Davis v. State

897 S.W.2d 791, 1995 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 40, 1995 WL 144225
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 5, 1995
Docket973-94
StatusPublished
Cited by78 cases

This text of 897 S.W.2d 791 (Davis 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
Davis v. State, 897 S.W.2d 791, 1995 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 40, 1995 WL 144225 (Tex. 1995).

Opinions

[792]*792 OPINION ON APPELLANTS PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

OVERSTREET, Judge.

Appellant was charged by indictment with murder, alleged to have been committed on or about May 24, 1991. On August 26, 1992, he was convicted in a trial by jury of the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter. On August 27, 1992, the jury assessed punishment at 16 years confinement. On September 3, 1992, the trial court entered a nunc pro tunc order adding a deadly weapon affirmative finding to the judgment. The Fort Worth Court of Appeals affirmed in Davis v. State, 880 S.W.2d 870 (Tex.App. — Fort Worth 1994). We granted the sole ground for review in appellant’s petition for discretionary review, which challenges the propriety of the trial court entering a nunc pro tunc order making a deadly weapon affirmative finding.

I.SUMMARY OF PERTINENT FACTS

The record reflects that appellant shot the deceased during a verbal dispute which had escalated into some shoving. Appellant testified that the deceased was pointing a gun at him. In cross-examination, he admitted that he shot and killed the deceased and used a firearm in doing so. The jury found appellant guilty of the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter; however, there was no deadly weapon special issue included in the jury charge. The punishment jury charge likewise did not include a deadly weapon special issue.

A week after the punishment verdict, the trial court conducted a hearing on the State’s oral motion seeking a judgment nunc pro tunc to reflect that a deadly weapon was used in the commission of the offense. The trial court concluded that because of the way the charge was worded on voluntary manslaughter the jury had in effect made a deadly weapon affirmative finding. It then made a nunc pro tunc entry of such a deadly weapon finding.

II.COURT OF APPEALS’ HOLDING

On appeal to the Fort Worth Court of Appeals, appellant claimed error in the trial court adding a deadly weapon finding to the jury’s verdict which did not have such a finding. The court of appeals concluded that under the explicit wording of the jury charge on voluntary manslaughter, the jury’s verdict of guilty of voluntary manslaughter included an express finding that appellant had used a deadly weapon during the commission of the offense. Davis v. State, 880 S.W.2d at 873. It held that therefore the trial court was authorized to enter in the judgment that the jury had made an affirmative finding of deadly weapon use. Id.

III.PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW CLAIM

Appellant’s sole ground for review challenges the propriety of the trial court entering a nunc pro tunc order adding a deadly weapon affirmative finding. It specifically avers:

The Court of Appeals erred in holding that it was permissible for the trial court to add a deadly weapon finding to the jury verdict in punishment one week after the verdict and with no specific finding in the verdict that appellant “had used or exhibited a deadly weapon”, and there was no reference back to an allegation of use of a deadly weapon in the indictment.

Appellant points to the guilt/innocence jury verdict, which stated, “We, the jury, find the Defendant, Donny Davis, guilty of the offense of voluntary manslaughter.” The verdict made no reference to a deadly weapon, nor did it refer back to the indictment, since the indictment alleged murder rather than voluntary manslaughter. Appellant insists that since the jury found appellant not guilty of murder, but rather guilty of voluntary manslaughter, the only way to determine its express finding was to submit a special issue as to deadly weapon use.

The State asserts that the jury did indeed expressly find deadly weapon use based upon the deadly weapon averment in the indictment which was incorporated into the language of the voluntary manslaughter jury charge.

[793]*793IV. ANALYSIS

The voluntary manslaughter application paragraph of the jury charge included language that appellant did: intentionally or knowingly cause the death of the deceased “by shooting him with a deadly weapon, to-wit: a firearm;” or intentionally, with the intent to cause serious bodily injury to the deceased, commit an act clearly dangerous to human life, namely “shoot [the deceased] with a deadly weapon, to-wit: a firearm, which caused the death of [the deceased][J” Such, along with other language, authorized the finding of guilt of voluntary manslaughter.

In Polk v. State, 693 S.W.2d 391, 393 (Tex. Cr.App.1985), this Court concluded that under Article 42.12, V.A.C.C.P. “affirmative finding” means “the trier of fact’s express determination that a deadly weapon or firearm was actually used or exhibited during the commission of the offense.” [Emphasis in original.] This Court decided that the Legislature required an “express determination” from the fact-finder, thus rejecting any supposed “implied” finding. Hooks v. State, 860 S.W.2d 110,112 (Tex.Cr.App.1993). This Court specifically noted that an “implied” finding is not an “express” finding as is required by statute, and that the Legislature’s requirement for an “express” finding was “meant to save all of us from sinking ever deeper into the quagmire of whether differing indictment/verdict/fact situations amounted to ‘implied’ findings or not.” Polk v. State, 693 S.W.2d at 396.

Since appellant was tried by a jury, the trial court had no authority to make a deadly weapon affirmative finding. Easterling v. State, 710 S.W.2d 569, 581 (Tex.Cr. App.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 848, 107 S.Ct. 170, 93 L.Ed.2d 108 (1986). Since Polk, it has been very well-settled that in a jury trial, a trial court is authorized to enter a deadly weapon affirmative finding in three situations: where the jury has 1) found guilt as alleged in the indictment and the deadly weapon has been specifically plead as such using “deadly weapon” nomenclature in the indictment; 2) found guilt as alleged in the indictment but, though not specifically plead as a deadly weapon, the weapon plead is per se a deadly weapon; or 3) affirmatively answered a special issue on deadly weapon use. Polk v. State, 693 S.W.2d at 396; DeAnda v. State, 769 S.W.2d 522, 523 (Tex.Cr.App.1989); Gutierrez v. State, 741 S.W.2d 444 (Tex.Cr. App.1987).

As noted above, there was no deadly weapon special issue included in either the guilt/innocence or punishment jury charges. Also, as noted above, the jury found appellant guilty of the offense of voluntary manslaughter, yet the verdict made no reference to a deadly weapon nor did it refer back to the indictment. Thus none of the three Polk methods authorizing a trial court to enter a deadly weapon finding have been met.

Easterling v. State, supra,

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Bluebook (online)
897 S.W.2d 791, 1995 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 40, 1995 WL 144225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-state-texcrimapp-1995.