Charles County v. State

812 S.W.2d 303, 1989 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 59
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 29, 1989
DocketNo. 69793
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 812 S.W.2d 303 (Charles County 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
Charles County v. State, 812 S.W.2d 303, 1989 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 59 (Tex. 1989).

Opinions

OPINION

CAMPBELL, Judge.

Appeal is taken from a conviction for capital murder. V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 19.03(a)(3). The murder was committed in Bexar County and appellant was tried in Cameron County on a motion for change of venue. Appellant was convicted of intentionally causing the death of Chere Buff-ington by shooting her with a gun for promise of remuneration to be paid by James Buffington.1 After finding appellant guilty of the offense of capital murder, the jury returned affirmative findings to the special issues under Article 37.071, V.A.C.C.P. Punishment was assessed at death.

Appellant raises twelve points of error. He challenges: the sufficiency of the evidence; the trial judge's instruction to the jury on the law of parties; the failure of the trial judge to quash the indictment because of the unconstitutionality of V.T.C.A. Penal Code, § 19.03 and Art. 37.071 Y.A.C.C.P.; the trial judge’s refusal to dismiss the indictment for failure to provide appellant with a speedy trial; failure to honor an agreement allegedly entered into by the State; the failure to provide a jury instruction concerning exculpatory statements by appellant; the failure to provide the jury with limiting instruction concerning the testimony of David Severe; the failure to grant a mistrial after the State asked an improper question during the punishment phase; the trial judge’s refusal to instruct the jury on the subject of mitigating evidence during the punishment phase. We will affirm appellant’s conviction.

In his ninth and tenth points of error, appellant contends there is insufficient evidence to sustain his conviction. Appellant’s conviction was based wholly on circumstantial evidence. David Severe, a friend of the appellant’s, testified that approximately one week before the shooting he saw the appellant and James Buffing-ton, the husband of the deceased,2 sitting in a truck outside appellant’s house. Severe was acquainted with Buffington because they had both been employees of Cliff’s Fence Company several years earlier. Buffington then currently owned Jim’s Fence Company and appellant was his employee. As Severe approached the truck, he overheard Buffington telling appellant that he wanted his wife, Chere Buffington, killed. Buffington stopped talking when he saw Severe approaching, but after appellant told him that Severe would be the person helping him, Buffington continued, saying that he wanted his wife’s body to be discovered nude and for her purse to be taken, in order to give the appearance of a robbery and a rape. Buffington said that he would be out of the state at the time of the murder so that he could not be connected to the murder. Buffington told appellant and Severe that they would be “well taken care of.” Appellant later told Severe he would be paid “two or three thousand dollars.” 3 After Buffington left the appel[306]*306lant’s house, Severe told appellant that he did not wish to participate in the murder. It was only after appellant’s insistance that Severe “not let him down” that he consented to think it over. The Friday before the murder, appellant came by Severe’s house and told him that everything was set and that he should be ready because Chere, the intended victim, was supposed to pick them up at 7:00 a.m.4 Severe told appellant that he did not want to participate, and appellant said that he would get someone else to help him.

Ed Reinees, an employee of Buffington’s, testified that he left a Jim’s Fence Company truck, a blue Ford club cab pickup, with appellant over the weekend. Reinees took Buffington and a lady friend to the airport that Friday afternoon.

Willie Wilburn, the appellant’s father-in-law, testified that on the morning of Saturday, March 20th, 1976, the day of the murder, he drove the appellant, one Charlie Moore, and two or three others to the victim’s apartment in the blue company pickup. Appellant got out of the truck and went to an apartment. Moore told one of the passengers in the truck that the reason for going to the apartment was to pick up a check. Appellant soon returned, saying that, “the lady wasn’t home.” Appellant wrote a note on an envelope and left it on the door. After leaving the apartment complex, appellant and the others returned to the west side of San Antonio and retired to a bar.

Sometime later that afternoon, appellant and Moore left the bar together, saying that they were going to get some money. Appellant and Moore left and returned to the bar later that day. Appellant had what appeared to be a check in his pocket.

Johnny Rodriguez, who owned a local grocery store, testified 5 that appellant and Moore came to his store on the evening of March 20th and asked him to cash two payroll checks drawn on Jim’s Fence Company.

Mildred Gulley testified that, about 5 o’clock the afternoon of March 20th, she and her son went to Longfellow Junior High School. In the parking lot, she observed a car and a blue super cab pickup parked side-by-side.6 Ms. Gulley saw two black men (both appellant and Moore are black males) standing between the car and the truck. Shortly thereafter, the two men left in the pickup truck and the car remained in the parking lot.

A patrol officer with the San Antonio Independent School District noticed a car in the parking lot of Longfellow School at approximately 9:00 p.m. on the evening of March 20th. Upon checking the car, the officer observed the nude body of Chere Buffington in the back seat of the car.7 The San Antonio police were called, and the scene was secured. Charlie Moore’s palm print was discovered on the roof of the car, but the door handles had been wiped clean of fingerprints.

The medical examiner testified that the cause of death was three gunshot wounds to the head, at least two of which were fired at close range. Three bullets were recovered from the head of the deceased.

A ballistics expert testified that one of the bullets recovered from the victim was fired from the Rohm .22 caliber revolver that was recovered from Mayóla Taylor’s house.8 The other two bullets that were recovered were too badly damaged to make a positive identification.

Buddy Savoy testified that, when he was with the appellant and Moore the day after [307]*307the murder, appellant reached under the driver’s seat of the blue pickup and removed a gun. Appellant handed the gun to Savoy and told him to unload it. Savoy observed three bullets in the weapon.

In challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, appellant argues that there were “at least eight (8) other known individuals who very well could have committed this homicide.” This Court will not determine whether it believes that the evidence at trial established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but rather will determine, after reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Marras v. State, 741 S.W.2d 395, 400 (Tex.Cr.App.1987).

Traditionally, this Court has applied the outstanding reasonable hypothesis test when judging the sufficiency of evidence in “circumstantial evidence” cases.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
812 S.W.2d 303, 1989 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 59, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/charles-county-v-state-texcrimapp-1989.