Dwayne Dale Billings v. State of Texas

399 S.W.3d 581, 2013 WL 607699, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 1423
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 14, 2013
Docket11-11-00047-CR, 11-11-00048-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 399 S.W.3d 581 (Dwayne Dale Billings v. State of Texas) 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
Dwayne Dale Billings v. State of Texas, 399 S.W.3d 581, 2013 WL 607699, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 1423 (Tex. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

JIM R. WRIGHT, Chief Justice.

The jury convicted Appellant, Dwayne Dale Billings, of the offense of aggravated kidnapping (Cause No. 11-11-00048-CR) and of three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child (Cause No. 11-11-00047-CR). The jury assessed Appellant’s punishment for each offense at confinement for life, and the trial court ordered the sentences to run concurrently. We affirm.

Appellant presents seven issues in each appeal. In the first issue, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. In the second and third issues, Appellant complains of the admission of hearsay into evidence. Appellant complains in his fourth issue of the admission into evidence of a partial television interview because the full version of the interview had been destroyed. In the fifth issue, Appellant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to transfer venue. In his sixth issue, Appellant contends that the jury erred in failing to find him not guilty by reason of insanity. And in his final issue, Appellant contends that his convictions violate the Double Jeopardy Clause. U.S. Const, amend. V.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In his first issue in each case, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions. We review a sufficiency challenge under the standard of review set forth in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 912 (Tex.Crim.App.2010); Polk v. State, 337 S.W.3d 286, 288-89 (Tex.App.-Eastland 2010, pet. ref'd). Under the Jackson standard, we examine all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether, based on that evidence and any reasonable inferences from it, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781; Isassi v. State, 330 S.W.3d 633, 638 (Tex.Crim.App.2010).

In his sixth issue, Appellant challenges the jury’s rejection of his insanity defense. When the State has proven every element of the offense beyond a rea *585 sonable doubt, a defendant is nonetheless excused from criminal responsibility if he has proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, the affirmative defense of insanity. Ruffin v. State, 270 S.W.3d 586, 591-92 (Tex.Crim.App.2008); see Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 8.01 (West 2011). The test for determining insanity is whether, at the time of the offense, the defendant, “as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, did not know that his conduct was wrong.” Section 8.01(a). For purposes of the insanity defense, “wrong” means “illegal.” Ruffin, 270 S.W.3d at 592; Bigby v. State, 892 S.W.2d 864, 878 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). The Ruffin court stated the question for deciding insanity as follows: “Does the defendant factually know that society considers this conduct against the law, even though the defendant, due to his mental disease or defect, may think that the conduct is morally justified?” 270 S.W.3d at 592. On appeal, the proper standard for review is whether, after considering all of the evidence relevant to Appellant’s affirmative defense of insanity, the judgment is so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unjust. Bigby, 892 S.W.2d at 875; Meraz v. State, 785 S.W.2d 146, 155 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Kile v. State, No. 11-09-00361-CR, 2011 WL 5617860, at *1 (Tex.App.-Eastland Nov. 17, 2011, pet. ref'd) (mem. op., not designated for publication).

The jury found that Appellant committed the following offenses: contacting the anus of D.B., a child under the age of fourteen, with Appellant’s sexual organ; contacting D.B.’s sexual organ with Appellant’s sexual organ; contacting D.B.’s sexual organ with Appellant’s mouth; and abducting D.B., by restraining her by moving her from one place to another, with the intent to prevent her liberation by secreting her in a place where she was not likely to be found and with the intent to inflict bodily injury on her and violate and abuse her sexually. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 20.04(a)(4) (West 2011), § 22.021(a) (West Supp.2012). Appellant specifically argues that the “properly admitted” evidence is insufficient to show contact with D.B.’s “anus” and is insufficient as to the other two counts of sexual assault in light of D.B.’s lack of credibility.

As for Appellant’s specific arguments, we note first that we must consider all evidence, even improperly admitted evidence, when conducting a sufficiency analysis. Dewberry v. State, 4 S.W.3d 735, 740 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). We also note that credibility is an issue for the jury to determine. The jury, as the trier of fact, is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses and of the weight to be given to their testimony. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 36.13 (West 2007), art. 38.04 (West 1979). As such, a jury is free to believe or disbelieve all or any part of any witness’s testimony. Sharp v. State, 707 S.W.2d 611, 614 (Tex.Crim.App.1986).

The record in this case shows that D.B. was nine years old at the time of the offense and that, due to an autism-related seizure disorder, D.B. regularly ran from her caregivers. D.B.’s grandmother had obtained a monitor to put on D.B.’s ankle or wrist so that she could be located when she ran. On January 4, 2007, D.B.’s grandmother left D.B., D.B.’s twelve-year-old uncle, a baby, and the babysitter in the car. D.B. got upset and scared because her uncle was hitting her and then hit the baby, so she got out of the car and ran, leaving her ankle monitor in the car. D.B.’s family, the police, and numerous volunteers searched for D.B. but could not find her. An Amber Alert was issued.

D.B. was thirteen years old at the time of trial and had been diagnosed with thirty-two disorders, including a form of autism called Asperger’s, bipolar, manic *586 depressive, obsessive compulsive, and extreme ADHD. After the abduction, D.B. became psychotic, was hospitalized, and was then sent to live in a residential treatment center. D.B.’s grandmother agreed with Appellant’s attorney that D.B. does not always tell the truth.

At trial, D.B. testified that, when she ran from the car that day, she wound up hiding in a bush. After hiding in the bush for a while, D.B. saw Appellant riding his bicycle.

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399 S.W.3d 581, 2013 WL 607699, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 1423, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dwayne-dale-billings-v-state-of-texas-texapp-2013.