Cook v. State

858 S.W.2d 467, 1993 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 79, 1993 WL 99906
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 7, 1993
Docket70730
StatusPublished
Cited by563 cases

This text of 858 S.W.2d 467 (Cook 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
Cook v. State, 858 S.W.2d 467, 1993 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 79, 1993 WL 99906 (Tex. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

BAIRD, Judge.

Appellant was convicted of capital murder pursuant to Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 19.-03(a)(2). 1 The jury affirmatively answered the punishment issues submitted pursuant to Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 37.-071(b)(1) and (2). 2 Punishment was assessed at death. Id. at (e). Appeal to this Court is automatic. Id. at (h). We will affirm.

In his fifth point of error, appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. Specifically, appellant contends that the trial court erred in overruling his motion for a directed verdict at the close of the State’s case-in-chief, asserting that the State had failed to corroborate the accomplice witness testimony of Robert Brian Moore.

To resolve this point, we must first address the State’s claim that appellant is procedurally barred from raising this point on appeal. Appellant moved for a directed verdict at the close of the State’s case-in-chief and the motion was overruled. Appellant then presented defensive evidence. The State relies on Hafdahl v. State, 805 S.W.2d 396 (Tex.Cr.App.1990), to support the contention that, because appellant put on evidence after his motion for a directed verdict was overruled, appellant is procedurally barred from challenging the trial judge’s decision overruling that motion. However, we disavowed the rule in Hafdahl, and its progenitors, in Madden v. State, 799 S.W.2d 683, 686 n. 3 (Tex.Cr.App.1990):

In Hafdahl v. State ... the Court held that appellant waived his right to complain that the trial court erred in overruling his motion for instructed verdict by presenting defensive evidence after the State rested its case-in-chief. In so holding, the Court cited Kuykendall v. State, 609 S.W.2d 791 (Tex.Cr.App.1981) and Shirley v. State, 501 S.W.2d 635 (Tex.Cr.App.1973), which the Kuykendall opinion solely relied on for this waiver propo *470 sition. Our research reveals that Shirley was decided on the basis of two prior opinions from this Court, viz: Bellah v. State, 415 S.W.2d 418 (Tex.Cr.App.1967), and Davis v. State, 440 S.W.2d 291 (Tex.Cr.App.1969), neither of which held that an appellant waives his right to complain of the trial judge’s overruling of his motion for instructed verdict by presenting defensive evidence. On the contrary, Bellah and Davis both stand for the principle that an appellate court is not required to pass on the contention that the evidence was insufficient at the time the State rested its case-in-chief once the appellate court has determined, after considering all the evidence presented at trial by both the State and the defendant, the evidence is sufficient to sustain the conviction. Thus, the waiver language in Hafdahl is disavowed.

The harsh rule in Hafdahl was the result of a mistaken interpretation of prior case-law, not an evolution of legal principles. As we recognized in Madden, “[a] challenge to the trial judge’s ruling on a motion for an instructed verdict is in actuality a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction.” Madden, 799 S.W.2d at 686. Therefore, although originally appearing only in a footnote, we now adopt the foregoing language in Madden as the rule. See, Kunkle v. State, 852 S.W.2d 499, 504 (Tex.Cr.App.1993). Accordingly, we will consider the evidence presented at trial by both the State and appellant in determining whether there was sufficient evidence to corroborate the accomplice witness testimony of Robert Brian Moore.

Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 38.14, provides:

A conviction cannot be had upon the testimony of an accomplice unless corroborated by other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the offense committed; and the corroboration is not sufficient if it merely shows the commission of the offense.

We have interpreted article 38.14 as follows:

It is well settled ... that the corroborative evidence need not directly link the accused to the crime or be sufficient in itself to establish guilt. [Citations omitted.] The test to determine the sufficiency of the corroboration is to eliminate from consideration the evidence of the accomplice witness and then examine the testimony of other witnesses to ascertain if there is inculpatory evidence which tends to link the accused with the commission of the offense. [Citations omitted.]
This same test is applied in determining the sufficiency of corroboration in capital cases. [Citations omitted.]_

Thompson v. State, 691 S.W.2d 627, 631 (Tex.Cr.App.1984) (Emphasis in original.)

After eliminating from consideration the testimony of Robert Brian Moore, a review of the record reveals inculpatory evidence which tends to link appellant with the commission of the offense of capital murder. According to appellant’s own testimony, he participated in the kidnapping and robbery of the decedent, holding the gun while the decedent showed Moore which key fit in the ignition of the decedent’s car. Appellant testified that he and Moore drove the decedent north on 1-35 from Austin to a roadside park. Appellant testified that he held the gun on the decedent while Moore tied-up the decedent and took his wedding band. Immediately afterward, either Moore or appellant fatally shot the decedent. Moore and appellant then drove to Fort Worth.

Appellant’s own testimony, which showed his participation in the decedent’s kidnapping and robbery and his presence at the murder scene, established that he was, at a minimum, a party to capital murder. In addition, the decedent’s watch and wallet were recovered from appellant’s person, which also tends to connect appellant with the robbery and murder of the decedent. Appellant’s fifth point of error is overruled.

In his first point of error, Appellant contends the trial judge erred in sustaining the State’s challenge for cause of venire-member Margaret Lehnart. Lehnart testified that she would need greater proof of *471 guilt than proof beyond a reasonable doubt before she could impose the death penalty:

Lehnart: Well, I would have to be very firmly — I would say that I would have to be convinced perhaps beyond a reasonable doubt to no shadow of a doubt of the guilt of this particular individual.

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Bluebook (online)
858 S.W.2d 467, 1993 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 79, 1993 WL 99906, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-state-texcrimapp-1993.