Banks v. State

530 S.W.2d 940, 1975 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1195
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 17, 1975
Docket50167
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 530 S.W.2d 940 (Banks 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
Banks v. State, 530 S.W.2d 940, 1975 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1195 (Tex. 1975).

Opinions

OPINION

ODOM, Judge.

The conviction was for the offense of aggravated rape alleged to have occurred on or about October 4, 1974. The jury assessed punishment at twenty years.

The first ground of error contends that appellant was denied due process of law in that his indictment fails to allege all the elements of the offense for which he was convicted.

The indictment contained two counts. The first sought to allege rape (V.T.C.A. Penal Code, Sec. 21.02); the second, aggravated rape (V.T.C.A. Penal Code, Sec. 21.-03). The charging part of the second count, upon which appellant’s conviction rests, states that appellant did

“intentionally and knowingly by threats, that would prevent resistance by a woman of ordinary resolution, compel M_E_S_, a female not his wife, to submit to sexual intercourse without her consent; and the said James Lee Banks did then and there intentionally and knowingly compel M_E. S_to submit to sexual intercourse by threat of death to be imminently inflicted on M_ E. S-against the peace and dignity of the State.”

V.T.C.A. Penal Code, Sec. 21.03, provides in pertinent part:

“(a) A person commits an offense if he commits rape as defined in Section 21.02 of this code . . . and he .
“(2) compels submission to the rape by threat of death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping to be imminently inflicted on anyone. . . . ”

Section 21.03(a)(2) is sufficiently alleged in the indictment. The determination whether Sec. 21.03(a) is sufficiently alleged must rest upon an examination of Sec. 21.02, to which Sec. 21.03 alludes. Section 21.02 provides in pertinent part:

“(a) A person commits an offense if he has sexual intercourse with a female not his wife without the female’s consent.
“(b) The intercourse is without the female’s consent under one or more of the following circumstances:
“(2) he compels her to submit or participate by any threat that would prevent resistance by a woman of ordinary resolution . .

Section 21.02(b)(2) is sufficiently alleged in the indictment. Appellant’s complaint is that Section 21.02(a) is not. He argues that the indictment nowhere alleges that the appellant engaged in sexual intercourse with anyone.

When the indictment is read as a whole and considered in its entirety, it sufficiently alleges that appellant had sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix. Clark v. [942]*942State, Tex.Cr.App., 527 S.W.2d 292.1 The first ground of error is overruled.

The second ground of error asserts that the indictment failed to allege that the prosecutrix was not appellant’s wife, an element of the offense of rape. An examination of the indictment reveals otherwise and the ground of error, therefore, is without merit.

The third ground of error urges the insufficiency of the evidence to prove that the prosecutrix was not appellant’s wife. The record reflects that the prosecutor upon direct examination inquired of prose-cutrix as follows:

“Q. Now, you are married to Bill S_, are you not?
“A. Don William. He goes by Bill.
“Q. And the man that has been pointed out to you [the appellant] is not your husband?
“A. No, sir, he is not.”

The ground of error is without merit and overruled.

In the fourth ground of error appellant contends that the trial court erred in allowing the prosecutrix in court to identify the appellant as her assailant. He complains that appellant had no counsel present when the prosecutrix identified him during a one-man showup conducted at the police station a few hours after the offense was committed. He contends that the showup therefore tainted the in-court identification.

Appellant relies upon United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967); Gilbert v. California, 388 U.S. 263, 87 S.Ct. 1951, 18 L.Ed.2d 1178 (1967), and Martinez v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 437 S.W.2d 842. Such reliance is misplaced.

The showup, although conducted a short time after appellant had been arrested, occurred before he had been indicted or otherwise formally charged with criminal conduct. The presence of counsel is not required until “at or after the initiation of adversary judicial proceedings—whether by way of formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information, or arraignment.” Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 689, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 1882, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972).

The showup, therefore, was not illegal per se for lack of counsel. The confrontation may, nevertheless, under the totality of the circumstances, have been “so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification that [appellant] was denied due process of law.” Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 301-302, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 1972, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 (1967). Accord, Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972); Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968). Although we do not construe appellant’s ground of error as contending that his showup violated this general due process standard, we have in the interest of justice scrutinized the circumstances surrounding the showup with a view toward determining whether such a violation occurred. Art. 40.09(13), V.A.C. C.P.

The offense occurred in daylight. The prosecutrix had ample opportunity to observe the facial and other physical characteristics of the appellant. She viewed the appellant at the police station only hours after the commission of the offense and immediately identified him. The police officer who had asked her to come to the station merely stated that a suspect was in custody who matched the description she had given. Moreover, she testified that her [943]*943in-court identification of appellant was based solely upon her observations during the commission of the offense. Under the totality of the circumstances, no violation of due process has been shown. The fourth ground of error is overruled.

In the fifth ground of error appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to show that venue was proper in Gaines County. Article 13.15, V.A.C.C.P., provides that rape may be prosecuted in the county in which it is committed. Article 13.17, V.A.C.C.P., provides in pertinent part:

“To sustain the allegation of venue, it shall only be necessary to prove by the preponderance of the evidence that by reason of the facts in the ease, the county where such prosecution is carried on has venue.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
530 S.W.2d 940, 1975 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/banks-v-state-texcrimapp-1975.