Artavious Deon Hollins v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 27, 2015·No. 01-14-00744-CR·Published

Opinion

Opinion issued August 27, 2015

In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury found appellant, Artavious Deon Hollins, guilty of the offenses of murder 1 and tampering with physical evidence.2 After finding true the allegations in two enhancement paragraphs in each indictment that appellant had been twice previously convicted of felony offenses, the jury assessed his punishment at confinement for life for the offense of murder and twenty-five years for the offense of tampering with physical evidence. The trial court ordered that the sentences run concurrently, and it entered an affirmative finding that appellant used a deadly weapon in the commission of the offense of murder. In three issues, appellant contends that the evidence is legally insufficient to support his convictions and the trial court erred in admitting certain testimony.

We affirm.

Background

Tranea Jones testified that when she awoke in her apartment on the morning of November 5, 2011, she heard the complainant, who lived in a nearby apartment building, outside “laughing, drinking, and talking with ‘Shae,’” her neighbor. Appellant, who lived in the apartment below her, then came out of his apartment,

and he and the complainant “started yelling comments at each other.” This 1 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.02 (Vernon 2011); appellate cause no. 01-14-

00744-CR; trial court cause no. 1326112.

2 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 37.09(a)(1) (Vernon Supp. 2014); appellate cause no. 01-14-00745-CR; trial court cause no. 1383738.

behavior continued off and on throughout the day. Eventually, Jones’s boyfriend, Andre Lewis, who lived with her, went downstairs to appellant’s apartment to diffuse the situation. Jones, who had followed Lewis, heard appellant, who was standing inside his apartment with the front door open, tell the complainant and Lewis to “come on” and “come in,” “like he was going to use it for self-defense.” Jones then saw the complainant walk into appellant’s apartment, where he began “tussling” with appellant. Jones explained that although neither appellant nor Lewis had a weapon, appellant “pulled a gun,” which was “chrome” and “pink,” from “behind his back,” “cock[ed] it,” and said, “Man, you up in my house.” Jones then saw the complainant attempt to take the gun from appellant, heard a “pop and click,” and then saw the complainant come back outside and fall to the ground. Jones “didn’t think” that appellant realized that he had shot the complainant until he came out and saw him. The complainant then said, “It didn’t have to go like this.” Appellant, who was in a white shirt and black hat, then locked his apartment door and “ran off.”

Jones further explained that about a week before the shooting, appellant had begun quarreling with his neighbors. On one occasion, two of her neighbors, “Shae” and another neighbor, had thrown “wood boards and rocks” through appellant’s apartment windows. And they had kicked his door, trying to “lure”

appellant outside. Jones recalled having seen a footprint on appellant’s door thereafter.

Lewis testified that about a week before the shooting, he had intervened in a disagreement between appellant and Jones and Shae. Appellant told Lewis that he was “going to call his people.” And, thirty minutes later, when “cars started pulling up” into the apartment complex, Lewis, believing that his life was in danger, went to his apartment and put his “pistol” in his pocket. After “the cars” left the apartment complex without incident, Lewis went to appellant, who was standing outside, and told him to go back in his apartment and leave Jones and Shae alone. Lewis explained that he had exhibited his handgun as he talked with appellant. At about 8:30 or 9:00 p.m., Shae’s boyfriend, “D,” arrived and “bang[ed]” on appellant’s door, trying to get him to come outside. Lewis then heard appellant open his door, exchange words with D, and then close the door. Lewis then heard D, who was wearing Nike “Air Force 1” athletic shoes, kick appellant’s door. D also picked up a “log” and threw it through appellant’s “patio window.” After appellant did not open the door, D left.

On November 5, 2011, when Lewis heard appellant and the complainant arguing, he went downstairs to intervene. Lewis did not have his handgun with him at the time, and the complainant did not have a weapon. When appellant “invited” Lewis and the complainant into his apartment, Lewis thought that

appellant wanted to talk. As soon as they were inside, however, appellant said, “You in my house,” and he pulled a “pink and chrome” handgun from his back, “cock[ed] it,” and began running at them. After appellant hit the complainant’s face with the handgun, the complainant “grabbed” either the handgun or appellant’s “wrist” or “hand.” The “gun went off,” and the complainant ran out of the apartment and fell to the ground. Appellant then picked up the handgun, locked his door, and “took off.”

Rafael Narvaez testified that on November 5, 2011, appellant came into his second-hand clothing store and purchased a pair of shorts, a shirt, and tennis shoes. Appellant changed into his new clothes and paid Narvaez for a ride to a nearby shopping center.

Houston Police Department (“HPD”) Officer C. Castellani testified that on November 5, 2011, he was dispatched to investigate the shooting of the complainant. He received a description of the suspect as a “black male wearing a white shirt [and] black hat.” When he arrived at the scene of the shooting, Castellani learned that HPD officers had found, about a “tenth of a mile” away from the scene, a “white button down shirt” and black baseball cap in a ditch next to a building.

HPD Officer M. Barnette, assigned to HPD’s canine unit, testified that he was dispatched to the scene of the shooting to locate appellant, who had fled. His

dog found, under a bush “30 feet” from the hat and shirt, a “pink Palmer frame pistol with a black slide.”

HPD Officer A. Holmes testified that when he arrived at the scene at around 5:15 p.m., about two hours after the shooting, he found a “muddy” print of a right shoe on the front door of appellant’s apartment. He noted that there was “no mud in the area” and the “footprint was dry.” Although the print matched that of the sole of the complainant’s right shoe, which was a Nike “Air Jordan” athletic shoe, it was also consistent with that of a Nike “Air Force 1” athletic shoe. Holmes further identified the recovered firearm as a “semi-automatic 9 millimeter pistol.” And he noted that a “spent casing was found in the chamber.”

S. Doyle, M.D., a medical examiner at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, testified that her autopsy of the complainant’s body revealed that a bullet entered the left side of his chest under his armpit and exited on the right side of his chest. The cause of his death was a “gunshot wound to the torso.” And, based on the wounds inflicted, she opined that the complainant was shot at close range, meaning from “less than three feet away.”

Appellant testified that the week before the shooting, he had a disagreement with his neighbor, Shae, because she, without his permission, had given his telephone number to Jones. Appellant explained that Jones’s boyfriend, Lewis, was “extremely crazy jealous.” While appellant was arguing with Shae, Jones

walked up. Appellant then ended the discussion and went into his apartment. Later that day, Lewis questioned appellant about the argument, “act[ed] like he want[ed] to fight,” and “displayed his little handgun.”

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