Sergio Adrian Contreras v. the State of Texas

Summary

The Thirteenth Court of Appeals of Texas reviewed Sergio Adrian Contreras’s conviction for continuous sexual abuse of a child, for which he received a fifty-year prison sentence. Contreras argued that the jury charge was erroneous, the evidence was legally insufficient, the trial court improperly restricted jury questioning, and the State committed prosecutorial misconduct. The court affirmed the judgment.

Holdings

1. The jury charge was not erroneous because it required the jury to find that Contreras committed two or more acts of sexual abuse during a period of thirty days or more and tracked the statutory language of the continuous-sexual-abuse offense.
2. Assuming without deciding that the charge omitted or misstated certain culpable mental states and improperly defined penetration-related terms, Contreras was not egregiously harmed.
3. The evidence was legally sufficient for a rational jury to find that Contreras committed two or more acts of sexual abuse during a period of thirty days or more.
4. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by preventing defense counsel from repeating a question about whether prospective jurors' prior sexual-assault experiences would affect their impartiality.
5. Contreras forfeited his complaints concerning the State's testimony and closing argument because his trial objection to the testimony did not comport with his appellate complaint and he did not object to the challenged jury arguments.

Questions Presented

1. Whether unobjected-to errors in the jury charge caused egregious harm.
2. Whether the evidence was legally sufficient to prove that two or more acts of sexual abuse occurred during a period of thirty days or more.
3. Whether the trial court improperly restricted defense counsel's questioning of prospective jurors who identified themselves or close family members or friends as sexual-assault victims.
4. Whether the State committed prosecutorial misconduct through testimony and closing argument, including alleged violations of Contreras's right to a fair trial.

Disposition

affirmed