7 * * CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, * I 8 III, A/K/A CARL MATHEW BELLOTTI, III, A/K/A 9 CARL MATHEW BELLOTTI, * * * A/K/A CARL MATTHEW I 10 BELOTTI, III, A/K/A CARL MATHEW BELOTTI, III * * JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS * 11 I I .~r~.:-· 12 I 13 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GUI.LT/INNOCENCE 14 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I 15 16 On the 14TH day of OCTOBER, 2009, the following I 17 ' proceedings carne on to be heard in the above-entitled I 18 and numbered cause before the Honorable Layne Walker, 19 Judge Presiding, held in Beaumont, Jefferson County, I 20 Texas: I 21 22 Proceedings reported by Machine Shorthand. I --- .. •:h.tf.i,i': I 23 24 I_Cfli 25 I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court \. r.C· . · ,. I I 2 ~-- 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 1® 2 ~-- 3 FOR THE STATE: 4 Mr. Perry Thomas SBOT NO. 19849120 I 5 Assistant District Attorney 1001 Pearl, 3rd Floor 6 Beaumont, Texas 77701 I 7 Mr. Pat Knauth SBOT NO. 11585500 I 8 9 Assistant Di strict Attorney 1001 Pearl, 3rd Floor Beaumont, Texas 77701 I 10 FOR THE DEFENDANT: 11 I 12 Mr. Bryan Laine SBOT NO. 24011488 Attorney at Law I 13 14 1045 Redwood Kountze, Texas 77625 I 15 16 I 17 I 18 19 I 20 21 I 22 I 23 24 25 SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I 3 I-- 1 VOLUME 3 1 -· 2 GUILT/INNOCENCE ~-- 3 PAGE 4 Case Called 5 I 5 Jury Question 5 6 Defendant's Motion for Mistrial 6 I 7 Court Grants Motion for Mistrial 7 I 8 9 Foreman Announces Jury Deadlocked Jury Di smi.s sed 8 9 I 10 Reporter's Certificate 10 11 I 12 I 13 14 I 15 16 I 17 18 19 20 21 I 22 I 23 24 I_~ 25 I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court 1··- 4 1 VOLUME 4 2 EXHIBITS 3 JURY'S EXHIBITS 4 NO. DESCRIPTION ~---- 5 1 Jury Question No. 1 1-· 6 7 2 3 Jury Question No. 2 Jury Question No. 3 ~--- 8 4 Jury Question No. 4 9 5 Jury Question No. 5 1 10 11 I 12 13 14 I 15 16 I 17 I 18 19 I 20 I 21 22 I 23 24 I_~~ 25 I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1- 5 ~-­ •....(~) 1 (OPEN COURT, JURY NOT PRESENT, DEFENDANT NOT PRESENT) 2 THE COURT: I just got a deal from the I -- 3 jury. I want the record to reflect that the jury began 4 deliberating yesterday at 15 minutes until 12:00. 5 Yesterday was October the 13th, 2009. They went to the ~-­ 6 jury room at 15 minutes until 12:00 and deliberated 7 until -- somebody corr~ct me i£ I'm wrong -- 2:05, took ~-- 8 a break from 2:05 for lunch, returned at 3:00 o'clock, 9 deliberated without a break until 6:30 I 10 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. 11 THE COURT: -- yesterday afternoon. I I 12 ordered that they return at 8:00 o'clock this morning. I 13 They actually went into the jury room at what time? 14 THE BAILIFF: 8: 09. I 15 THE COURT: 8:09. And have been 16 deliberating since 8:09. I 17 has just sent out a note. It is now 10:12. The jury I 18 It says (Reading) : Judge, we are 19 split. No one will change their position and haven't I 20 since the beginning. We see no additional evidence I 21 ideas to change current position. Please advise. We 22 understand what we were asked to do based on the charge I 23 but see no way to a resolution. 24 And I think I have read that correct. 25 Y'all take a look (tendering). What do y'all want to SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1-- 6 1-- ·····~ 1 do -- and I want to let the record reflect Mr. Laine is 2 present and Mr. Thomas is present while we are having ~-- 3 this discussion. 4 MR. LAINE: Your Honor, just from the ~--- 5 defense standpoint, we've -- I have read a proposed ~--- 6 Allen Charge or Dynamite Charge from the CoUrt. I 7 believe since -- based on t~o notes previous yesterday 1- 8 that we -- that they could not make a decision. I 9 think the 6:30 note basically said the same thing, our ~--- 10 decision's been the same 1- 11 THE COURT: I agree. 12 MR. LAINE: since the start, that the I ·'· (\ 13 Court was -- it -- under its authority, we would ask 14 for a mistrial at this time. I 15 THE COURT: Mr. Thomas, do you have any I 16 objection? 17 MR. THOMAS: Your Honor, I will agree with I 18 whatever Mr. Laine wants to do at this point in time. 19 THE COURT: I want the record to be clear, I 20 I have tried a lot of cases; and most of the time I 21 it's -- there's a little bit of confusion in light 22 this jury has been dead set, in my opinion, since the I 23 very first question that they are deadlocked; and t}1ey 24 just never have used the magical terms. But I cion't ···~ I 25 think there's any question in my mind that they are SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I 7 I ._(~ 1 deadlocked, and continued deliberation would be futile. 2 And, therefore, I'm going to grant Mr. Laine's Motion ~-- 3 for Mistrial. We will reset this matter for -- I will 4 take a look at it, see when we can get y'all back down ~-­ 5 here and get the case tried. ~--- 6 MR. LAINE: Yes, sir. 7 THE COURT: Let ' s do t hi s . If I can, ~-- 8 let's get Bellotti -- Mr. Bellotti, let 1 s get him in 9 here and then I will get them in here and I will cut I 10 them loose. While y'all do that, I'm going to do this 11 plea real quick. I 12 (PAUSE IN PROCEEDINGS) I 13 (OPEN COURT, JURY NOT PRESENT, DEFENDANT PRESENT) 14 THE COURT: Okay. I am ready for the I 15 jury. 16 MR. THOMAS: Judge, I think we both would I 17 like for you to inquire with the foreman first. I 18 THE COURT: That they are hopelessly 19 deadlocked? I 20 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. 