The attending physician, who was not Dr. Coscia, recorded the cause of death as septic shock. Appellant tried without success to hide these payments. 402, 403. 351. Appellant's efforts to impede the investigation of Beard's shooting, and her attempts to first protect Tarlton and then to kill her, also tend to connect appellant to the offense. I felt sorry for her, she couldnt even tie her own shoes she was so medicated. she was just a greedy golddigger who married steve for money and nothing else and that is one fact that cannot be disputed. Tarlton also described this incident outside the jury's presence. Ann. Millholland testified that Tarlton was difficult to work with because she was untruthful at counseling sessions. I had over half a million dollars in jewellery. The spreadsheets were introduced pursuant to evidence rule 1006, which provides that the contents of voluminous writings, otherwise admissible, that cannot conveniently be examined in court may be presented in the form of a chart or summary. The inferential requirements of article I, section 10 of the Texas Constitution were abolished by the adoption of article V, section 12(b), which provides that the practice and procedures relating to indictments, including amendment, are as provided by law. Studer v. State, 799 S.W.2d 263, 272 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). Id. Point of error three is overruled. Beard's wife of forty-two years, who was seriously ill when he met appellant, died in October of that year. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. art. Tracy was an ignorant pawn in her game. After Beard died, appellant told her daughters and their boyfriends that Beard's dying wish was that they not cooperate with the police investigation. A conviction cannot be had upon the testimony of an accomplice unless the testimony is corroborated by other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the offense. The circumstantial evidence therefore supports the identification of this number with appellant. Appellant relies on the opinion in Wheatfall v. State, 882 S.W.2d 829, 839 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. During October 1999 through January 2000, the four months following the shooting, appellant ran up expenses of more than $700,000 which were presented to the trustee of Beard's trust for payment. Ninety-four calls totaling 389 minutes were made between these phones from October 2, 1999, through January 26, 2000. Celeste Beard, 53, has spent 14 years behind bars in Texas after she was given a life sentence for manipulating her former lesbian lover into shooting her fourth husband, 70-year-oldTV tycoon Steven Beard. There are no entries in the spreadsheets for calls from a land line number to a cell phone number. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Janecka was a murder for hire case. This inference is also supported by evidence that by April 2000, the twins were estranged from appellant and no longer lived or communicated with her. Each line in the spreadsheets shows an incoming call to or outgoing call from one of the sixteen phone numbers, with its date, time, and duration. At the end of the trial, Celeste Beard was convicted of capital murder. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible if it is relevant only to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith, but it may be admissible for some other purpose. There is no dispute that the requisites of rule 1006 were facially satisfied: the phone records were voluminous, admissible, and made available to appellant for examination and copying. Tracey Tarlton In 1999, as People reports, retired television executive Steven Beard was shot in the stomach by a shotgun. See Wilson v. State, 7 S.W.3d 136, 140-41 (Tex.Crim.App.1999); Torres, 794 S.W.2d at 598-99. In that case, the State introduced a purported summary of the defendant's violent criminal history for which there was no supporting documentation. Instead, there is evidence linking each telephone number to the person identified. Tex.R. At the same time, it is obvious from reading the amended indictment that appellant was the person to whom the alleged remuneration was to be paid. Tarlton helped appellant move Beard to the floor, then appellant placed a plastic trash bag over his head in an unsuccessful attempt to asphyxiate him. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. 19.03(a)(3). 'I was shocked and resistant but it became more and more pressing for her and she became more and more threatening about it and I finally thought if he doesnt die shes going to die. Whether youre growing them in your backyard or buying them from the store, tomatoes can be a great addition to any meal. 38.14 (West 1995). Tarlton testified that appellant commissioned a painting of herself and her daughters that hung in the Beard residence. Goodson testified that upon her return, appellant told her that the bank was going to put her on a budget and limit her withdrawals from the trust. While this contact with the accomplice may not, in itself, be sufficient to corroborate Tarlton's testimony, it is corroborative when considered in light of the other evidence. At the same time, a trial court has discretion with respect to the extent of cross-examination and the admission of evidence generally, and its decision will not be disturbed absent a clear abuse of discretion. Proc. Later that day, appellant, who did not know that they had already done so, instructed Kristina, Jennifer, and their boyfriends not to mention Tarlton to the police. Tarlton told Lofton that she loved appellant but appellant did not love her, and that appellant wasn't going to live happily ever after while she rot[s] in jail.. The State was permitted to offer evidence that Beard filed for divorce less than a year after marrying appellant, only to withdraw the petition two months later. Breaux got out of the car and, as he walked toward the store, Tarlton struck him with her car, leaving him with a deep thigh bruise but no serious injury. In July 1999, appellant hosted a party for the store's employees at the Beard lake house. They arrived at the Beard house at about 11:00 p.m. Grimm often spent the night at the Beard house with appellant's knowledge and permission, but appellant had told him earlier that he could not stay that night. See Tex.R.App. Thus, argues the State, the letter was relevant to show appellant's consciousness of guilt. Gonzalez v. State, 8 S.W.3d 640, 643 (Tex.Crim.App.2000). Point of error twenty-three is overruled. Their marriage drew raised eyebrows not only from the community, but also from Celeste's twin daughters, Kristina and Jennifer, who said their mother married Beard only because of his money. 19.03(a)(3), 22.04(a)(1) (West Supp.2005). See Ex parte Thompson, 179 S.W.3d 549, 555-57 (Tex.Crim.App.2005) (construing penal code sections 7.02(a)(2) and 7.03). We also find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's refusal to permit evidence of the Breaux incident. Const. Tarlton ultimately pleaded guilty to murder and agreed to cooperate with the State in exchange for a twenty-year sentence. Applying the relevant standards of review, we find that the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to support a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that Tarlton murdered Beard for remuneration. Appellant cites Janecka v. State, a capital murder case in which the indictment alleged that the defendant committed the murder for remuneration and the promise of remuneration, namely, money. 739 S.W.2d 813, 816 (Tex.Crim.App.1987). See Tex. These witnesses were permitted to testify to their professional assessments of Tarlton's mental health, but appellant was not allowed to question them about statements Tarlton made to them regarding the Breaux incident. In her brief, appellant makes no effort to explain how this evidence had the potential to impress the jury in some irrational way so as to render it more prejudicial than probative. Perhaps it was their love of construction that brought them together. Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1, 9 (Tex.Crim.App.2000). Evidence rule 804 provides exceptions to the hearsay rule when the declarant is unavailable to testify.
