Xavier Perez v. State


NUMBER 13-17-00650-CR COURT OF APPEALS THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG XAVIER PEREZ, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee. On appeal from the 445th District Court of Cameron County, Texas. MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Hinojosa and Tijerina Memorandum Opinion by Justice Hinojosa A jury convicted appellant Xavier Perez of six offenses: Counts 1 and 2 were for sexual assault, a second-degree felony; Count 3 was for prohibited sexual conduct, a third-degree felony; Count 4 was for continuous sexual abuse of a minor, a first-degree felony; Count 5 was for indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony; and Count 6 was for sexual assault of a child, a second-degree felony. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. §§ 21.02; 21.11(a)(1); 22.011(a)(2), 25.02. By five issues, Perez contends the trial court abused its discretion when it: (1) consolidated two indictments concerning separate complainants, his stepdaughters L.S. and M.S. 1; (2) granted a motion in limine; (3) admitted evidence regarding extraneous bad acts; and (4) denied his motion to suppress. Perez also contends he (5) received ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND A. The Indictment The State initially filed two indictments against Perez, one for each of the complainants. The indictment in trial court cause number 2016-DCR-02078 listed the offenses against his stepdaughter L.S. and encompassed three counts. Count 1 alleged Perez committed sexual assault by causing the sexual organ of L.S. to contact Perez’s sexual organ without L.S.’s consent. See id. §§ 22.011(a)(1)(C). Count 2 alleged Perez committed sexual assault by causing the penetration of the mouth of L.S. with Perez’s sexual organ, without L.S.’s consent. See id. § 22.011(a)(1)(B). Count 3 alleged Perez engaged in sexual intercourse with L.S., a person he knew to be his stepdaughter. Id. § 25.02. The indictment in trial court cause number 2016-DCR-02079, listing the offenses against M.S., also had three counts. Count 4 alleged that, during a period that was thirty or more days in duration, when Perez was seventeen years of age or older, he committed 1We use initials to protect the identity of complainants in sexual assault cases. See Salazar v. State, 562 S.W.3d 61, 63 n.1 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi–Edinburg 2018, no pet.). 2 two or more acts of sexual abuse against M.S., a child younger than fourteen years of age, by touching her genitals and/or knowingly causing his sexual organ to contact M.S.’s sexual organ. See id. § 21.02. Count 5 alleged that Perez touched the breast of M.S., a child then younger than seventeen years of age. See id. § 21.11(a)(1). And Count 6 alleged that Perez intentionally or knowingly caused the sexual organ of M.S., a child younger than seventeen years of age, to contact the sexual organ of Perez. See id. § 22.011(a)(2). The State filed a motion to consolidate the indictments, which the trial court granted without hearing. Perez later filed a motion to sever the cases, which the trial court denied. The State ultimately tried the charges ...

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