Davis v. State

757 S.W.2d 386, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 2489, 1988 WL 104931
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 11, 1988
Docket05-87-00963-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 757 S.W.2d 386 (Davis 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
Davis v. State, 757 S.W.2d 386, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 2489, 1988 WL 104931 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

*387 HOWELL, Justice.

Appellant Garye Gilbert Davis appeals his conviction of involuntary manslaughter in which a jury assessed punishment at ten years’ confinement in Texas Department of Corrections plus a $5,000.00 fine. In addition, the trial court ordered that appellant make restitution to the family of the victim in the amount of $3,373.10 as a future condition of parole. In three points of error, appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for involuntary manslaughter, that the trial court was without authority to add restitution to the judgment in the absence of a jury finding of restitution, and that the evidence is insufficient to support the amount of restitution entered in the judgment of the trial court. We overrule appellant’s points and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Appellant and the deceased had been dating for several months prior to the shooting incident that is the subject of this case. On December 31,1986 appellant sought out and located the deceased at a club in Terrell, Texas. Appellant persuaded her to accompany him in his pickup truck. They drove to a location near the appellant’s home in Terrell, disrobed and had sexual intercourse in the truck.

According to appellant’s testimony, after the sexual interlude, he picked up a .32 caliber pistol that he kept in the beer holder of the truck. He began “playing with” the gun and spinning it on his index finger while he and the victim sat in the truck. Although appellant later testified that he did not know the gun was loaded, it discharged; decedent was struck between the eyes and died almost instantly. Appellant buried her nude body in a partially-constructed house nearby. On January 4, following interrogation appellant disclosed the location of the body to the police. He also took an officer to appellant’s place of residence and showed to the officer the gun and the decedent’s clothing, all hidden under his mattress.

Trial was to a jury. The court charged the jury on murder, involuntary manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide. The jury returned a verdict that appellant was guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Appellant appeals that verdict.

In his first point of error, appellant contends that the evidence at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for involuntary manslaughter and would support only a conviction for criminally negligent homicide. His argument is two-pronged: (1) that there was no evidence that appellant knew the gun was actually loaded; (2) there was no evidence that appellant purposefully pointed the gun at the deceased. To the contrary, he argues that his testimony of accidental discharge is un-controverted. We must sustain appellant’s point if we conclude that, when reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, no rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Houston v. State, 663 S.W.2d 455, 456 (Tex.Crim.App.1984). The only disputed element is appellant’s mental state, i.e., appellant does not deny that the evidence was sufficient to show that his conduct was a producing cause of the death.

Appellant’s conviction was for involuntary manslaughter. The penal code defines this offense as “recklessly causpng] the death of an individual.” TEX.PEN.CODE ANN. 19.05(a)(1) (Vernon Supp.1987) [emphasis added]. A “reckless” mental state is defined as follows:

A person acts recklessly, or is reckless, with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he is aware of but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that its disregard constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise under all the circumstances as viewed from the actor’s standpoint.

TEX.PEN.CODE ANN. 6.03(c) (Vernon 1974). Appellant urges that the evidence supports a finding only that he acted with criminal negligence. The penal code instructs that:

*388 [a] person acts with criminal negligence, or is criminally negligent, with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise under all the circumstances as viewed from the actor’s standpoint.

TEX.PEN.CODE ANN. 6.03(d) (Vernon 1974). The difference between these two definitions is obvious. A person acts recklessly if he disregards a known risk; a person acts with criminal negligence if he fails to perceive a substantial or unjustifiable risk. The issue is whether the evidence is sufficient to show that appellant was aware of the risk involved in playing with a handgun in the close vicinity of the victim.

Appellant took the stand as a witness to tell his version of the shooting. On direct examination the following exchange took place:

DEFENSE COUNSEL: Mr. Davis, did you recognize that there is a risk involved with handling a handgun with another person in your immediate vicinity? APPELLANT: Yes, sir, I can understand, but anything — I didn’t think nothing were in the gun at the time.

[Emphasis added.] Thus, the evidence indicates a concession by appellant himself that he recognized the risk involved in his conduct.

Appellant places great emphasis on cases such as Hunter v. State, 647 S.W.2d 657 (Tex.Crim.App.1983) and Branham v. State, 583 S.W.2d 782 (Tex.Crim.App.1979). However, these appellate reversals occurred because the lower court refused to submit a charge on a lesser-included offense, e.g., involuntary manslaughter and/or criminally negligent homicide. In that instance, the lesser-included charge must be given if any evidence, when viewed in favor of the accused, indicates that appellant is guilty only of the lesser offense. Thomas v. State, 699 S.W.2d 845, 851 (Tex.Crim.App.1985); Royster v. State, 622 S.W.2d 442, 446 (Tex.Crim.App.1981) (on reh’g). This test is diametrically opposed to a review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, in which the evidence is viewed most favorably to the State. See Sadler v. State, 728 S.W.2d 829, 832 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1987, no pet.). The jury that convicted our appellant was charged on murder, involuntary manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide.

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Bluebook (online)
757 S.W.2d 386, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 2489, 1988 WL 104931, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-state-texapp-1988.