2'1 I 22 THE COURT: Okay. (JURY ENTERS COURTROOM) I 23 THE COURT: Let the record reflect all 24 members of the jury are present. The defendant is l_c~ 25 present, along with his attorney. A note was sent out I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I 8 I ~ I --\;q 1 saying that the jury was not able to reach a verdict. 2 Mr. Hopson, I'm going to ask you, I 3 sir: 4 Are you satisfied that the jury is hopelessly deadlocked in this matter? I-- 5 THE FOREPERSON:· Yes, sir. 6 THE COURT: No chance of reaching I 7 resolution in this case? I - 8 THE FOREPERSON: No, sir. 9 THE COURT: Okay. The request has been 10 made by Mr. Laine for a mistrial withDut objection, 11 I'm going to grant this Motion for Mistrial. I 12 At this time, your job here is done. 13 If you don't mind, give us the badges back. Next week 14 we will go through the process, again. We will select I 15 another jury and try the case, and we will continue to 16 I 17 do so until there's resolution. your instructions. You are released from If you want to talk to anybody, I 18 feel free to do so. If you need a work excuse signed, 19 go straight across the hall to Ms. Ramos' o£fice; and I 20 she will get that taken care of for you. You are free I 21 22 to go. attorney, If somebody wants to hang around and talk to an if y'all will, just wait outside and tell I 23 Wayne or Tony who it is you want to speak with, and 24 they will be happy to speak with you. Y'all are free I® 25 to go. I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Co~rt I I -·· 9 I --· .._(]) 1 (JURY DISMISSED) I 2 3 I 4 I 5 --· 6 I 7 --- I 8 9 I 10 11 I I --- 12 13 14 I 15 16 I 17 I 18 19 I 20 I 21 22 I 23 24 I ~-® 25 I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I 10 I I_,J· ~., 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 2 THE STATE OF TEXAS) COUNTY OF JEFFERSON) I 3 4 I, Summer Tanner, Official Certified Shorthand I 5 Reporter in and for the State of Texas, do hereby I- 6 certify that the above and foregoing contains a true 7 and correct transcription of all portions of evidence I 8 and other proceedings requested in writing by counsel 9 for the parties to be included in this volume of the I 10 Reporter's Record, in the above~styled and numbered 11 I 12 cause, all of which occurred in open court or in chambers and were reported by me. I 13 I further certify that this Reporter's Record of 14 the proceedings truly and correctly reflects the I 15 exhibits, if any, admitted by the respective parties. I 16 17 I further certify that the total cost for the preparation of this Reporter's Record iJ~--~---· ~s I 18 $ ___ ~V'__ ~6-~~--- and was paid by _ . 19 WITNESS MY OFFICIAL HAND this is the I 20 ____jL~--~--~ day of --~---' 2009. I -~~------ 21 22 I 23 Summer Tanner, RPR Texas CSR #82.08 24 IJ~ Expiration Date: 12/31/10 Official Court Reporter 25 Jefferson County, Texas Beaumont, Texas 77701 I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd Di5trict Court I I I , THE STATE OF~TEXAS §, · IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF § ,I VS. § § JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, ill § [252ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT] I I a ' I •, ·' I. REPORTER'S RECORD I Volume 1 ofl I *********************************** GUILT I INNOCENCE & I PUNISHMENT .& I . OF GUILTY AND SENTENCING PLEA October 18th, 2011 I ***********************************' . I' ' • RECEIVED IN COURT OF CRIMINAl APPEALS MAR- -t 1 2015 I Abel Acos~a. Clerk 'I I' Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Amicus Curiae . 15623 Fagerquist Road I 0 _Del Valle, Texas 78617-5800 Phone: (512) 667-1508 I v e-mail: ' pwm11.07@gmail.comt I I -1 THE STATE OF TEXAS § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF § I vs. § § JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, Ill § [252ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT] -I I I I REPORTER'S RECORD I Volume 1 ofl I *********************************** GUILT I INNOCENCE I & PUNISHMENT & I PLEA OF GUILTY AND SENTENCING October 18th, 2011 I *********************************** I I I I Philip W. "Phil" Moore, Amicus Curiae 15623 Fagerquist Road I Del Valle, Texas 78617-5800 Phone: (512) 667-1508 I e-mail: pwm11.07@gmail.com I 1-· 1 ·1·- 1- (., _ 1 2 SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252ND DIST~ICT COURT (409) 835-8637 ·1·-- 3 TO: Mr. Carl Bellotti, Jr .. 4 2122 Merriman Street ~---- Port Neches, Texas 77651 5 FROM: Summer Tanner 6 Official Court Reporter I 7 252nd District Court 1001 Pearl I- 8 Beaumont, Texas 77701 RE: Cause No. 09-07283 9 The State of Texas vs. Carl Matthew Bellotti, III ~----· 10 REPORTER'S RECORD: Vol. 1 BILLED - 11/21/2013 11 ******************************************************* Original and 1 Copy 12 Vol. 1 - ~uilt/~nnocence,Punishment and 13 Plea of Guilty 145 pages@ $5.50 pp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . $797.50 14 I 15 Binding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15.00 16 I 17 TOTAL .. , . . . . . . ,., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $812.50 I 18 19 I 20 I 21 22 I 23 I . . . .. 24 I . ( 25 - --'-. ____ ... I I I 1 I (~~'It 1 REPORTER'S RECORD I --\··~ .. 2 VOLUME 1 OF 1 3 TRIAL COURT CAUSE NO. 09-07283 I 4 THE STATE OF TEXAS * IN THE 252ND DISTRICT I 5 * * 6 vs. * COURT OF I 7 CARL MATTHEW BELLOTTI, * * * 8 III, A/K/A CARL MATHEW I BELLOTTit III, A/K/A 9 CARL MATHEW BELLOTTI, * * * A/k/A CARL MATTHEW * I 10 BELOTTI, III, A/K/A CARL MATHEW BELOTTI, III * * JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS 11 I ;;;-; :..,~ I ·:f.·. 