Bergeron v. State

981 S.W.2d 748, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 5848, 1998 WL 668001
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 10, 1998
Docket01-96-01446-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 981 S.W.2d 748 (Bergeron 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
Bergeron v. State, 981 S.W.2d 748, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 5848, 1998 WL 668001 (Tex. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

MIRABAL, Justice.

A jury found appellant, Barry Lynn Ber-geron, guilty of murder. The jury assessed punishment at 20-years confinement and a $10,000 fine. We affirm.

Appellant was charged by indictment with (a) unlawfully, intentionally, and knowingly causing the death of complainant by stabbing him with a deadly weapon, a knife, and (b) unlawfully intending to cause serious bodily injury to complainant and causing the death of complainant by intentionally and knowingly committing an act clearly dangerous to human life, namely by stabbing him with a deadly weapon, a knife. See Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 19.02(b)(1) and (2) (Vernon 1994). The jury charge included both methods of committing murder, as well as a charge on self-defense.

In two points of error, appellant asserts the trial court erred in failing to grant his requested charge on (a) criminally negligent homicide, and (b) aggravated assault, both of which he claims are lesser included offenses of murder in this case.

We apply a two-part test. First, we must determine whether either criminally negligent homicide or aggravated assault constitutes a lesser included offense, as defined by statute. See Tex.Code Crim.P.Ann. art. 37.09 (Vernon 1986); 1 Schweinle v. State, *750 915 S.W.2d 17, 18 (Tex.Crim.App.1996); Jones v. State, 921 S.W.2d 361, 364 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, pet. refd). Second, if so, there must be some evidence that would permit a rational jury to find that, if appellant is guilty, he is guilty.only of the lesser offense. Schweinle, 915 S.W.2d at 18; Jones, 921 S.W.2d at 364.

Aggravated assault is a lesser included offense of murder, as defined by statute. Stine v. State, 908 S.W.2d 429, 430 (Tex.Crim.App.1995); Smith v. State, 881 S.W.2d 727, 734 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1994, pet. refd). Criminally negligent homicide is also a lesser included offense of murder in this case as defined by statute. Saunders v. State, 840 S.W.2d 390, 391 (Tex.Crim.App.1992); Conroy v. State, 843 S.W.2d 67, 71 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, pet. refused). Therefore, the first prong of the two-part analysis is established.

The question remaining is whether there is some evidence that appellant, if guilty, is guilty only of the lesser included offense of aggravated assault or criminally negligent homicide.

A jury, as the sole trier of fact, is entitled to selectively believe all or part of the conflicting testimony proffered and introduced by either side at trial. Bignall v. State, 887 S.W.2d 21, 24 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). Anything more than a scintilla of evidence from any source is sufficient to entitle a defendant to submission of the issue. Schweinle, 915 S.W.2d at 18. The evidence in this case was as follows:

At approximately 12:15 a.m., complainant, Alan Boggs, and his fiancee, Misty Robertson, were leaving the barbecue cook-off at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Both had been drinking. Complainant was wearing Wrangler jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat. As they were pulling out of the parking lot in complainant’s truck, complainant rear ended a Maxima.

Complainant got out of the truck and inspected the damage; the truck was undamaged, but the Maxima had a bumped fender and a broken taillight. Complainant asked Ms. Robertson to get the insurance information out of the glove box, and she began exchanging information with the driver of the Maxima and one of the female passengers. By this time, all of the passengers, including appellant, had gotten out of the car, yelling that the car was new. All of them had been drinking at the cook-off. Ms. Robertson described them as “a little irate.”

Appellant started an argument with complainant, calling him a “fucking cowboy,” and asking him, “What were you thinking?” Complainant responded, “If you don’t shut up, I’ll kick your wormy ass.” The driver of the Maxima tried to step between the two and diffuse the situation. Appellant made a sarcastic comment about whether complainant would shake his hand. The insults escalated when suddenly complainant threw a punch at appellant, grazing the driver of the Maxima.

Complainant and appellant briefly struggled on the ground with complainant on top. Complainant was 6'2" and weighed approximately 240 pounds, and appellant was approximately 5'9" and weighed 140 pounds. Several people tried to separate the men, but both of them broke away and started to grapple again. Witnesses testified that both parties were “getting their licks in.”

While they were wrestling on the ground and hitting each other with their fists, appellant pulled a knife out of his pocket. The lock-blade knife had a three-inch blade. Appellant concealed the knife next to his body, and no one saw that he had it. Appellant did not want to get his “ass whipped good” by complainant; he was scared by complainant’s large size. However, appellant never said or did anything to indicate that he was backing down or wished to end the fight. Instead, in an attempt to ward off complainant, appellant “whipped out” his knife and stabbed complainant in the groin area. Complainant continued trying to get at appellant. Appellant, who was still underneath complainant, was able to momentarily push him up and off with his foot. As complainant came back at appellant, the knife entered his chest and pierced his heart. The knife stabbed *751 through the sternum running three and one-half inches into complainant’s body.

Complainant stumbled over to his truck and fell down, his shirt covered with blood. No one in the crowd actually saw the stabbing. Spotting the knife on the ground and seeing all of the blood, Ms. Robertson screamed, “Who stabbed my boyfriend?” She picked up the knife and threw it into the driver’s side door of the truck. Attempts to resuscitate complainant were unsuccessful. During this period, the knife disappeared, but it was later found under a nearby truck.

Appellant was detained by an off-duty policeman who had heard the commotion and had seen complainant, covered with blood, reaching for his truck. When the police arrived, appellant was handcuffed and put in the back of the patrol car. Appellant’s only injuries were scraped knuckles and a scratch across the back of one shoulder. When the driver of the Maxima asked appellant whether he had stabbed complainant, appellant nodded his head in the affirmative.

Appellant signed a written statement made on the day of the offense in question in which he stated:

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Bluebook (online)
981 S.W.2d 748, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 5848, 1998 WL 668001, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bergeron-v-state-texapp-1998.