Anthony Wilson, Jr. v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided May 15, 2018·No. 06-17-00229-CR·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED

06-17-00229-CR

SIXTH COURT OF APPEALS

TEXARKANA, TEXAS

5/15/2018 8:51 AM

DEBBIE AUTREY

CLERK

No. 06-17-0229-CR

FILED IN

6th COURT OF APPEALS

TEXARKANA, TEXAS

IN THE SIXTH COURT OF APPEALS 5/15/2018 8:51:57 AM DEBBIE AUTREY

at TEXARKANA Clerk

ANTHONY WILSON, JR., Appellant

vs.

STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

Appeal from the 102nd District Court of Bowie County, Texas

APPELLANT’S BRIEF

Troy Hornsby

Miller, James, Miller & Hornsby, L.L.P.

1725 Galleria Oaks Drive

Texarkana, Texas 75503

troy.hornsby@gmail.com

903.794.2711, f. 903.792.1276

Attorney for Appellant

Anthony Wilson, Jr.

Oral Argument Requested

IDENTITY OF PARTIES AND COUNSEL Pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.1(a), the following is a complete list of all parties to the trial court’s judgment and the names and addresses of all trial and appellate counsel:

Appellant Appellant’s appellate counsel

Anthony Wilson, Jr. Troy Hornsby Miller, James, Miller, & Hornsby, LLP 1725 Galleria Oaks Drive

Texarkana, Texas 75503

Appellant’s trial counsel

Derric McFarland

McFarland Law Office

P.O. Box 1048

Texarkana, Texas 75504-1048

Appellee Appellee's appellate counsel

State of Texas Kelley Crisp Bowie County District Attorney’s Office 601 Main Street

Texarkana, Texas 75501

Appellee's trial counsel

J. Randle Smolarz

Bowie County District Attorney’s Office 601 Main Street

Texarkana, Texas 75501

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Identity of Parties and Counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Index of Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Statement of the Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Issue Presented . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Statement of Oral Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Statement of Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Summary of the Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Sole Issue: The guilt-innocence jury charge was fundamentally defective because it directed the jury to find Wilson guilty of capital murder based upon an underlying felony murder, rather than an underlying (regular) murder, for which he was indicted. . . . 12

Preservation of Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Standard of Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Law and Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Harmful Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Certificate of Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Certificate of Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

INDEX OF AUTHORITIES

CASES: PAGE

Allen v. State, 253 S.W.3d 260, 264 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Almanza v. State, 686 S.W.2d 157 (Tex Crim. App. 1985) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,17

Brumit v. State, 206 S.W.3d 639 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Druery v. State, 225 S.W.3d 491, 504 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Garcia v. State, 149 S.W.3d 135, 144 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Hutch v. State, 922 S.W.2d 166, 172 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

King v. State, 953 S.W.2d 266 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-17

Malik v. State, 953 S.W.2d 234 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Marin v. State, 851 S.W.2d 275 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Medina v. State, 7 S.W.3d 633, 640 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Ngo v. State, 175 S.W.3d 738, 743 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Plata v. State, 926 S.W.2d 300, 302 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Reeves v. State, 420 S.W.3d 812, 818 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Selvage v. State, 680 S.W.2d 17, 20 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Starks v. State, 127 S.W.3d 127, 133 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2003, pet. dism'd) . . 12

Swearingen v. State, 270 S.W.3d 804, 808 (Tex. App.—Austin 2008, pet. ref'd) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

STATUTES/RULES: Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 36.14 (West 2007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Tex. R. App. P. 33.1(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Tex. R. App. P. 44.2(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,17 Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 19.02 (West 2011) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 19.03 (West Supp. 2016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Nature of case: This is an appeal from a conviction for capital murder in violation of Texas Penal Code section 19.03. (CR 130).

Judge/Court: Judge Bobby Lockhart in the 102nd District Court of Bowie County, Texas. (CR 130).

Pleas: Anthony Wilson, Jr. (Wilson) entered a plea of “not guilty” to the charge against him. (RR 20:11)(CR 130).

Trial disposition: The jury found Wilson guilty. (CR 90). Additionally, the jury found both the enhancement allegations true. (CR 94,96). The Court adjudicated Wilson guilty. (CR 127,130). The trial court sentenced Wilson to life without parole. (CR 130).

ISSUE PRESENTED

Sole Issue: The guilt-innocence jury charge was fundamentally defective because it directed the jury to find Wilson guilty of capital murder based upon an underlying felony murder, rather than an underlying (regular) murder, for which he was indicted.

STATEMENT OF ORAL ARGUMENT Oral argument might assist the court in determining whether the error contained in the guilt-innocence charge was egregious in light of the legal theories presented and the evidence at trial.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The State contends that four young men, Marshall Vallejos and his half-

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Anthony Wilson, Jr. v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2018).

Anthony Wilson, Jr. v. State (Anthony Wilson, Jr. v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Ngo v. State
175 S.W.3d 738 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Brumit v. State
206 S.W.3d 639 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Marin v. State
851 S.W.2d 275 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1993)
King v. State
953 S.W.2d 266 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Malik v. State
953 S.W.2d 234 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Swearingen v. State
270 S.W.3d 804 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Starks v. State
127 S.W.3d 127 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Plata v. State
926 S.W.2d 300 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Druery v. State
225 S.W.3d 491 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Allen v. State
253 S.W.3d 260 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Garcia v. State
149 S.W.3d 135 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2004)
Medina v. State
7 S.W.3d 633 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Almanza v. State
686 S.W.2d 157 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Selvage v. State
680 S.W.2d 17 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Hutch v. State
922 S.W.2d 166 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Reeves, Gary Patrick
420 S.W.3d 812 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)