12 ;-"""·,, I 13 14 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GUILT/INNOCENCE & PUNISHMENT I 15 & PLEA OF GUILTY AND SENTENCING 16 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I 17 I 18 On the 18TH day of OCTOBER, 2011, the following 19 proceedings came on to be heard in the above-entitled I 20 and numbered cause before the Honorable Layne Walker, 21 Judge Presiding, held in Beaumofit, Jefferson Co~nty, I 22 Texas: I 23 24 Proceedings reported by Machine Shorthand. I ("' --~~- ·--'·,. ~· 25 I_ SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR c.op~ 252nd District Court 11 I ·~. 2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 3 FOR THE STATE: 4 Mr. Perry Thomas SBOT NO. 19849120 5 Assistant District Attorney 1001 Pearl, 3rd Floor 6 Beaumont, Texas 77701 7 Mr. Pat Knauth SBOT NO. 11585500 8 Assistant Dist.rict Attorney 1001 Pearl, 3rd Floor 9 Beaumont, Texas 77701 10 FOR THE DEFENDANT: 11 Mr. Norman Desmarais 12 SBOT NO. 00795925 Attorney at Law 13 1233 Nederland Avenue Nederland, Texas 77627 14 (409) 729-2777 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 SUMMER TANNER,. CSR, RPR 252nd District Court 1-- 3 1- --~· ·~ I -_ .· ( --~'- 1 VOLUME 1 2 GOI~T/INNOCENCE & PUNISHM~NT 1- 3 4 PLEA OF GUILTY AND SENTENCING PAGE ~--- 5 Stipulations 5 6 Jury Sworn 7 ~-- 7 State Reads Indictment 8 ~--- 8 Defendant Pleads Not Guilty 8 9 State Testimony Begins 9 1- 10 STATE'S WITNESSES DIRECT CROSS ~--- 11 Aeli.sa Sanders 9 17 12 Kevin White 36 48 I 13 State Rests 91 14 Defendant Admonished 91 I 15 Motion for Instructed Verdict by Defense 92 16 Court Denies Motion I 17 Defense Rests 93 94 I 18 Jury Instructions 97 19 Defendant's Closing Statements 104 I 20 State's Closing Statements 111 I 21 22 Jury Deliberations Jury's Verdict 116 118 I 23 Defendant Rejects Plea Offer 120 24 Defendant Pleas Not True to Enhancements 122 I - ~- .. 25 State's Testimony Begins 123 I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1-- 4 1-- . ( 1 PAGE 1--·-. 2 STATE S WITNESSES 1 DIRECT CROSS 3 James Carl Rose .123 132 4 State Rests 135 ~-­ 5 Defense Rests 135 ~--- 6 Defendant Pleads Guilty 138 7 Defendant Pleads True to Enhancements 139 8 Defendant Sentenced 141 9 Jury Dismissed 144 ~-- 10 Reporter 1 s Certificate 145 1- 11 EXHIBITS --/·--- 12 STATE'S EXHIBITS 1 ''- .. 13 NO. DESCRIPTION TENDERED ADMITTED VOL. 14 1 Stipulation 75 76 1 I 15 3-7 Judgment & Sent. 131 131 1 I 16 17 8-10 1 Pen Packets Plea Papers 126 138 127 138 1 1 I 18 19 I 20 I 21 22 I 23 24 25 SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I -- 5 1··· I 1-\. 1 2 (OPEN COURT, DEFENDANT PRESENT, NO JURY) THE BAILIFF: All rise. 252nd District 3 Court is now in session. The Honorable Layne Walker 4 presiding. ~-- 5 THE COURT: Thank y'all. Please be 1-- 6 seated. Is everybody ready? 7 MR. THOMAS: Ready. I just had one 1- 8 question, Judge: How y'all want to handle the reading 9 of the indictment? You have to read the two that he's 10 pled true to? Do you want to read the first part about ~--- 11 intoxication first and then enter a plea and then the - -/-· · -. 12 two enhancement paragraphs and he can plea to that two 1 ·... __ .... ~ 13 separate times? 14 THE COURT: Yes, sir. Is he going to plea I 15 true7 Is there a stipulation? 16 I 17 before, Your Honor. MR. DESMARAIS: We've already stipulated I 18 THE COURT: That's what I want to make 19 sure of. 20 MR. THOMAS: I think I need to read it for 21 the -.- 22 THE COURT: I understand. I guess the 23 question is what if he stands up and says they are not 24 true? I 25 MR. THOMAS: Then we would go forward with I SUMMER TANNER, CSR., RPR 252nd District Court I 1-- 6 ~-- ( 1 the two priors. ~---''-- 2 TH~ COURT: Okay. ~--- 3 MR. DESMARAIS: We stipulated. I don't 4 know why you have to read them. They are not gbing to ~--- 5 make a decision on them. There's no jury decision, so 1-- 6 there's no reason to let them know we stipulated to the 7 two priors. ~--- 8 MR. KNAUTH: I'd be concerned about the 9 jury instructions. I 10 THE COURT: I think he's right about that. 11 MR. THOMAS: Last time in the charge you I 12 had instructed the jury that he'd pled true to two I ~: - 13 priors. 14 THE COURT: Right. 1 15 MR. THOMAS: Is that -- you can do that 16 again. I 17 THE COURT: I -- yeah, I think you have I 18 to. 19 MR. THOMAS: Right, to get the -- I 20 that's -- essentially just read this first paragraph? 21 THE COURT: I'd just read the first I 22 paragraph. And let the record reflect that the I 23 defendant has stipulated to the jurisdictional 24 enhancements and agrees that he was convicted of those I( __:_,, ·· ...... - 25 offenses. Is that the case, Mr. Desmarais? I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I 7 1-- r''"' I \_ 1 MR. DESMARAIS: I think that's the way we 2 have to do it. If the Court decides to read the two I 3 4 enhancements, he'll plea true to them. THE COURT: We will go on the first ~-- 5 paragraph. 6 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. ~-- 7 THE COURT: We're ready. 1- 8 (JURY ENTERS COU~TROOM) 9 THE COURT: Good morning to you. ~-- 10 THE JURY: (Response) I- 11 THE COURT: 12 members of the jury are present. Let the record reflect all -/···· The defendant is I ....,,.. -.· 13 present, along with his attorney. At this time, would 14 you each raise your right hand for me please. I 15 (JURY SWORN) II 16 17 ready to proceed? THE COURT: Jury's sworn. Is the State II 18 MR. THOMAS: We are, Your Honor. 19 THE COURT: Defense ready to proceed? I 20 MR. DESMARAIS: Defense is ready. Hold on I 21 22 just so I can switch the seat. THE COURT: You got it. Mr. Thomas, you I 23 can read the indictment. 