She also contends that the court erred by refusing to admit evidence of Lofton's prior consistent statement to rebut the State's claim of recent fabrication. Exhibits 179 and 180 show all of the calls made to or from the billed numbers. Id. She is connected to a well-known Travis County murder case through her mom, Celeste Beard, who is . 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969). She gave him money to purchase a six-pack of beer at the convenience store. 'He didnt care because he was enjoying his life. Celeste met Tracey when they were both patients at St David's, a top psychiatric hospital in Austin, where they struck up a close friendship that eventually led to an affair - something which Celeste denies. Appellant met them there and told them that Beard did not wish to see them. At the top of each column is the telephone number and a name linking the number to either appellant, Tarlton, Beard, Kristina, or Jennifer. 7.03 (West 2003). But if she still refuses to admit her guilt it is likely she will spend the rest of her life behind bars. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. 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. On the day Beard died, however, Grimm found an unfamiliar cell phone in appellant's car. The court of criminal appeals held that the indictment did not give the defendant adequate notice because it did not allege the name of the person providing the remuneration. on reh'g). The court held that the indictment did not give the defendant adequate notice of the conduct she allegedly committed pursuant to the conspiracy. Out of the jury's hearing, the court told counsel that [Lofton] is the first one on your list, and you are going to call her. Beard was released from HealthSouth on January 18, 2000. But if Celeste goes free, Steven Beard's will calls for the girls to get significantly less. See Tex.R. And because the letter was shown to be written by appellant, it was not hearsay when offered against her. Beard made plans to spend three weeks in Europe with appellant in October 1999. Appellant contends that the trial court violated her due process rights by threatening Lofton with perjury charges prior to her testimony. 'One night she came into my room and she kissed me. If money was to be paid to Appellant, the amendment did not clarify who the payer was. art. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, and thus assuming that the jury believed the State's experts and discounted the testimony of the defense experts, the evidence is clearly sufficient to support a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that Beard died as a result of the shotgun wound inflicted by Tarlton on October 2. Goodson said she counseled patience and asked appellant for more money. Bayardo identified photographs taken during the autopsy as showing large clots in Beard's pulmonary arteries. Defense counsel objected, I think you came down on this witness, you intimidated the witness The court responded, When I know that somebody is going to come in here and lie, I need to read them the riot act and let them know that whatever they've told in the past they need to get up here and tell the truth, and I'm going to have her swear on the Bible. Although the remark was crude, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by concluding that the probative value of the testimony outweighed any unfair prejudice. It is reasonable in such a case to require the State to identify the alleged payor and payee in the indictment. 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.. Kristina had a key to Tarlton's house and sometimes went there to wake up appellant when she spent the night. 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. Finding the evidence sufficient to corroborate the accomplice witness testimony, we overrule points of error four through nine. 6. Employees of the book store managed by Tarlton also knew about the relationship. Point of error thirty-six is overruled. 901(a). Tex.Code Crim. State prosecutor Gary Cobb said of Celeste's behaviour: 'She developed an insatiable thirst for more, this woman who didnt have ten dollars to spend on anything, she was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on nothing. Tarlton ultimately pleaded guilty to murder and agreed to cooperate with the State in exchange for a twenty-year sentence. Pen.Code Ann. The record reflects that the petition and decree were offered by the State, but appellant's objection was sustained and they were not admitted. She also showed Goodson Tarlton's house and automobile. She's listed. Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 678-79, 106 S.Ct. Pen.Code Ann. Later, while outpatients at Timberlawn, appellant and Tarlton met in motel rooms and their relationship became more intense. Ray said that she had never before had a sexual relationship with a woman, and she described her relationship with Tarlton as trauma bonding. Ray said that the relationship ended about one year after it began when Tarlton resumed drinking and was arrested for assault. 28.10(c). Pen.Code Ann. 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. The trust holding the bulk of Beard's assets was managed by a Dallas bank. Satterwhite opined that Beard died from septic shock resulting from the strep infection. Ex parte Ervin, 991 S.W.2d 804, 807 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). I, 10. The indictment alleged that Beard was murdered for remuneration and the promise of remuneration, namely, money and the estate of Steven Beard and the assets of a trust created by Steven Beard. See Tex. It has been held that, unless the requirements of chapter 39 were complied with, a civil deposition is inadmissible in a criminal prosecution. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. 232 (1884). 2. Beets, 767 S.W.2d at 734. Furthermore, and contrary to the specific complaints made in appellant's brief, the trial court did not deny her the opportunity to cross-examine Tarlton regarding her relationship with Ray as it related to her admission to St. David's. Montgomery v. State, 810 S.W.2d 372, 390 (Tex.Crim.App.1991) (op. art. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Johnson met Steve Beard, a 68-year-old retired TV executive, while working as a waitress at a country club in Austin, Texas in 1995. Beard was also reporting chest pain and his white blood cell levels were elevated. She had the limousine stop in a shopping center owned by Beard, entered one of the stores, and told the employees that she was now the owner and they could kiss her ass like they kissed Steve's ass.. