Butler v. State

981 S.W.2d 849, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 6586, 1998 WL 733696
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided October 22, 1998·No. 01-94-00252-CR·Published·Cited by 22 cases

Opinions

OPINION

HEDGES, Justice.

Appellant, Bobby Gene Butler, was convicted by a jury of capital murder. The State did not seek the death penalty. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial judge. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 12.31(a) (Vernon 1994). We affirm.

Facts

During the early morning hours of July 13, 1993, Frederick Jones, a forklift operator, was driving home when he saw Jerry Godwin in front of his concrete plant on Chrisman Road waving for help.1 Jones stopped, and Godwin said that he had been shot with a 12-gauge shotgun. He asked Jones to call 911. Godwin had blood on his face, his voice was faint, and he was weak. He declined Jones’s offer to take him to a nearby fire station. Jones drove to a store, placed a 911 call, then directed paramedics and sheriff’s officers to Godwin’s location. In the 15 to 20 minutes that Jones was gone, Godwin died. Par[851] amedics found his body in a sitting position on the floor of the Quality Concrete office with his back to the wall. The office had been ransacked, and the phone cords had been forcibly pulled from the wall. A four-way lug wrench with blood on it was found against a fence. (This wrench was later admitted into evidence as State’s exhibit three. The blood was determined to be Godwin’s blood type.) Although no shotgun was found, officers found three spent shotgun shells and identified two shotgun blast patterns in the concrete. While the officers were still investigating the crime scene, Danny Wilson, one of Godwin’s former employees, arrived to inquire about Godwin. When Wilson told them that his wife, Cynthia Wilson, had been shot in the leg, deputies accompanied him home. Both Wilsons gave written statements to detectives. Cynthia Wilson was asked to return the following day for a polygraph examination.

The next morning, a detective received a phone call from a woman named Láveme, who said that she had seen Danny and Cynthia Wilson in a lounge trying to sell jewelry which Laverne believed to be Godwin’s.2 Confronted with this information, Cynthia Wilson stated that the person who had committed this crime was someone she knew as “Moon.” Detectives determined from people in the neighborhood that appellant was called “Moon.” Appellant was photographed but not taken into custody at that time.

On July 14, officers received information from a confidential source that led to the recovery from James Roberts of the shotgun Godwin had kept behind his office door. Roberts testified that he had purchased the shotgun from appellant that day for twenty dollars. He stated that the gun had a broken stock and bent barrel when appellant sold it to him.3 Appellant had told him that he had broken it “on some old white guy’s head.” Godwin was a 60-year-old white man. This shotgun proved to be a murder weapon and was admitted into evidence as State’s exhibit two.

Cynthia Wilson identified appellant’s photograph, and she and appellant were charged with capital murder on July 15,1993. Appellant was arrested that same date, and gave a lengthy written statement that included his account of this offense. This statement was admitted into evidence. Appellant related that Cynthia Wilson drove him to the cement plant in her El Camino because she knew that “the old man” kept thousands of dollars in cash on him and had expensive jewelry.4 Appellant said he threatened the man with a four-way tire tool, demanding his money and jewelry. Appellant admitted tying the man’s hands with telephone cord. When he went outside where Wilson was attempting to start the man’s truck, the man fired a shotgun at him from the doorway. Appellant stated that he immediately took the weapon away from the man and shot him “down toward his legs.” Appellant further related that he sold the shotgun and jewelry to buy crack cocaine.

An autopsy of the body of Jerry Godwin revealed a blunt laceration to the top of the head and depressed skull fracture, causing significant brain hemorrhage. Sixteen ribs were fractured, 10 on the left side and six on the right. The sternum was also fractured. There was a shotgun wound of entrance to the left and right thighs near the buttocks. This wound lacerated an artery and vein. A three-quarter-inch plastic wad from a shotgun shell was recovered from the right thigh. Several pellets consistent with number nine bird shot were also recovered along the wound track.

Godwin’s skull fracture was consistent with having been caused by either the four-way tire tool found at the scene and admitted as State’s exhibit three, or the shotgun admitted as State’s exhibit two. His death was caused by either the shotgun wound to the thighs or the skull fracture.

[852] At trial, appellant testified that he and Cynthia Wilson were smoking crack cocaine on the day of this offense and that she drove them to the cement plant in her El Camino. According to appellant’s testimony, he hid while Wilson went inside the office. The plan was for Wilson to occupy Godwin while appellant broke into the office and stole money and jewelry. When appellant tried the office door after Godwin and Wilson went somewhere in “the very back,” he found that the door was locked. Godwin returned to the office and appellant “fell on top of him.” Appellant admitted taking Godwin’s money, making him get on his knees in the office, pulling the phone cords from the wall, tying Godwin’s hands behind his back, taking his wallet, and struggling with him over the shotgun after Godwin freed himself. According to appellant, “the gun went off.” 5 Appellant denied striking Godwin with the shotgun or tire tool. He further testified that he left on foot with the money in a pillowcase. He sold the jewelry and spent all the money on crack cocaine. He sold the shotgun, which he testified was not bent or broken at the time, to James Roberts for two rocks of cocaine.

Bonnie Durdin testified for the defense that she had heard Cynthia Wilson ask appellant, herself, and many other people to rob a place of business and kill the owner. Tony Smith, appellant’s first cousin, testified that he was with appellant when the shotgun was sold to James Roberts and that the gun was not bent or broken then.

Legal Sufficiency of the Evidence

In point of error two, appellant challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence to prove that he intentionally caused Godwin’s death.

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Butler v. State, 981 S.W.2d 849, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 6586, 1998 WL 733696 (Tex. Ct. App. 1998).

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