24 Would the defendant stand for the I 25 reading of the indictment? I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1- 8 1-- I _ -' I 1 THE DEFENDANT: (Standing) ~-. 2 MR. THOMAS: (Reading): In the name and 1-- 3 by the authority of the State of Texas, the Grand 4 Jurors for the County of Jefferson, State aforesaid, ~--- 5 duly organized as such at the July Term, A.D., 2009, in 6 the Criminal District Court of Jefferson County, in ~--- 7 said County and State, upon oath in said Court, present ~-- 8 that Carl Matthew Bellotti, III a/k/a Carl Mathew 9 Bellotti, III a/k/a Carl Mathew Bellotti a/k/a Carl I -- 10 Matthew Belotti, III a/k/a Carl Mathew Belotti, III, ~-- 11 hereafter styled the defendant, on or about the 21st 12 day of September, 2008, and anterior to the presentment I ........... 13 of this indictment, in the County of Jefferson, State 14 of Texas, did then and there operate a motor vehicle in I 15 a public place while the defendant was intoxicated, 16 against the peace and dignity of the State. It's I 17 signed by the foreperson of Grand Jury. I 18 THE COURT: Mr. Bellotti, to the 19 indictment, do you enter into a plea of not guilty or I 20 guilty? 21 I 22 THE DEFENDANT: THE COURT: Okay. Not guilty. You may be seated. I 23 Does the State desire to make an opening statement? 24 MR. THOMAS: No, sir. I 25 THE COURT: Okay. Call your first I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 2.52nd District Court I I- 9 1- I (_ 1 witness. ~---·. 2 MR. THOMAS: We would call Aelisa Sanders. 1- 3 THE COURT: Aelisa Sanders. 4 (WITNESS ENTERS COURTROOM) 1- 5 MR. THOMAS: I'm tendering a copy of her I- 6 7 statement to Counsel. (WITNESS ENTERS COURTROOM) 1- 8 TH~ COURT: Good morning. Will you raise 9 your right hand for me, please. ~-- 10 (WITNESS SWORN) 11 THE COURT: Come on up and have a seat, I 12 please. Watch your step. ,' -- I 13 You may proceed. 14 MR. THOMAS: Thank you, Your Honor. I 15 AELISA SANDERS, 16 having first been duly sworn, testified as follows: I 17 DIRECT EXAMINATION I 18 BY MR. THOMAS: 19 Q. Mrs. Sanders, would you state your full name I 20 for the ladies and gentlemen of the jury? 21 A. I 22 Q. Aelisa F., as in Fay, Sanders. And, Mrs. Sanders, do you work for a living? I 23 A. No, I do not. 24 Q. Okay. And where do you live? I 25 A. I live in north Vidor -- I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 10 1 Q. Okay. 2 A. Texas. 3 Q. Do you have some relatives or did you have 4 relatives that had a home here in Jefferson County, 5 Texas? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. Who was that? 8 A. My mother. 9 Q. And where was that located at? 10 A. In Groves. 11 Q. Okay. 12 A. On 32nd. 13 Q. Back on September 21st, 2008, were you at your 14 mother's home that day? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. What time of day were you at your mother's 17 home? 18 A. I was there all day -- 19 Q. Okay. 20 A. -- until 21 Q. Why were you over there at your mother's 22 house? 23 A. We were cleaning up after a stor~ for her. 24 Q. I think was that a.fter Hurricane Ike, one 25 of the hurricanes? SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court ------- 1--- 11 1- lj·_. 1 A. Yes. Yes. The house was okay. Yard was 2 horrible. ~-- 3 Q. Okay. And, so, sometime after this storm, 4 you're cleaning up your mother's yard; is that correct? ~-- 5 A. Correct. 1- 6 7 Q. A. And your mother's home is located in Groves? Uh-huh. 1- 8 Q. Is that a "yes"? 9 A. Yes. I'm sorry. "Ye·s." ~-- 10 Q. That's all right. Now, as you're working in ~-- 11 your mother's yard, did something unusual happen? 12 A. Yes, it did. I '• 13 Q. And about what time of the day was that? 14 A. Ugh, 5:00, 5:30, somewhere around there. I 15 Q. Was it still daylight? 16 A. Yes. I 17 Q. Well, what happened that was unusual? I 18 A. Well, urn, screeching of tires, you know, and 19 look up and see a a small truck go off the road and I 20 go into the ditch nosedive in the ditch. I 21 22 Q. house? Okay. Was that in front of your mother's I 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Kinda in her yard? I ,. \ 25 A. If it would have gone to the left, it would I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I- 12 I __c-- 1 have been her yard, yes. I 2 Q. Okay. I- 3 A. But it -- uh-huh. 4 Q. You were out there in the yard working when I- 5 this occurred; right? 6 A. Correct. I 7 Q. And what first got your attention, the I 8 9 screeching of the tires? A. The noise, uh-huh. Yes, sir. I 10 Q. And you see the truck go into the ditch? 11 A. Yes. As I was turning, it was in the process I 12 of -- in the ditch, yes. ,..--" ~~ I 13 Q. Okay. 14 what did you do? After that truck went into the ditch, I 15 A. I hollered for my husband to come around the 16 house so that he could take charge of my two I 17 grandchildren I had with me in the front yard. I 18 Q. Okay. And what did you do after that? 19 A. I ran across the street to see if the person I 20 needed assistance of any kind. 21 Q. Was the person still behind the wheal of the I 22 car when you got there? I 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. And what were they doing? l_c·· 25 A. Ugh, staring. I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I 13 I ( 1 Q. What do you mean? Describe for us what you I 2 mean by "staring." ~-- 3 A. Urn, was not frantic, just a -- what I would 4 describe as, maybe, hesitating to see what happened. 1- 5 Just sitting. I- 6 Q. Okay. Did he just sit there or did he 7 eventually get out or what happened? 