In re Nitla S.A. de C.V.
32 S.W.3d 413 (2000)
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Rule of Law:
Under Texas Rule of Evidence 404(b), evidence of a third party's bad acts is inadmissible if its primary purpose is to prove the defendant's character and propensity to commit the charged offense. When evidence of a defendant's own extraneous acts is admitted for a limited, permissible purpose, the trial court is required to provide a limiting instruction to the jury upon request.
Facts:
- A Navarro County Sheriff's Deputy, Scott Dyson, was alerted to a possibly intoxicated driver in a Jeep Cherokee.
- The dispatcher updated Dyson that the Jeep had turned around and was now driving north in the southbound lane of Interstate Highway 45.
- Michael Castaldo was a passenger in the Jeep during these events.
- Dyson pursued the Jeep for approximately two and a half miles, during which other vehicles, including eighteen-wheelers, had to swerve to avoid collisions.
- After the vehicle was stopped, Dyson smelled burnt marihuana and alcohol coming from the Jeep.
- A search of the vehicle revealed 0.94 grams of marihuana in the center console and 0.01 grams of marihuana on the passenger-side floorboard.
- Officers at the scene observed that Castaldo had bloodshot eyes, smelled of alcohol, and appeared unfocused.
- The driver was arrested for driving while intoxicated and possession of marihuana, while Castaldo was arrested for possession of marihuana.
Procedural Posture:
- Michael Castaldo was charged with possession of marihuana and tried in a Texas trial court.
- Prior to trial, Castaldo moved to exclude evidence of the driver's conduct and his own intoxication under Texas Rule of Evidence 404(b).
- The trial court denied the motion as to the driver's conduct, deeming it 'background evidence,' but initially granted it as to Castaldo's intoxication.
- During trial, the court overruled Castaldo's objections to testimony about the driver's dangerous driving and deferred his request for a limiting instruction.
- The court later reversed its earlier ruling and admitted evidence of Castaldo's intoxication, giving a verbal limiting instruction at the time the evidence was presented.
- At the charge conference, the court refused Castaldo's request to include a written limiting instruction in the final jury charge regarding the extraneous-act evidence.
- The jury returned a verdict of guilty.
- Castaldo appealed his conviction to the Texas Court of Appeals, Tenth District, at Waco.
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Issue:
Does the admission of evidence of a driver's reckless and criminal conduct violate Texas Rule of Evidence 404(b) when used against the passenger-defendant, and must the trial court provide a written limiting instruction upon request when admitting evidence of the defendant's own intoxication for a limited purpose?
Opinions:
Majority - Justice Bill Vance
Yes. The trial court committed two reversible errors: first, by improperly admitting evidence of the driver's dangerous conduct in violation of Rule 404(b), and second, by failing to provide a requested limiting instruction in the jury charge regarding evidence of Castaldo's own intoxication. The rule against character evidence applies to a third party's actions if they are offered to prove the defendant's character by association and propensity to commit the crime. Furthermore, when evidence is admitted for a limited purpose under a Rule 404(b) exception, Rule 105(a) mandates that a court provide a limiting instruction upon request. Here, the evidence of the driver's actions was not necessary to understand the marijuana charge and served only to suggest Castaldo's guilt through association, which is an impermissible character-conformity inference. The failure to provide a written limiting instruction for the evidence of Castaldo's own intoxication allowed the jury to consider it as general evidence of guilt, which was prejudicial and constituted harmful error.
Concurring-in-part-and-dissenting-in-part - Justice Tom Gray
Partially yes and partially no. The conviction should be reversed due to the failure to provide a limiting instruction, but Rule 404(b) does not apply to the acts of a third party. The purpose of Rule 404(b) is to prevent a jury from convicting a defendant based on their own prior bad acts, not the acts of another person. When the extraneous act was not committed by the defendant, it does not logically tend to show the defendant has a criminal disposition. Therefore, the majority's extensive analysis applying Rule 404(b) to the driver's conduct is incorrect and was unnecessary for the disposition of the appeal. However, I concur in the judgment because the trial court's failure to give the jury a limiting instruction concerning the evidence of Castaldo's own intoxication was a reversible error that independently requires a new trial.
Analysis:
This decision significantly clarifies the scope of Texas Rule of Evidence 404(b), extending its protection to defendants against character evidence derived from the acts of third parties. By prohibiting 'guilt by association' inferences, the court reinforces the principle that a defendant must be tried for their own conduct, not for the company they keep. The ruling also underscores the mandatory nature of Rule 105(a), solidifying that a trial court's failure to provide a requested limiting instruction for extraneous-act evidence is not discretionary and can constitute reversible error. This strengthens procedural safeguards for criminal defendants by ensuring juries are properly guided on the limited and specific purposes for which such prejudicial evidence can be considered.
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