Alex v. State

930 S.W.2d 787, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 3846, 1996 WL 490450
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 28, 1996
DocketNo. 12-96-00032-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 930 S.W.2d 787 (Alex v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alex v. State, 930 S.W.2d 787, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 3846, 1996 WL 490450 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

HOLCOMB, Justice.

Algreen Alex, Jr. (“Appellant”) appeals Ms conviction for the murder of Shemoka Lynn Williams. The jury assessed Appellant’s punishment at thirty years’ imprisonment. We will affirm.

In Ms first and second points of error, Appellant contends that the evidence adduced at trial was neither legally nor factually sufficient to support the jury’s finding of guilt. Specifically, Appellant argues that the shootmg was an accident and that the evidence is insufficient to prove that he intentionally or knowingly shot the victim. We disagree.

When an appellant challenges both the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence, an appellate court must first determine whether evidence adduced at trial was legally sufficient to support the verdict. Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 130 (Tex.Cr. App.1996). The standard for reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence is “whether, after reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). See also Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154, 157 (Tex.Cr.App.1991); Richardson v. State, 879 S.W.2d 874, 879 (Tex.Cr.App.1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 741, 130 L.Ed.2d 643 (1995). An appellate court should uphold the jury’s verdict “unless it is found to be irrational or unsupported by more than a mere modicum of evidence.” Moreno v. State, 755 S.W.2d 866, 867 (Tex. Cr.App.1988).

After an appellate court determines that the evidence is legally sufficient to support the verdict under the Jackson standard, the court may then proceed to review factual sufficiency. Clewis, 922 S.W.2d at 130. In conducting a factual sufficiency review, tMs Court must view all the evidence impartially and “set aside the verdict only if it is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence as to be clearly wrong and unjust.” Clewis, 922 S.W.2d at 130-31; Stone v. State, 823 S.W.2d 375 (Tex.App.—Austin 1992, pet. ref'd, untimely filed).

In a circumstantial evidence case, it is not necessary that every fact point directly and independently to the guilt of the accused. The cumulative force of all the incriminating circumstances may be sufficient to warrant a conclusion of guilt. Beardsley v. State, 738 S.W.2d 681 (Tex.Cr.App.1987). Circumstantial evidence cases have no different standard of review than those cases supported by direct evidence. Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154, 158 (Tex.Cr.App.1991).

A person commits the offense of murder if he intentionally or knowmgly causes the death of an individual. TexJPenal Code Ann. § 19.02(b) (Vernon 1994). In order to convict a person of an offense, the State must prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. TexPenal Code Ann. § 2.01 (Vernon 1994).

On February 4, 1995, Appellant and Ms wife,1 Shemoka Lynn Williams (“Shemoka”), visited Appellant’s grandmother. Appellant and Shemoka drove mto the yard. Appellant’s brother, Albert, approached them. Appellant and Shemoka were arguing, as they had been earlier in the day. Shemoka said that she was tired of Appellant threatening her. Shemoka was sittmg in the driver’s seat of the car with one foot in the car and one foot out of the car. While they were argumg, Appellant went to the trunk of the car and got out his shotgun. Appellant walked to the driver’s side of the veMcle. Because Appellant and Shemoka were still [790]*790arguing, Albert turned away and started to walk around the house. When Appellant’s gun went off, Albert turned back around and saw the gun in Appellant’s hands.

At trial, both Dr. James Repasky, a treating physician, and Donald Wiggins, an investigator with the Rusk County Sheriffs Department, recounted a dying declaration made by Shemoka. In the presence of both Repasky and Wiggins, Shemoka stated that she had been shot by her husband, and that the shooting was not an accident. When Wiggins specifically asked if the shooting was accidental or on purpose, Shemoka stated that Appellant shot her on purpose.

Dr. Charles Odom, a medical examiner from the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office, performed an autopsy on Shemoka. He testified that a gunshot wound to Shemo-ka’s shoulder was the cause of her death. The slug’s entry point was located at the top of Shemoka’s shoulder. The slug traveled top to bottom, and slightly front to back, before it exited through Shemoka’s armpit. In addition to his observations regarding the slug path, Dr. Odom testified that there was stippling around the entry wound. Stippling consists of small abrasions on the skin that are caused by minute particles of dirt or gunpowder that strike the skin. Stippling aids medical examiners in determining how close a muzzle was to the skin when fired. No stippling occurs at all if the gun is more than three feet from the skin when fired.

Reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude that a rational jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant intentionally or knowingly caused the death of Shemoka. Appellant and Shemoka had been arguing all afternoon. Appellant’s own brother testified that Appellant told Shemo-ka he was “tired of her shit.” Immediately after the gunshot, Appellant was holding the weapon. The forensic evidence suggests that Shemoka was shot at close range and at an angle inconsistent with an accidental shooting. Because there is more than a mere modicum of evidence of Appellant’s guilt, we hold the evidence is legally sufficient to support the jury’s verdict. We therefore overrule Appellant’s first point of error.

Having determined the evidence was legally sufficient, this Court now reviews all of the evidence impartially to ascertain whether the verdict was clearly wrong or unjust. In addition to the statements of Albert Alex recounted above, Albert also gave a statement soon after the shooting. Albert originally told Investigator Wiggins that when he turned around immediately after hearing the shot, Appellant was not holding the weapon, but the weapon was laying on the ground. In a subsequent interview with Wiggins, Albert changed his story saying that Appellant was holding the gun. Albert also testified that he attended special education classes, that he has been tested by psychologists, that he is crazy, and that he receives federal disability payments of $850.00 per month.

Although Albert’s testimony is possibly unreliable and inconsistent regarding the events of February 4, 1995, Albert’s testimony is not the only evidence relating to Appellant’s intent. Dr. Odom testified that the angle of the slug’s path was top to bottom, and front to back. Both this angle and the stippling are inconsistent with Appellant’s assertion that the gun went off when he accidentally dropped it.

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Bluebook (online)
930 S.W.2d 787, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 3846, 1996 WL 490450, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alex-v-state-texapp-1996.