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. These records documented thousands of calls made between May 1999 and July 2000. Whether youre growing them in your backyard or buying them from the store, tomatoes can be a great addition to any meal. I had over half a million dollars in jewellery. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. 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). Evid. When she was told that there was a medical emergency, appellant became hysterical. Appellant told Tarlton that she put sleeping pills in Beard's food and replaced his vodka with Everclear, a product that is almost pure grain alcohol. celeste is every bit the evil murderer that is portrayed. The court ruled, I will allow you to ask if she went into St. David's because of the breakup of her relationship with Zan Ray. The court also allowed appellant to cross-examine Tarlton regarding her alleged recruitment of Ray into a lesbian relationship. art. Appellant argues that the statement was not hearsay because it was consistent with Lofton's trial testimony and was offered to rebut the charge of recent fabrication. Assuming that such proof was necessary, we find that the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to supply it. See Tex.Code Crim. Under the terms of the marital agreement, appellant would have received upon divorce a relatively small settlement compared to what she was to receive under Beard's will. The other number is identified as being for appellant. Appellant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to allow her to cross-examine Tarlton and the mental health witnesses about the reasons she committed herself to St. David's, or to offer Ray's and Breaux's proffered testimony about this subject. Tarlton did not dispose of the shotgun because it was personalized and she was confident that appellant would collect the spent shell as she had promised. Instead, there is evidence linking each telephone number to the person identified. 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. She told Tarlton, [H]e's an old man, he's going to die soon but not soon enough, and I'm just going to help him along wherever I can. Tarlton recounted a night in the fall of 1999 when she received a telephone call from appellant asking her to come to appellant's house. During Celeste's trial, audio recordings of phone calls with her own daughters were played in which she admitted to hiring someone to kill Tracey, but she insists they were edited. Tarlton drove to the Beard residence shortly after 2:00 a.m. that night. A jury found appellant Celeste Beard Johnson guilty of capital murder and injury to an elderly individual. Tracey says of their time together: 'In St Davids she was vivacious, funny, she was the belle of the ball. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Appellant laughed and joked on the way to the funeral home, but her demeanor changed upon their arrival and she began to weep. Did Celeste Beard daughters inherit money? The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". I, 10; Tex.Code Crim. Appellant asserted other grounds for quashing the indictment, but she does not assert these other grounds on appeal. 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. 3. Tarlton testified that appellant commissioned a painting of herself and her daughters that hung in the Beard residence. Moreover, there is no evidence that Lofton's testimony was altered in any way by the court's admonishment. Appellant's reaction to the bank's proposal was relevant to the question of her motive. According to Lofton, Tarlton said that she called the Beard house immediately after the shooting and asked appellant to retrieve the shotgun shell. Point of error twenty-four is overruled. It was undisputed that Tarlton was arrested for assaulting Breaux, but the charge was later dismissed. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. I would be careful, you know, just to make sure that she knows she needs to tell the truth. 'It was manipulated, it was altered, they didnt even play the rest of the phone calls or the whole thing,' she says, then adds, when asked if it is her voice on the recording: 'Yes it is.'. Dr. Roberto Bayardo, the Travis County Medical Examiner, performed the autopsy on Beard's body. It was for the jury, as trier of fact, to resolve the conflicting expert opinions regarding the cause of Beard's death. Evidence rule 804 provides exceptions to the hearsay rule when the declarant is unavailable to testify. The first responders found Beard lying in bed holding his side. Because appellant's civil deposition was not hearsay when offered against her, rule 804(b)(1) was inapplicable and any noncompliance with the rule, including the incorporated requirements of chapter 39, was irrelevant. FindLaw.com Free, trusted legal information for consumers and legal professionals, SuperLawyers.com Directory of U.S. attorneys with the exclusive Super Lawyers rating, Abogado.com The #1 Spanish-language legal website for consumers, LawInfo.com Nationwide attorney directory and legal consumer resources. 'She finally asked me to shoot him and I said no what do you mean I am not going to shoot him,' says Tracey. Now, call her and sit down and start. Counsel asked if he was being ordered to call Lofton, and the court said that he was. During the Lake Charles trip, appellant told Goodson that her attorney had said it would take two pieces of evidence to indict somebody for murder, one would be the gun and the other would be Tracey [Tarlton]. Goodson remarked that Tarlton might be cooperating with the police. Black acknowledged this anomaly in the billing records and could not explain it. There, he received physical therapy preparatory to going home. Tracey fell for Celeste's lies about Steven's abusive behaviour. State v. Medrano, 67 S.W.3d 892, 901 (Tex.Crim.App.2002). ref'd) (inclusion of certain conclusions and characterizations did not render record summaries inadmissible). Tarlton also testified that she and appellant would sometimes discuss their future lives together: We went back and forth about it. Beard remained in the hospital until December 7, 1999. 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