MANDI JAI BALDERAS A/K/A MANDI JAI ZAPATA v. THE STATE OF TEXAS--Appeal from 329th District Court of Wharton County (Majority)

State: Texas

Court: Texas Northern District Court

Docket No: 13-11-00522-CR

Case Date: 06/28/2012

Plaintiff: MANDI JAI BALDERAS A/K/A MANDI JAI ZAPATA

Defendant: THE STATE OF TEXAS--Appeal from 329th District Court of Wharton County (Majority)

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NUMBER 13-11-00522-CR

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG


MANDI JAI BALDERAS A/K/A
MANDI JAI ZAPATA,            Appellant,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS,                Appellee.


On appeal from the 329th District Court
of Wharton County, Texas.


MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Rodriguez, Benavides, and Perkes
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Rodriguez

A jury convicted appellant Mandi Jai Balderas a/k/a Mandi Jai Zapata (Balderas) of intoxication manslaughter with a deadly weapon and assessed punishment at eight years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  See TEX. PENAL
CODE ANN. ' 49.08 (West 2011).  By three issues, Balderas complains that:  (1) the evidence was legally insufficient to support the deadly-weapon finding; (2) the trial court erred when it excluded evidence that the other driver was allegedly intoxicated at the time of the accident; and (3) the trial court erred when it admitted testimony of a trooper whose accident-reconstruction training was limited.  We affirm.
I.  BACKGROUND
At approximately 8:30 p.m. on November 1, 2009, Balderas was driving a vehicle that collided with one driven by Charles Kenneth Perry Sr.  At trial, Don Perry, Charles's uncle, testified that he and Charles were driving vehicles

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