8 A. I knocked on the window. Eventually rolled it I 9 down, asked if they were hurt, if they needed any kind I 10 of assistance. And first thing that was said was just, 11 Don't call the police. Don't call the police. I 12 But something was not right. ( I \ ' 13 14 Q. A. What was not right? With the way the person was acting, I didn't I 15 know if maybe the way the truck went in if they hit 16 their head or what. Ugh, real slurred speech, not I 17 really knowing exactly where they were or what had I 18 happened. Yeah, eventually did get out of the truck. 19 Q. Okay. So, how many people were in the truck? I 20 A. One. 21 Q. And was it male, female? I 22 A. Male. I 23 Q. The person that got out of the truck, do you 24 see him in the courtroom today? l_c · 25 A. Yes, sir. I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1- 14 1-- ( 1 Q. Point to him and describe what he's wearing 1---· 2 for us, please. 1- 3 A. (Pointing) He's right to my right. He's got 4 a blue tie and I guess that's a green khaki-colored ~-- 5 suit and a white shirt. 1- 6 7 MR. THOMAS: she's identified the de£endant. I'd ask the record reflect 8 THE COURT: The record will so indicate. 9 Q. ( BY MR . THOMAS ) : So, when he rolled the 1- 10 window down, the first thing he said was, Don't call ~-- 11 the police? 12 A. Yeah. It was kind of in the process of me --- __ ,.--, __ I 13 asking, Are you okay, did you hit your head -- it's 14 just common questions, I guess, you would ask. I 15 And it he kept shaking his head and 16 wouldn't really look at me but, Don't call the police. I 17 Don't call the police. Because I was asking if he waB ' I 18 hurt. 19 Q. And you said he eventually -- then he got out I 20 of the truck? I 21 22 A. Q. Uh-huh. What happened when he got out of the truck? I 23 A. Staggery, just kept saying, What happened. I 24 need to get my truck out. What happened? Didn't 25 really make any sense. I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1- 15 I ! \, 1 And I just continue~ to ask if he was I .... "• .... ·· 2 okay, if he needed any -- you know, an ambulance. It 1- 3 registered, but it didn't. It was just kinda like I 4 wasn't there. Stumbling, leaned propped against the I 5 truck. He couldn't hold himself up very well. He I. 6 7 s t umb 1 e d i f he tried to w a l k . Q. Okay. Did you see any evidence that he'd been I 8 hurt -- 9 A. No. ~-- 10 Q. -- like a knot on the head? 11 A. No, I did not. I 12 Q. Blood " I ' ............ · 13 A. No . 14 Q. -- scratches, anything like that? I 15 A. No. 16 Q. Did you come to any conclusions about the I 17 man's condition? I 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. What did you conclude? I 20 A. In my mind, I thought he was drunk. 21 I 22 Q. A. Okay. I would say sloppy drunk. I 23 Q. Okay. He was not able to hold himself up? 24 A. No. He never fell to the ground. I _\_ 25 Q. Okay. I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 16 1-- I·.( 1 A. But very stumbly, holding on and grasping for 2 things, and then he just learied against his truck. 3 Q. Did -- did you -- did you or your husband or 4 someone call the police? I 5 A. Yeah. I did. 6 Q. And the police eventually carne to where you I 7 were at? I. 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. I guess when the police got there they took ~-- 10 charge of the situation? 1- 11 A. Correct. Uh-huh. 12 Q. Did you have any more conversations with the ... ... I ,.~~~- 13 man after he got out? You noticed he was trying to 14 suppnrt himself on the truck. Did you have any more I 15 conversations with him before the police got there? 16 A. I 17 Basically occasionally, Are you okay? are you going? Where I 18 He said he was going horne. He said, 19 Right down the road. I 20 I said, Where do you live. I 21 22 And I Something to the effect of Port Neches. knew we weren't in Port Neches. I 23 Q. Okay. 24 A. Said he'd just got off of work. He said he I 25 worked on a -- offshore, and just something like that, I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1-· 17 1- c·· I·-- 1 nothing --- but he did try to flag down cars. 2 Q. That's what I was just fixing to ask you. I 3 4 A. Q. Uh-huh. Tell me about that. I 5 A. Well, he'd stumbled out, and I'd tell him, 1- / 6 7 Come back over here, you know, Don't get in the road. come back over here. ~-- 8 Trying to get somebody to pull him out. 9 Q. Okay. ~-- 10 A. A couple cars did stop -- 11 Q. Okay. I 12 A. -- but nobody -- he just kept saying, I need .... I '· -.~-. 13 to get my truck out. I need to get my truck out. 14 Q. No one -- no one pulled him out? I 15 A. Oh, no. No. 16 Q. And did the police department then eventually I 17 come to your scene? I 18 A. Right! 19 Q. To that location? I 20 A. Uh-huh. I 21 22 Honor. MR. THOMAS: I pass the witness, Your I 23 THE COURT: Mr. Desmarais? 24 CROSS-EXAMINATION I 25 BY MR . DESMARAIS : I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1-- 18 1- 1--c-.- 1 2 Q. A. Good morning, Mrs. Sanders. Good morning. 1--- 3 Q. Your mother's house was across the stxeet from 4 him? 1·-·· 5 A. Correct. 6 Q. Okay. So, there was an intersection, and he 1- 7 was in --when you say ditch, you're talking about a ~-- 8 drainage culvert -- culvert? 9 A. It was a ditch. 1- 10 Q. Grass-filled? ~-- 11 A. No. It was kinda steep. It wasn't one of 12 these great big ditches because the streets are very · .. ~--~- 13 narrow, but it was -- fuy mother's house -- and here 14 is -- can I do my hands? ~-- 15 Q. Sure. I 16 17 A. 32nd runs this way (indicat£ng). side street right here (indicating). There's a I 18 Q. And that's -- 19 A. And my mother's hou~e is here {indicating). I 20 There's not a side street where my mother's house is. I 21 The side street actually goes into her driveway. It's 22 a crossover. I 23 Q. Okay. And he was taking a right turn onto the 24 side street? I __ t\ 25 A. I don't think he was turning. I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1·-- 19 1-- {·-- 1 Q. Was he traveling on 35 -- 32nd Street? ~--'-···· 2 A. Right. 