David Wayne Casey, Jr. v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 2, 2004
Docket03-03-00030-CR
StatusPublished

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David Wayne Casey, Jr. v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-03-00030-CR

David Wayne Casey, Jr., Appellant

v.

The State of Texas, Appellee

FROM THE CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT OF DALLAS COUNTY NO. F-0036978-SH, HONORABLE JANICE L. WARDER, JUDGE PRESIDING

OPINION

Appellant David Wayne Casey, Jr., and codefendant Scott Cannon were jointly tried

for sexual assault aggravated by the administration of gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a “date rape”

drug. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 22.021(a)(1)(A)(i), (2)(A)(vi) (West Supp. 2004-05). The jury

found Cannon not guilty and convicted appellant of the lesser included offense of sexual assault, for

which it assessed a twenty-year prison term. See id. § 22.011(a)(1)(A). We hold that the evidence

is legally and factually sufficient to sustain the jury’s verdict, but that the trial court erred by

admitting certain photographs in evidence and by commenting on the weight of the evidence in its

jury charge. We will reverse the conviction and remand for a new trial. Background

The complainant, K.T., was employed as a “shot girl” at a Dallas topless bar. She

was at the bar on the night of April 24, 2000, but not working. Around 7:30 p.m., she called

appellant, with whom she was acquainted, to ask what he was doing that night. About two hours

later, appellant arrived at the club with his friend Cannon. K.T., appellant, and Cannon remained

at the bar for an hour. All three were drinking, but K.T. testified that she was not intoxicated.

Appellant told K.T. that he and Cannon were planning to go to appellant’s house to watch videos,

and he invited her to join them. She accepted the invitation, and she followed in her own car as they

drove to appellant’s house.

The three arrived at appellant’s house at about 11:00 p.m. and were soon joined by

appellant’s housemate, Jessie Diaz, who arrived with a female companion identified only as Brandy.

K.T., appellant, and Cannon were drinking beer, but someone suggested that they drink shots.

Leaving K.T. alone in the living room, the others went to the kitchen to prepare the shots. K.T.

testified that by this time, she was beginning to feel uncomfortable and planned to leave at the first

opportunity. The group returned from the kitchen and Diaz handed her a shot of vodka. K.T. did

not care for vodka, but she decided to drink the shot and then leave. Moments after drinking the

vodka, however, K.T. began to feel strange. When she tried to stand, her vision became blurred and

she passed out.

K.T.’s memory of the next several hours was sketchy, as she drifted in and out of

consciousness. She remembered vomiting and defecating on herself, and being moved from the

living room to the hallway. She recalled people standing over her and hearing appellant and Cannon

2 discuss what to do with her. At one point, she became aware that she was naked and that appellant

was between her legs penetrating her with his penis. Cannon was walking back and forth, as if he

had a camcorder. K.T. testified that she also remembered Cannon penetrating her while appellant

watched. She recalled flashes that caused her to squint her eyes.

K.T. regained full consciousness at 4:30 a.m. She was naked and lying on the floor

of appellant’s bedroom. She went to the bathroom, which woke up appellant. He told her that she

had thrown up on herself and that he had washed her clothes. Her shirt was still wet, so she

borrowed a shirt from appellant. K.T. got dressed and left the house. She saw no one else there.

K.T. testified that she still felt sick and “foggy.” She managed to drive to Chris

Nunn’s house. Nunn was K.T.’s on-again, off-again boyfriend. Nunn had introduced K.T. to

appellant and Cannon, but had later advised her to avoid them. K.T. had been told by appellant that

Nunn called while she was asleep and knew that she spent the night at appellant’s house. K.T. told

Nunn what had happened to her. Nunn called the police and then drove K.T. to Parkland Hospital.

Semen recovered during K.T.’s physical examination contained appellant’s DNA. No DNA link to

Cannon was found. No trace of GHB was found in K.T.’s blood or urine, but a toxicologist testified

that the drug has a half-life in the body of only twenty minutes to an hour.

A warrant to search appellant’s house was executed on June 25, 2000, the day after

the alleged assault. A soft drink bottle containing sixty-four grams of a liquid identified as GHB was

found in the refrigerator’s freezer compartment. A Polaroid camera and four Polaroid photographs

of K.T. were found in the kitchen. One of these photographs shows K.T. lying naked in the hallway,

and the others are closeups of K.T.’s vaginal area. Two 35 mm. cameras were found in Diaz’s

3 bedroom. One of these cameras contained exposed film that, when developed, showed: (1)

photographs of an unidentified, naked woman; (2) photographs of Cannon vomiting; (3) a

photograph of Diaz having sexual intercourse with an unidentified woman; (4) a photograph of

appellant making a hand sign and another showing him urinating; and (5) photographs of Cannon

lying on a bed with an unidentified naked woman and an unidentified man. No camcorder was found

in the house.

Cannon testified in his own behalf. He said that K.T. had been “very friendly” with

appellant at the bar, sitting next to him and resting her hand on his shoulder. When they arrived at

appellant’s residence, Cannon noticed that K.T. took a soda bottle with her into the house. K.T. sat

next to appellant on the couch as they watched videos. According to Cannon, “They were touching,

feeling, just kind of half kissing type thing.” Diaz and his companion arrived, and Diaz later poured

shots of vodka for everyone. K.T. drank her shot with no apparent ill effects, but she did appear to

be “kind of buzzed” and she “became more aggressively touching and feeling.” After about an hour,

appellant and K.T. went to appellant’s bedroom.

Cannon testified that he was too intoxicated to drive, so he decided to spend the night

in appellant’s spare bedroom. As he passed the half-opened door to appellant’s bedroom, he saw

appellant and K.T. embracing. Cannon said he was awakened in the middle of the night by the

sound of K.T. vomiting in the hall. Cannon wiped the vomit from K.T.’s face with a towel, then

woke appellant, told him to take care of K.T., and went back to bed. Cannon testified that he did not

take any photographs or videos of K.T., and that he did not see anyone else do so. He denied

touching K.T. “in any sexual way.”

4 Sufficiency of the Evidence

When the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a criminal conviction is challenged,

we must determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the

offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 324 (1979) (legal

sufficiency); Griffin v. State, 614 S.W.2d 155, 158-59 (Tex. Crim. App. 1981) (legal sufficiency);

Zuniga v. State, 144 S.W.2d 477, 484 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004) (factual sufficiency). In a legal

sufficiency review, we look at all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and assume

that the trier of fact resolved conflicts in the testimony, weighed the evidence, and drew reasonable

inferences in a manner that supports the verdict.

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