Lauro Eliud Salinas v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Ninth Court of Appeals of Texas affirmed Lauro Eliud Salinas’s conviction and fifty-year sentence for assaulting a family member by impeding breath or circulation. The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting a portion of a 911 call stating that Salinas left the scene with a gun, concluding the evidence was relevant and its probative value was not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice. The court also declined to address an additional issue raised for the first time in a later brief.

Holdings

1. An appellant generally may not raise an unrelated new issue in a reply or later brief when the issue was not included in the original brief, is not responsive to the appellee's brief, and the appellant did not obtain permission to amend or supplement the brief. The court declined to address Salinas's second issue.
2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the statement that Salinas left the scene with a gun because the statement was relevant for noncharacter purposes, including explaining the 911 call and surrounding events, and its probative value was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion under Texas Rules of Evidence 401, 403, and 404(b) by admitting the portion of the 911 call stating that Salinas left with a gun.
2. Whether Salinas could raise in a later brief a separate challenge to another statement in the 911 call when that issue was not included in his original brief and was not responsive to the State's brief.

Disposition

affirmed