1··-- 3 Q. Okay. And then when he went off the thing 1___ 4 that he werit off -- the ditch off the intersection, 5 Kleespies Street? ~-· 6 A. Yes. That's right here (indicating) on this 7 corner. But it wasn't like he was making a turn. He 1···- 8 went straight into the ditch -- hit the stop sign and 9 he nosed into 1- 10 Q. W~en you say "straight into the ditch," did he 1·-- 11 cross over the ditch -- how wide is the ditch? 12 A. I don't know. Normal ditch. I don't I 1··-~·~:-·- 13 don't know what --two feet, three feet? I don't know. 14 Q. So, you had your back to him. Your mot.her's I 15 yard, ho~ far offset is her house from there? 16 A. It's not far. I 17 It's enough for two cars to pass. The road is an older town road. The ditches ar~ not I 18 wide, and it's just right there. 19 Q. Okay. But it is across the street -- I 20 A. Correct. I 21 22 Q. A. -- parallel to 32nd? Uh-huh. I 23 Q. Did you make a .statement to the police? 24 A. Yes. l_r ·-··· 25 Q. Okay. Do you remember when you made that I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I ·------------~---·------ --·-----· 1--- 20 •..•.. , I _ _(_ _ .- 1 statement? 2 A. Uh-huh. Yes, sir. 3 Q. And that was on the 25th of December -- 4 September? 1- 5 A. I believe it was the 21st. ~-­ 6 Q. Did you ever sign a statement? 7 A. Yes. ~-- 8 Q. Okay. And you signed that on the 25th of 9 September? ~-- 10 A. 21st, I believe. 11 MR. DESMARAIS: May I approach the I 12 witness? !'-------. I \ ·. .. - ~ 13 THE COURT: Yes, sir. 14 Q. (BY MR. DESMARAIS): Let me show you this I 15 document. I 16 17 A. Q. I could be wrong. If you want to read it just to re£resh your I 18 memory. 19 A. Oh, okay. 25th. Okay. That's what it says I 20 at the top. Oh, it happened on the 21st. I 21 Q. So, on the 25th, you ~ent down to the police 22 station to give another statement? I 23 A. I don't remember. I don't thipk I went to the 24 police station. I 25 Q. Did they come to your place -- I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1- 21 1-- l __ I l .. _ .· " 1 A. I talked to the police officer that day. 2 Q. When they -- let me see if I can make this 1- 3 clear. When did you sign the statement -- you signed 4 it on the 25th. Where did you sign it? ~-- 5 A. I made the statement to the officer there 1- 6 after the accident. 7 Q. Okay. ~-- 8 A. And I signed what he had. When I made my I -- 9 10 statement, Q. I signed it. So, there's another statement out there, a 11 handwritten statement? I 12 A. It was on the form that they gave me. r·--···. I 13 MR. DESMARAIS: Your Honor, I'd like the 14 prosecution to provide that handwritten statement or I 15 the form statement. 16 MR. THOMAS: (Tendering) I 17 Q. (BY MR. DESMARAIS): Do you remember signing I 18 the typewritten statement? 19 A. If my signature's on there, I signed tt. I 20 Q. Okay. The question is do you remember doing 21 I 22 it? A. I don't -- yes. I know I signed my I 23 statements. 24 Q. Right now we have two statements. I ..J. ( 25 A. Okay . I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I ~--- 22 1- Q. .~ 1 A handwritten one and a typed one. 2 A. Are they the same? ~-- 3 Q. Do you remember signing 4 A. Yes. ~-·- 5 Q. -- both of them? 6 A. Yes, I do. I 7 Q. Okay. I 8 9 A. Q. I remember signing, yes. One was given on the 21st at 5:22. I 10 A .• Okay. 11 Q. One was given on the 25th. We don't know what I 12 time. Do you agree so far? ;-' I '· 13 14 A. If it's there, it was, yes. Q. Okay. Now, in the statement you gave to the I 15 police officer, you -- he asked you questions; you 16 answered them? I 17 A. No. He asked what happened -- I 18 Q. Okay. And then -- 19 A. and I told him. I 20 Q. told him what happened? 21 A. I 22 Q. Correct. And then he wrote it all down on this thing, I 23 and then he asked you to sign it; correct? 24 A. I _ (. 25 Q. No. I believe I This is your handwriting? wrote it. I__ SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1- 23 ~-- IL ' 1 A. Right. 2 MR. DESMARAIS: May I approach again, Your 1- 3 4 Honor? THE COURT: Yes, sir. I -- 5 A. Let me see. ~-~- 6 Q. (BY MR. DESMARAIS}: (Tendering} 7 A. This has been awhile back. A lot has happened ~-- 8 since then. 9 No. I stated that. I did not write I 10 that. That's not my handwriting. 11 Q. So, the policeman wrote this, showed it to I 12 you, probably, and said, Is this what happened, and you --~t-~-- . I 13 said, Yes, and signed it; correct? 14 A. Yes. I told him -- he didn't write what he I 15 wanted. I told him what happened. 16 Q. Okay. That's fair. I 17 And then at some point he went down ahd I 18 he provided you with a typewritten statement, had you 19 review it and asked you to sign it on the 25th? I 20 A. Again, I don't remember. It's been awhile. A I 21 22 lot has happened since then, but if it's typed and my signature is on it, I signed it. No one came to my I 23 house. 24 Q. Okay. When you approached the car, was the I 25 car running? I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 24 1 A. I don't remember. 2 Q. You said the window was up? ~-- 3 A. Correct. 4 Q. Was it a hot day that day? I- 5 A. I don't remember. 1··-· 6 Q. Okay. When he opened up the window, could you 7 fee.l the air-condition? 8 A. I don't remember that. I was more concerned 9 that he was hurt. I 10 Q. Did you help him out of the car? 11 A. No, I did not. 12 Q. At any time did you touch him? 13 A. No, I did not. 14 Q. Did you make the police the call to the I 15 Groves Police before you crossed the street or after 16 you had gotten to his car? I 17 A. Let me think. The best I can remember, I I 18 believe I asked if he was okay and then called. 