Crispin v. State

722 S.W.2d 243, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 9394
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 31, 1986
Docket04-86-00122-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 722 S.W.2d 243 (Crispin 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
Crispin v. State, 722 S.W.2d 243, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 9394 (Tex. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinions

DIAL, Justice.

This is an appeal from a conviction of murder in a jury trial for which the court assessed punishment at sixty-five years’ confinement.

Appellant, Rosalinda Crispin, went to the deceased’s apartment to collect some money which she claimed the deceased owed her for past sexual favors. Appellant alleged that the deceased made sexual advances toward her and when she rebuffed him, physically restrained her from leaving. Appellant then stabbed the deceased. She claims the stabbing was in self-defense to prevent aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault.

Appellant alleges three points of error, all of which relate to the failure of the trial court to give appellant’s requested instruction on self-defense. The omitted instruction in pertinent part was:

Therefore, if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about May 11, 1985, in Bexar County, Texas, the defendant caused the death of Maximo Linares Limón; but you further find from the evidence that at the time in question Maximo Linares Limón committed or was attempting to commit one of the above defined crimes, and the defendant reasonably believed that the deadly force she used was immediately necessary to prevent the imminent commission of one of the crimes defined above, in viewing the facts and circumstances from the standpoint of the defendant alone or if the prosecution has failed to pursuade (sic) you beyond a reasonable doubt that these facts are untrue, you will acquit the defendant and say by your verdict “not guilty.”

The instruction given applying the law to the facts (Part VII of the charge) read as follows:

Now, bearing in mind the foregoing instructions, if you believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on the occasion in question the defendant, Rosalinda Crispin, did cut and stab Maxi-mo Linares Limón with a knife, as alleged in the indictment, but you further believe from the evidence, or you have a reasonable doubt thereof, that at the time she did so the defendant reasonably believed that the deceased, Maximo Li-nares Limón, was then and there committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault upon her, and she cut and stabbed him to prevent the imminent commission of such sexual assault or aggravated kidnapping upon her person, and that a reasonable person in defendant’s situation would not have retreated, then you will find the defendant not guilty.

In her first point of error, appellant asserts that the trial court erred in overruling her requested jury instruction regarding self-defense which sought inclusion of the requirement that the “defendant reasonably believed the deadly force she used was immediately necessary to prevent the imminent commission” of sexual assault. Appellant complains that the element of self-defense which focuses on the reasonableness of the defendant’s action and of the defendant’s perception of the danger which she is in was completely omitted by the trial court in its charge to the jury. Appellant claims that the jury was never instructed to consider whether or not she reasonably believed the deadly force she used was immediately necessary to protect herself from the decedent’s imminent sexual assault and thus she was deprived of the jury’s consideration of the totality of the circumstances.

We agree that the court failed to include that element of self-defense which requires that the defendant reasonably believed deadly force was immediately necessary to protect herself in that part of the charge applying the facts of the case to the law. However, we consider such omission to be clearly harmless since it benefitted appellant. Omission of this element necessarily made the charge less restrictive than the statutory definition of self-defense. Because the jury was not required to find [245]*245that the force was “immediately necessary,” the omission could only have made an affirmative finding of self-defense more likely. Point of error one is overruled.

Appellant complains in her third point of error that the court erred in failing to include statutory definitions of aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault in its charge. Appellant argues that the word “kidnapping” has a special legal meaning which does not necessarily correspond with the meaning commonly understood by the average layman and thus requires a special instruction. TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC. ANN. art. 3.01 (Vernon 1977). She contends that the average layman understands “kidnapping” to involve some aspect of forceful removal of a person from one place to another, generally accompanied by a ransom demand. However, the legal definition allows a person to go willingly to the place where she is subsequently held and requires no profit motive. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. §§ 20.04(a)(4) and 20.01(2) (Vernon 1974).

We agree with the proposition that a “trial court should always include the statutory definitions in its jury instructions where applicable.” Watson v. State, 548 S.W.2d 676, 679 n. 3 (Tex.Crim.App.1977). While the Watson case did not deal directly with the submission of statutory definitions in a defensive jury charge, the court there voiced a concern that jury instructions should be clear and lead to proper resolution of the case. We share that concern.

Under TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 3.01, all words used in the Code are to be understood according to common usage, “except where specially defined.” The offense of aggravated kidnapping is specially defined at TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 20.04 (Vernon 1974). Specially defined words are to be defined in the charge to the jury, unless, under the facts of the case, the jury could not have been misled by failure to include the definition in the charge. Olveda v. State, 625 S.W.2d 13, 14 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1981), rev’d, 650 S.W.2d 408 (Tex.Crim.App.1983).1

Although Olveda dealt with an instruction as to an element of the offense, rather than the defense, we believe that the concerns which require definitions to be submitted to the jury apply equally to both offensive and defensive instructions. The jury should be fully apprised of what will satisfy the requirements of each element of the offense and of any defenses raised. The defendant’s rights should be protected to this extent, at a minimum. The trial court erred in refusing to submit the requested definitions.

When reviewing error in the charge which was the subject of a timely objection in the trial court, reversal is required only if the error was “calculated to injure the rights of defendant,” i.e., there must be some harm to the accused from the error. Almanza v. State, 686 S.W.2d 157, 171 (Tex.Crim.App.1985). The actual degree of harm must be assayed in light of the entire jury charge, the state of the evidence, including contested issues and weight of probative evidence, the argument of counsel and any other relevant information revealed by the trial as a whole. Id.

Applying that criteria, we do not think that appellant was harmed by the error.

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Related

Winthrop v. State
735 S.W.2d 545 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Crispin v. State
722 S.W.2d 243 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
722 S.W.2d 243, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 9394, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crispin-v-state-texapp-1986.