Opinion by Justice CARTER.
DNA testing done seven years after the conviction of Danny Lee Holloway, II, for manslaughter showed the victim's blood was not on the knife allegedly used as the deadly weapon. As a result, the trial court concluded Holloway probably would not have been convicted had that evidence been available at trial, and granted Holloway a new trial. We find that conclusion is not supported by evidence and, even if it was, the trial court was not authorized to grant a new trial.
Holloway was convicted in 2002 for manslaughter by using a knife as a deadly weapon. He later petitioned for DNA testing of the knife, and the trial court granted Holloway's motion on April 29, 2009. No appeal was taken from that order. On February 25, 2010, the trial court conducted a hearing pursuant to Article 64.04 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, granted Holloway a new trial,
Holloway argues the State did not file its appeal concerning the order for testing in a timely manner.
The State's right to appeal in criminal cases is limited by statute. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 44.01(a)(3), (6) (Vernon Supp.2010). Article 64.05, describing the procedure for appeals in Chapter 64 proceedings, directs that all appeals follow the usual procedures designated for appeals to the courts of appeals, except death penalty appeals are to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The State is required to appeal within twenty days of the order, ruling, or sentence about which it is complaining. TEX.CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 44.01(d) (Vernon Supp.2010).
Post-conviction, Morton asked for DNA testing of several items, including swabs from the victim, a bloody bandana found about 100 yards from the murder scene (Morton was convicted of killing his wife in their bedroom), fingerprints at the scene, and items from another, unrelated murder victim, killed in the same neighborhood six years before Morton's wife was murdered. Id. at 637. In 2006, the trial court granted Morton's request for testing on biological material from the victim and denied his request for testing on the bandana. For almost two years, the trial court failed to rule on the testing of biological material from the prior unrelated matter; apparently under compulsion of a mandamus ruling, the trial court in 2008 denied testing of the unrelated case material.
The Austin court rejected the State's assertion:
Id. at 639 (citations omitted).
The State in the instant case relies upon this language in Morton as authority that the trial court's order of February 25, 2010, granting a new trial, was the final order making Article 64.04's required findings. Thus, reasons the State, it did not need to appeal within twenty days of the April 29, 2009, order.
The procedural events in Morton differ from this case. Morton requested DNA testing of four separate groups of material. The trial court initially entered an order on two items; not until almost two years later did the court finally rule on the remaining two items. After the trial court entered orders on all requested items for testing—granting some and denying others—Morton appealed the order denying testing. The specific portion of the appeal in question was the denial of testing of a bandana at a time when some issues still remained as to testing of other material, whereas here the appeal is from the granting of DNA testing when no other issues were pending.
To require the State to wait until after the trial court reviews the evidence and determines whether it is exculpatory denies the State a valuable right—to attempt to reverse the order granting the test. If the order granting testing is erroneous, a successful appeal would also save the expense of the scientific analysis. In Morton, all of the appeals involved orders denying testing rather than granting them, and the statement regarding the time for filing an appeal for when DNA testing is granted is dicta. We hold that the order granting the DNA testing is the appealable order and the State must appeal within the appropriate time from that order. See State v. Young, 242 S.W.3d 926 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2008, no pet.) (State's appeal of order granting forensic DNA testing).
Unlike Morton, here there was no other motion or request for DNA examination of any other item; the DNA motion was for testing of the knife only. If the trial court erred in granting the request for testing the knife, the State had a right to appeal that order and request that DNA testing and analysis be stayed during the appeal. Had that course of action been followed, this Court could have rendered a decision that would have had a legal and practical effect; today, that is not possible. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Houston Teachers Ass'n, 617 S.W.2d 765, 766 (Tex.Civ.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1981, no pet.) (appellate courts do not decide cases where a party seeks judgment upon some matter which, when rendered, cannot have any practical legal effect upon the case).
We hold that the notice of appeal must have been filed within twenty days of the April 29, 2009, order granting DNA testing, as it was the order being challenged; we lack jurisdiction to consider this point of error. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex.Crim.App.1996) (timely notice of appeal necessary to invoke a court of appeals' jurisdiction). We dismiss that portion of the State's appeal.
The State filed a timely appeal to the order granting a new trial and argues the trial court erred because one of the conclusions of the trial court was erroneous as a matter of law. We agree the trial court erred in granting the new trial, but not for the reason argued by the State.
The trial court's jurisdiction expires when a case becomes final or is taken to a higher court. In re State ex rel. Sistrunk, 142 S.W.3d 497, 503 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2004, no pet.) (citing Yarbrough v. State, 703 S.W.2d 645, 649 (Tex.Crim.App.1985)) (where conviction affirmed by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, general jurisdiction is not restored to trial court; trial court is vested with special or limited jurisdiction to see that Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' judgment is executed and mandate carried out). A trial court then has only limited jurisdiction to perform functions specified by statute, such as finding facts on an application for writ of habeas corpus. State v. Patrick, 86 S.W.3d 592, 594 (Tex. Crim.App.2002). Without jurisdiction, the
Holloway was convicted and sentenced on October 31, 2002. This Court affirmed the conviction, a petition for review was denied, and our mandate issued May 27, 2004. Six years later, on February 24, 2010, the trial court signed an order purporting to grant a new trial. The trial court lost its plenary power to grant a new trial seventy-five days after convicting and sentencing Holloway, on October 31, 2002.