the defense argued that tracey was crazy and a pathological liar and should not be trusted but the same could also be said for celeste. Most of Beard's assets, which at one time totaled over seven million dollars, were held in a revocable trust. In 2017, Celeste's daughter, Jennifer, was wounded . He agreed with Miller's diagnosis of bipolar psychosis. Although the secret phone belonged to Tarlton, there was testimony that it was regularly seen at the Beard house and in appellant's possession. Tarlton said that she and appellant remained in contact during the weeks following the shooting. Id. Appellant also cites Lindsay v. State, in which the defendant was indicted for conspiring to commit capital murder for remuneration. Evid. The evidence shows that appellant was unhappy in her marriage and often expressed the wish that Beard would die. Contact us. Bayardo's autopsy report stated that the cause of Beard's death was pulmonary embolism and bronchopneumonia with sepsis, as a complication of the shotgun wound. See U.S. Const. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". I, 10. The term remuneration as used in section 19.03(a)(3) encompasses a broad range of situations, including compensation for loss or suffering and the idea of a reward given or received because of some act. Beets v. State, 767 S.W.2d 711, 734 (Tex.Crim.App.1988) (op. Appellant subsequently tendered a DVD containing the recording. She further argues that because of the misleading nature of the spreadsheets, their admission violated rule 403. The teenagers naturally accepted the offer. Appellant called three experts to testify regarding Tarlton's mental status: Susan Millholland, a counselor who conducted individual therapy sessions with Tarlton while she was at Timberlawn in March 1999; Dr. Howard Miller, a psychiatrist who was Tarlton's attending physician at Timberlawn; and Dr. Jerome Brown, a clinical psychologist who had studied Tarlton's medical records dating from September 1998 but had never treated her. She told Tarlton that Beard was already in bed asleep, and assured her that the house would be unlocked and the security system would be off. She then walked into the bedroom, shot Beard in the stomach, returned to her car, and drove away. Hurtado v. California, 110 U.S. 516, 520 & 538, 4 S.Ct. Tarlton called appellant in June 2000 after not hearing from her for three weeks. I was attracted to her energy. Several witnesses, including appellant's daughters Kristina and Jennifer, testified that appellant made no secret of her dislike for Beard. Appellant was photographed at the party sitting in Tarlton's lap, and other party-goers testified to seeing appellant and Tarlton kissing and holding hands. She parked near the girls' bedroom and entered the house through an unlocked door near Beard's bedroom. If money was to be paid by Appellant, it did not clarify who was to receive it. I'm pretty angry. Lofton indicated that she did not understand the basis for the court's anger. In the facility, Johnson befriends fellow patient Tracey Tarlton the woman who would later be convicted for playing a role in Steves murder. The doors of the house appeared to be unlocked. The exhibits reflect no activity for this number until April 2000, well after the critical time period in this cause. When a call was made from one number on the spreadsheet to another, the line shows both the outgoing call from the first number and the corresponding incoming call to the second number. at 98, 93 S.Ct. Id. Appellant told Tarlton that she dreaded the trip and feared that Beard's emotional abuse would cause her to kill herself while on the trip. Celeste will be eligible for parole in 2046, by which time she will be 83. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Doose and Grimm testified that they, together with Kristina and Jennifer, were present when appellant had an emotional breakdown about two weeks after Beard died. P. 44.2(b). Between August 29 and October 1, 1999, ninety-eight calls totaling 336 minutes were made between these phones, including eight calls totaling fifteen minutes on the day of the shooting. If he got mad at me about spending too much money, it didnt last very long.'. An antibiotic was ordered but was not administered until 1:00 p.m. They also described how appellant would give Beard sleeping pills instead of his other medications. See U.S. Const. The last cell phone number billed to Beard, shown in the spreadsheets as being used by appellant, was not identified by any witness. Evid. Tarlton knew that Beard was a wealthy man, and the jury could reasonably infer that she knew that appellant was the primary beneficiary under Beard's will. That said, this was not justice, the real killer of this man will hit the streets in ten years, not a comforting thought and not justice. According to Lofton, Tarlton said that she called the Beard house immediately after the shooting and asked appellant to retrieve the shotgun shell. The evidence will be deemed factually insufficient to sustain the conviction if the proof of guilt is too weak or the contrary evidence is too strong to support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To murder and agreed to cooperate with the State, the State introduced a purported summary of house! 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