Danzig v. State

546 S.W.2d 299, 1977 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 939
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 26, 1977
Docket52317
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 546 S.W.2d 299 (Danzig 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
Danzig v. State, 546 S.W.2d 299, 1977 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 939 (Tex. 1977).

Opinions

OPINION

ROBERTS, Judge.

This is an appeal from a conviction for aggravated assault by using a deadly weapon. After finding the appellant guilty, the jury assessed her punishment at five years.

Appellant’s only contention is that the evidence is insufficient to show that the weapon used was deadly. We agree and reverse.

Omitting the formal parts, the indictment alleges that on May 5, 1975, the appellant [300]*300“did then and there use a knife, a deadly weapon, intentionally threaten imminent bodily injury to James A. Naraine.” This is sufficient to charge aggravated assault under Y.T.C.A., Penal Code, Secs. 22.01(a)(2) and 22.02(a)(3), a third degree felony.

The record reflects that at approximately 2:00 a.m. on May 5, 1975, the complaining witness James Naraine and a companion agreed to have intercourse with the appellant and her friend, both of whom were prostitutes. Naraine’s companion gave appellant forty dollars after the four had gone to a trailer. However, the women refused to carry out their part of the agreement and also refused to return the forty dollars. Then, with the aid of a male associate, the women forced Naraine and his companion to leave the trailer. The two men left the trailer and went to a nearby bus station.

While waiting for a bus, Naraine saw the two women walking ' nearby. He approached appellant and again asked for the return of the forty dollars. Appellant responded by swinging at Naraine. She then pulled out a small penknife with a blade “about three or four inches” long. Naraine grabbed her hands, and, while trying to take the knife away from her, he was stabbed in the back by the appellant’s companion. In response, he turned around. He was then stabbed in the arm and over the nose by appellant.

At this time, Officer Andrew Samarripa of the Killeen Police Department drove by the scene of the assault in his patrol car. He testified that he saw the “scuffle” and saw the appellant striking Naraine. However, he testified that he was not able to see any knife in her hand. No knife was found on appellant’s person or in the area around the disturbance.1

Samarripa also testified that when he approached the scene of the assault Naraine was “bleeding profusely.” Naraine testified that eight stitches were required to close his wounds. No medical testimony on the nature or extent of the wounds was offered, although Samarripa testified that the wound on Naraine’s nose could have been caused by a ring rather than a knife.

In determining whether the evidence was sufficient to show that the knife was a deadly weapon, as alleged, we turn first to Section 1.07(a)(ll) of our new Penal Code, which defines “deadly weapon” as

“(A) a firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury; or
“(B) anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.”

What we said on original submission in Mosley v. State, 545 S.W.2d 144, 146 (Tex.Cr.App.1977), No. 51,972, delivered October 27, 1976 (opinion on rehearing delivered January 12, 1977), applies also to the case before us:

“The threshold question before us is whether our past decisions have any weight now that ‘deadly weapon’ has been defined by the Legislature, [footnote omitted] One commentary to the new Penal Code observes:
“ ‘It would appear that prior Texas law provided as here, that an instrument may become a deadly weapon by the manner of its use or capability for use.’ [1] Branch’s Ann.Tex.Penal' Statutes, 3rd Ed., Sec. 1.07(11), p. 27. (Emphasis added [in Mosley]).
“Our prior opinions on the meaning of ‘deadly weapon’ do and should have instructional significance under the new Penal Code. This approach is particularly appropriate in light of the fact that the Legislature has apparently codified our prior case law definition of the term.”

Therefore, we turn to our past decisions for guidance in determining whether the extent of the complainant’s injuries is of consequence in deciding whether a knife is [301]*301a deadly weapon under subsection (B)2 of V.T.C.A., Penal Code, Sec. 1.07(a)(ll).

In Williams v. State, 477 S.W.2d 24, 25 (Tex.Cr.App.1972), we held, in a unanimous opinion, that:

“A pocket knife is not per se a ‘deadly weapon.’ Barnes v. State, 172 Tex.Cr.R. 303, 356 S.W.2d 679. However, the mode and manner of its use, Richards v. State, 147 Tex.Cr.R. 118, 178 S.W.2d 517, and the wounds inflicted on the injured party, Reed v. State, 149 Tex.Cr.R. 208, 192 S.W.2d 890, are factors in determining the character of the weapon and the intent to kill.” (Emphasis added).

This rule is well established. See, e. g., Johnson v. State, 421 S.W.2d 918, 920 (Tex.Cr.App.1968); Boazman v. State, 501 S.W.2d 894, 896 (Tex.Cr.App.1973).

We therefore hold that under the new Penal Code the wounds inflicted on the injured party are factors to be considered in determining whether a weapon is a deadly weapon under Y.T.C.A., Penal Code, Sec. 1.07(a)(ll)(B).

We are aware that in determining whether the evidence is sufficient to support the verdict of the jury the rule is that this Court will not substitute its findings for those of the jury, provided there is sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict. See, e. g., Ammann v. State, 145 Tex.Cr.R. 34, 165 S.W.2d 744 (1942).

In Ammann, as in this case, the issue was whether the knife used in the assault was a deadly weapon. In holding that evidence was insufficient, the Court said:

“We are not unmindful of the fact that this court has always been hesitant to disturb the verdict of the jury. But, where the evidence fails to measure up to that required by law to show the guilt of the accused it becomes our duty to say so.” Id., at 38-39, 165 S.W.2d, at 746.

The facts and holding of Ammann are instructive in our consideration of this ease. In Ammann the complainant and defendant had had a dispute at a cafe on the night before the alleged assault. The next morning the defendant entered the cafe and, using a small pocketknife, stabbed the complainant. He then ran from the building and was heard to say, “I came over here to do it, and I done it,” or something very similar.

The complainant in Ammann was in the hospital for five days after the stabbing. The attending physician testified that the wound was eight or ten inches long, extending from the eighth rib on the left side to a point approximately three inches above the navel.

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Bluebook (online)
546 S.W.2d 299, 1977 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 939, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/danzig-v-state-texcrimapp-1977.