The trial court's order granting a new trial and setting bond for Holloway's release is vacated.
As part of the State's appeal of the trial court's entry of an order granting a new trial, the State challenges the trial court's conclusion of law wherein the trial court found "[t]here is a reasonable probability that Danny Holloway would not have been convicted in this case if the exculpatory DNA results been [sic] available during the trial of this case."
If the trial court orders DNA testing, it must hold a hearing and "make a finding as to whether, had the results been available during the trial of the offense, it is reasonably probable that the person would not have been convicted." TEX.CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 64.04. Here, the trial court held a hearing on February 25, 2010, at which Holloway formally offered the DNA test results from the stains found on the
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has not set out the standard of review of a trial court's finding under Article 64.04, but has found a de novo review is proper under Article 64.03(a)(2)(A), which requires the defendant prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she would not have been convicted if exculpatory results had been obtained through DNA testing. Smith v. State, 165 S.W.3d 361, 363-64 (Tex.Crim.App.2005). The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals noted that there were no credibility and demeanor issues in that case since there were no witnesses at the hearing and the trial record and an affidavit were the only evidence. Id. at 363. Similarly, here the record consists of the trial record and written records together with counsel's arguments. We will use the de novo review as the standard. See Rivera v. State, 89 S.W.3d 55, 59 (Tex.Crim.App.2002) ("Although there may be subsidiary fact issues that are reviewed deferentially, the ultimate question of whether a reasonable probability exists that exculpatory DNA tests would prove innocence is an application of law to fact question that does not turn on credibility and demeanor and is therefore reviewed de novo."); Frank v. State, 190 S.W.3d 136 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2005, no pet.) (using de novo standard of review in Article 64.04 cases).
As previously stated, the DNA test results verified that the victim's blood was not found on the knife. From this scientific determination, the trial court concluded that there was a reasonable probability that Holloway would not have been convicted if the DNA results had been available at trial. We do not agree that it logically follows that a negative finding of the victim's blood on the knife provides a reasonable probability that Holloway would not have been convicted. If the victim's blood had been found on the knife, it would be extremely persuasive that this knife was used as the murder weapon, but that evidence alone would not lead to the conclusion that Holloway caused the death. Conversely, the fact that the victim's blood was not on the knife may reveal: (1) this knife was not the murder weapon; (2) no residue of the victim's blood was deposited on the knife; or (3) the knife was successfully cleaned—it does not provide evidence that Holloway did not use a knife and cause the victim's death. There is a substantial amount of other evidence directly probative of whether Holloway caused the death.
Holloway argues that the State proved this knife was "the murder weapon" and as such this evidence exculpates him. But in the opinion on Holloway's direct appeal it is stated "there is a dispute over whether this was the knife Holloway originally had, Holloway was seen ... with a survival knife before Lee was stabbed." Further
The fact that the victim's blood or DNA was not found on the knife in Holloway's vehicle does not create a reasonable probability that Holloway was innocent. See Kutzner v. State, 75 S.W.3d 427, 438-39 (Tex.Crim.App.2002). In Thompson v. State, 95 S.W.3d 469 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2002, pet. ref'd),
In Rivera, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that even if Rivera's requested DNA testing were performed, the results would not prove his innocence. Rivera wanted DNA testing done on his fingernail clippings: "While the presence of the [victim]'s DNA under appellant's fingernails could indicate guilt, the absence of such DNA would not indicate innocence." Rivera, 89 S.W.3d at 60.
In determining whether there was a reasonable probability that Holloway would not have been convicted if this evidence had been available, we must also consider all of the other evidence the jury heard. Two witnesses, Taquilla Gray and Derrick Dillard, testified they saw Holloway stab the victim. Gray also saw Holloway stab Mike Lipscomb, another person at the scene. Gerald Edwards also saw Holloway stab Lipscomb.
The other witness who testified to seeing Holloway stab the victim also saw Holloway stab another person at the scene, Courtney Gray (no relation to Taquilla Gray). Gray also testified that Holloway stabbed him. Dillard testified he saw Holloway stab Courtney Gray. Multiple witnesses testified no one but Holloway had a knife at the scene. At least five witnesses saw Holloway with a knife. Holloway presented one witness who said he had seen a different person with either the knife in evidence or one similar, and that person was involved in two fights outside the club the night of the offense. Several witnesses testified Holloway was swinging the knife wildly at the crowd, and there was testimony Holloway, a Caucasian, also hurled racial epithets at the predominantly African-American crowd and drove recklessly into the parking area. In his statement
We dismiss the State's appeal of the order granting DNA testing. We vacate the order granting a new trial and setting bond. After reviewing the evidence de novo, we find it is insufficient to support the trial court's finding that it is reasonably probable Holloway would not have been convicted if the DNA evidence had been available during trial. We remand the case to the trial court for entry of a capias for the arrest and incarceration of Holloway in order that he serve the remainder of the sentence.