19 Q. Say again. I 20 A. I believe to the best of my memory I went I 21 directly and asked if he was okay 22 Q. Okay. I 23 A. ~nd called at that time. 24 Q. At the time you're asking him if he was okay? 25 A. Well, I stepped off. SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court 1-- 25 ~--- I \._.- ( 1 Q. And your husband stayed at -- 2 A. He was in the yard. 1- 3 Q. your mother's house? 4 A. Uh-huh. ~-- 5 Q. He never approached the car? 6 A. No. ~-- 7 Q. Did he make any statements on the scene? ~-- 8 A. My husband? 9 Q. Yes. I 10 A. No. 11 Q. Did the police officer ever approach him to I 12 ask him what he saw.? I ~ ... ___ .. 13 A. No. 14 Q. Was he in the front yard or was he around thB I 15 back? 16 A. He was around the back. I 17 Q. Okay. Was your mother there? I 18 A. No. 19 Q. Anybody else approach? I. 20 A. Sorry? 21 Q. I 22 A. Any other neighbors -- No. I 23 Q. there? Was there any work crews on that I /' ( 24 25 street that day? A. Yes, sir. I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I - - - - - - - - - --·--··--·--·-- ~-- 26 ~--· 1 Q. Where was the work crew? I 2 A. Urn, not far in front of ~- or past the street ~-- 3 that he went in the ditch. 4 Q. When you say -- he was heading east or west? ~-- 5 A. I -- I don't know my directions very well. Q. have -- 1··-- 6 Okay. I 7 A. He was heading towards the main street. I I 8 don't know what street it even is. 9 highway, heading the other way. Not toward the I 10 Q. Well, let's make it simple. You're in front 11 of your mother's house? I 12 A. Correct. I :·_- 13 Q. The street is catty-corner or directly across 14 from your mother's? 1 15 A. Directly across from her driveway. 16 Q. All right. And he's pointing to the left side I 17 or to the right side? I 18 A. I'm my mother's house. He's coming this way 19 (indicating). I 20 Q. So, he's go1ng from your right to left? 21 A. Yes. I 22 Q. Okay. Where were -- where were the workmen? I 23 A. My left. 24 Q. To your left. How far down the road? l_t '~' . .· . 25 A. If he had not hit the d~tch, a couple seconds I_ SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I ~-- 27 1·-·· 1 later he would have hit the workmen; they were that It 2 close. 3 Q. They were a hundred feet down? 4 A. They were close. I don't know how many feet, I- 5 but ugh, two car lengths, maybe. 6 Q. They were down two car lengths? I 7 A. Maybe. 8 Q. Did they have any cones down? I 9 A. Yes. I 10 Q. And the cones, that's where you're saying they 11 were down two car lengths? The cones start at two car I 12 lengths down? I ::·~·-·, 13 A. No. The actual work vehicle -- I don't know 14 what they were doing, but it was some type of maybe I 15 electrical truck that they use with the lift. It was 16 there. They are doing some type of work. I 17 Q. Okay. I 18 A. And ·the cones were off the back, toward where 19 he hit the ditch, so they weren't far. The -- from the I 20 corner to the back of the work truck, maybe, was two 21 car lengths. I 22 Q. So, 28 feet, 30 feet? I 23 A. I don't know. I don't know. 24 Q. Were they off the road or on the road? I_J.. 25 A. The workmen? I_ SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 28 ~-­ ( 1 Q. (Nodding head up and down) ~--- .. 2 A. On the road. They had to be -- 3 Q. I mean, was the truck parked on the road, or I 4 was it parked off in the grass? ~-- 5 A. No. 6 Q. Off the road. So, it was right in the middle 1 7 of the road closing down the lane? 8 A. It was in the lane, yes. You could still pass I 9 in the other lane. I 10 Q. And you say he stopped several cars. How many 11 cars did he try to attempt to stop? I 12 A. Two that I remember. I ·~- 13 Q. And were they going towards the trucks or away 14 from the truck? I 15 A. Toward. 16 Q. Toward. And just -- I 17 A. Like where he came from. I 18 Q. So, he just tried to wave them down and say 19 give me a hand? I 20 A. He was stumbling in the road and hollering, 21 Stop, stop. I need my truck out. I 22 But it wasn't -- it was slurry, and he I 23 was not ... 24 Q. Now, in this first statement you made, you I 25 never mentioned the fact -- you never said that he was I_ SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 1- 29 1- 1__(,_ .' 1 slurring his words or he was stumbling around or he 2 tried to stop any traffic; is that correct? 1- 3 A. I don't know. It's there in front of you. I 4 don ' t know . ~-- 5 MR. DESMARAIS: May I approach, again, 6 Your Honor? ~-- 7 THE COURT: Yes, sir. I 8 9 Q. review it (BY MR. DESMARAIS): (tendering). If you'll just read that, I 10 A. That's basically at the time hurried and 11 nervous and whatever was going on. That's what 12 Q. Okay. About him being blank-faced and not 13 paying attention to you when you first went to the 14 thing, that's not in this first statement either, i_s I 15 it? 16 A. No. I 17 Q. Now, in your second statement, made four days I 18 later, you say he stumbled around and tried and 19 attempted to stop cars? I 20 A. That's true. 21 Q. Okay. Stumbled around through traffic. There I 22 were two cars that passed him? 23 A. No, sir. Two cars that turned down the little 24 side street that he was able to stop. 25 Q. So, he did stop cars? I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 30 ~- ....... .. --~ ( 1 A. They slow-rolled. They didn't want to stop. ~--c .. 2 A man was just about to fall into their car and ~-· 3 hollering, "stop," so, they stopped. 