Anzaldua v. State

502 S.W.2d 19, 1973 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 2083
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 5, 1973
Docket47378
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 502 S.W.2d 19 (Anzaldua v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anzaldua v. State, 502 S.W.2d 19, 1973 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 2083 (Tex. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

REYNOLDS, Commissioner.

The conviction for assault with intent to murder with malice for which punishment was assessed at twelve years’ confinement following a jury trial is affirmed.

A consideration of the points of error requires a statement of the facts. Appellant Jesus Anzaldua and the prosecutrix, Yolanda Anzaldua, were husband and wife. They had been married approximately five years and lived in Brownsville. While attending a dance, they began a discussion concerning appellant’s contention that the prosecutrix had spoiled their young son. Since they were attracting the attention of other people, prosecutrix suggested they return home to continue the discussion. Although prosecutrix was of the opinion that appellant would kill her when they arrived home because he had said so many times before and once had pointed a gun at her, she did not seek assistance. Arriving home, the prosecutrix sat in a chair next to the front door; the appellant proceeded into the adjoining bedroom where he secured and loaded a .410 gauge shotgun with three shells and placed it on or near the bed. Present also were prosecutrix’s brother, Manuel Villanueva, an uncle of prosecutrix, Felipe Mendoza, a sister of prosecutrix, Eva Villanueva, and her two children, all of whom lived in the same house with appellant and prosecutrix, as well as their two young children.

Prosecutrix arose to go into the bedroom for cigarettes. Appellant was standing in the doorway. Prosecutrix took two steps; appellant turned, picked up the shotgun and, while holding it next to his hip, fired. *21 The pellets struck the prosecutrix in her lower abdomen, the entrance wound being an inch and a half to two inches in diameter and indicating she was shot from close range. The discharged pellets penetrated all layers of the abdominal wall, entered and passed through the abdominal cavity where some pellets were found, and lodged under the skin of the right buttock. The pellets nearly destroyed the beginning of the colon or large intestine and a segment of the small intestine. Prosecutrix has undergone two operations. During the first operation, the entire right colon and several feet of the small intestine were removed. A second operation by entry through the right buttock was required to remove a disc of bone, considerable shot and piece or two of clothing from prosecutrix’s body. The prosecutrix suffers from diarrhea and an occasional difficulty in walking, but the attending physician foresees no permanent difficulty except for some psychic damage.

Manuel Villanueva took the shotgun from appellant as he was trying to “load the shotgun again.” Manuel Villanueva then left appellant with Felipe Mendoza, picked up prosecutrix from where she had fallen, went outside and, with the assistance of a passing motorist, took prosecu-trix to a hospital. Manuel Villanueva had been present some two weeks earlier when appellant pointed the shotgun at the prose-cutrix during an argument and, at that time, Manuel Villanueva took the shotgun from appellant.

A police officer, responding to a radio report of the shooting, arrived, arrested appellant and took him and the shotgun to the police station. It was shown that the shotgun contained a spent casing in the chamber and two live shells in the magazine, and, once fired, the spent casing had to be manually ejected before the shotgun would fire again.

Detective Marks of the Brownsville Police Department escorted appellant to an office. There Sergeant Marks asked appellant if, and received from appellant an affirmative answer that, he knew his constitutional rights. From a printed form, Marks then read to appellant his constitutional rights in both the English and Spanish languages. Acknowledging that he understood and waived his rights, appellant made a statement in Spanish. Marks translated the statement and reduced it to writing in English. Marks identified himself as a Mexican-American who was fluent in both the Spanish and English languages. Appellant signed the statement.

The statement was received in evidence over the only objection that it was not in the same language in which it was given and there was no certification that the statement was a true and correct translation. The statement was brief. In essence it was that appellant, who “got very upset” when prosecutrix wanted to go home early from the dance, and “was still very mad at Yolanda” when he got home, loaded the shotgun with three shells and, when the prosecutrix started walking toward him, he “fired the shotgun.”

The appellant testified, using the English language. He maintained it was his intent only to scare the prosecutrix, as he had intended to scare her on the former occasion when he pointed the shotgun at her. ' He was surprised when “the gun went off” and it was not his intention to shoot her.

The trial court charged the jury on the elements of assault with intent to murder, both with and without malice, and on aggravated assault, the issue of intent and the defense of accident.

Initially, appellant presents as reversible error the failure of the court to respond to his objection to the charge for failure to include the lesser offense of simple assault. The thrust of his argument is that his testimony that he intended only to scare, and not kill, the prosecutrix, and that the shotgun was fired accidentally, justified and entitled him to a charge on simple assault. We do not agree.

*22 A charge on simple assault is required only when the instrument used is not a deadly weapon per se. Where a deadly weapon is the means used to inflict a serious injury, a charge on simple assault is not appropriate, even though the defendant testifies the injury was accidentally inflicted without any intent to injure. Blanton v. State, 144 Tex.Cr.R. 198, 161 S.W.2d 1063 (Tex.Cr.App.1942); cf. Schulz v. State, 446 S.W.2d 872 (Tex.Cr.App.1969). In the case at bar, the shotgun fired by appellant was a deadly weapon per se and the injury suffered by the prosecutrix was of a serious nature, and a charge on simple assault was not justified. The first ground is overruled.

Secondly, appellant contends prejudicial hearsay was permitted before the jury. The prosecutrix testified over objection that her sister, Eva Villanueva, later told prosecutrix she had seen appellant loading the shotgun prior to the shooting. Although hearsay, we perceive no prejudicial error. Both the prosecutrix and Eva Villanueva personally testified to, and were cross-examined in detail concerning, what each had observed, which was the same act appellant testified he performed.

The other incident concerned the testimony of the legal aid attorney who filed prosecutrix’s divorce suit against appellant. Appellant introduced the divorce petition, which contained no pleading or prayer for a restraining order against appellant, ostensibly to demonstrate prosecu-trix’s appraisal of appellant’s non-violent nature. In rebuttal, the state produced the attorney as a witness. He testified that the divorce petition was prepared by, and from facts given by prosecutrix to, his office staff and, “When I was given.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
502 S.W.2d 19, 1973 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 2083, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anzaldua-v-state-texcrimapp-1973.