4 Q. So, he was never on 32? He was -- ~-­ 5 A. No. 6 Q. -- on the side street? ~-· 7 A. No. Because I kinda stood anci said, Don't get 8 on this road. I 9 But he was trying -- because he wanted to I 10 stop a car. He kept saying, Don't call the police. 11 And I said, The police are on their way. I 12 The ambulance is on the way. ~-~~~---- 13 Q. The ambulance is on its way. Dici you call an 14 ambulance? I 15 A. I just called 911 and they said, Is the person 16 hurt. Well, I didn't know. I 17 Q. Right. I 18 A. 19 ambulance -- Tha~'s a normal response, usually an I 20 Q. And that's what you told whoever took the 911 21 call? I 22 A. Yeah. I couldn't say if he was hurt. I 23 Q. Did they say they would send an ambulance? 24 A. They said help's on the way. I(. 25 Q. After you made this cali,' how long was it that I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I- 31 I-- - \ i 1 you that the first policeman arrived? I .. 2 A. Oh, not very long. Ugh, I don't know. Five, 1- 3 ten minutes at the longest. 4 but it was not very long. I don't really remember, 1- 5 Q. Okay. Did any other vehicles arrive on the 6 scene? ~-­ 7 A. A police car and a police SUV of some type. ~-- 8 They weren't both patrol cars, but they were both 9 police vehicles. ~-- 10 Q. So, two different policemen? 11 A. Uh-huh, yes. I 12 Q. Did they arrive at the same time or did I /, 13 they -- 14 A. Directly after each other. I 15 Q. Did the wrecker arrive at the same time? 16 A. The who? I 17 Q. The wrecker, the tow truck? I 18 A. I I don't remember if they drove up at the 19 same time. I don't know. I 20 Q. Did you see any skid marks? 21 A. At the time, no. I 22 person. I was concerned with the I 23 Q. Okay. I understand. 24 How damaged was the front of the truck? I 25 A. I didn't go around to see. I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I · - - · - - - - --··------··-···-------------··· .. 1-- 32 1·- l_c. I . 1 Q. So, you didn't see that? 2 A. Stop sign was down. ~-- 3 Q. When you say "down," was it just laying right 4 down in front or was it pulling away or -- 1- 5 A. It wasn't pulled out of the ground, but it was 6 (indicating) -- 7 Q. Flat on the ground or 8 A. Not all the way down. It was angled -- 9 Q. Angled. ~--- 10 A. -- close to the ground. It was angled close ~--­ 11 to· the ground. 12 Q. Now, you testified that he ~- you smelt ~-:--.-~--. 13 alcohol? 14 A. That I smelled alcohol? I 15 Q. (Nodding head up and down) 16 A. When did I testify to that? I 17 Q. He asked you if -- you said that they we.uld -- I 18 he had -- you smelt alcohol on him? 19 A. I didn't say I smelt alcohol. I said -- I 20 Q. Did you smell -- I 21 22 A. Q. -- I -- Did you smell alcohol? I 23 A. No, I did not. I didn't get that close. 24 Q. Okay. So, when you were t1P at the window and I( --'·· 25 he was right in front of ye.u, you smelt no alcohol? I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I 33 ~-- ( 1 A. I -- I don't get that close to a person. I ~--, 2 don't know. 1- 3 4 Q. Understandable. So, my question is you at no time sme.lt ~-- 5 any alcohol? 6 A. I did not, no. I 7 Q. . Did you see the size of his eyes? 8 A. The size of his eyes? I 9 Q. Yes. I meC~.n, you said you thought he was I 10 intoxicated? 11 A. Yes. I 12 Q. Okay. You smelt no alcohol on him? I ., 2 back to our station and do paperwork and then we take ~--- 3 them up to the County Jail to do the rest of processing 4 there. In this particular case, because of the ~-- 5 hurricane, the County Jail on Highway 69 was not 6 available. It had been damaged in the hurricana. ~-- 7 Everybody was coming to downtown Beaumont to the old 1- 8 jail. So, the entire process with prisoners had to be 9 revamped. We -- we basically were doing all the 1- 10 paperwork in Groves and then just transporting them 11 with the paperwork, because they really had no place at I 12 the jail up here for ~s to sit down and do our ·-- ,~-d .... I ' ...... __ ~> .• 13 paperwork. 14 Q. Normally with an intoxicated person, a person I 15 arrested for driving while intoxicated, would be to 16 proceed -- to take them to the Mid-County jail to I 17 videotape them in the jail I 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. -~ offer a Breathalyzer test, things like I 20 that? 21 A. Yes. I 22 But the main County Jail on Highway 69 is equipped with what they call DWI rooms, and they're I 23 equipped with the video cameras, they're marked out to 24 do the field sobriety tests, and it's just where we go I -·-\ I { .. -- 25 to do our standardized processing. Also, we usually I SUMMER TANNER, CSR, RPR 252nd District Court I I· 46 I 1 have somebody there to operate the Intoxilyzer machine, IC 2 a trained deputy. 1- 3 Q. None of that's available that day? 4 A. None of it was aVailable. ~-- 5 Q. So, you you were not able to offer him a 6 breath test; is that correct? ~-- 7 A. That's correct. I. 8 Q. Did you offer him an opportunity for any other 9 sort of testing? I 10 A. Yes, I did. 11 Q. What did you offer him? I 12 A. The only other option is blood test. /1 I ~ \ 13 Q. When you asked him to provide a sample of his 14 b 1 o o d, w.h at did he t e 11 you? I 15 A. "No." 16 Q. If he would have wanted to have given a blood I 17 test, what would you have done to have obtained a I 18 sample of blood? 19 A. Would have taken him -- I believe Renaissance I 20 Hospital had reopened by then, so I would have taken I 21 him over to the emergency room at Renaissance Hospital, 22 and a certified lab tec [Text truncated at 120,000 characters. The full text is on the page linked above.] --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4048047. Public record. Not legal advice.