Elisha Linville v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 18, 2016
Docket06-16-00055-CR
StatusPublished

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Bluebook
Elisha Linville v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

In The Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-16-00055-CR

ELISHA LINVILLE, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 66th District Court Hill County, Texas Trial Court No. 39,010

Before Morriss, C.J., Moseley and Burgess, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Moseley MEMORANDUM OPINION In August 2015, Elisha Linville had been staying a few days with his uncle, Ben Johnson,

in Johnson’s travel trailer. When Johnson confronted Linville about several issues he had with

Linville’s living habits, a brief altercation ensued, an altercation that ended abruptly when Linville

struck Johnson with a garden rake, rendering him unconscious. The offshoot of this fracas was

the indictment of Linville for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.1 After a bench trial, the

66th Judicial District Court of Hill County2 found Linville guilty and, after punishment was

enhanced for two prior felony convictions, sentenced him to fifty years’ imprisonment.3

On appeal, Linville argues (1) that the evidence was insufficient to support a finding

(a) that he caused bodily injury to Johnson or (b) that he used or exhibited the rake as a deadly

weapon and (2) that the trial court erred in not granting his motion for new trial. We find that the

evidence was sufficient to support the trial court’s findings and that the trial court did not abuse its

discretion in denying Linville’s motion for new trial.

I. Sufficient Evidence Supports the Trial Court’s Findings

A. Standard of Review

Linville’s first two points of error require us to review the legal sufficiency of the evidence

supporting the trial court’s judgment. In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, we review

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.02(a)(2) (West 2011). 2 Originally appealed to the Tenth Court of Appeals, this case was transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to its docket equalization efforts. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 73.001 (West 2013). We are unaware of any conflict between precedent of the Tenth Court of Appeals and that of this Court on any relevant issue. See TEX. R. APP. P. 41.3. 3 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 12.42(d) (West Supp. 2016).

2 all the evidence in the light most favorable to the trier of fact’s verdict to determine whether any

rational fact-finder could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable

doubt. Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 912 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (citing Jackson v. Virginia,

443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979)); Hartsfield v. State, 305 S.W.3d 859, 863 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2010,

pet. ref’d) (citing Clayton v. State, 235 S.W.3d 772, 778 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007)). We examine

legal sufficiency under the direction of the Brooks opinion, while giving deference to the

responsibility of the trier of fact “to fairly resolve conflicts in testimony, to weigh the evidence,

and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts.” Hooper v. State, 214 S.W.3d

9, 13 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (citing Jackson, 443 U.S. at 318–19). Further, in a bench trial, the

trial court “is the exclusive judge of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given to

their testimony.” Joseph v. State, 897 S.W.2d 374, 376 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995). As the trier of

fact, the trial court may believe one witness and disbelieve another “and may resolve

inconsistencies in the testimony of any witness.” Oliver v. State, No. 06-07-00180-CR, 2008 WL

2596214, at *2 (Tex. App.—Texarkana July 2, 2008, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for

publication) (citing Cain v. State, 958 S.W.2d 404, 408–09 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997)).

Legal sufficiency of the evidence is measured by the elements of the offense as defined by

a measure the courts call a hypothetically correct jury charge. Malik v. State, 953 S.W.2d 234,

240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997). The hypothetically correct jury charge “sets out the law, is authorized

by the indictment, does not unnecessarily increase the State’s burden of proof or unnecessarily

restrict the State’s theories of liability, and adequately describes the particular offense for which

the defendant was tried.” Id.

3 Based on the indictment and the statute, the State was required to prove beyond a

reasonable doubt that on or about August 18, 2015, Linville (1) intentionally, knowingly, or

recklessly (2) caused bodily injury (3) to Johnson (4) by striking him with a rake (5) which, in the

manner of its use or intended use, was capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. See TEX.

PENAL CODE ANN. § 1.07(a)(17)(B) (West Supp. 2016), § 22.02(a)(2); Baltazar v. State, 331

S.W.3d 6, 7 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2010, pet. ref’d). Linville only challenges the sufficiency of

the evidence that he caused bodily injury to Johnson and that during the assault, he used or

exhibited the rake which (in the manner of its use) was capable of causing death or serious bodily

injury.

B. The Evidence at Trial

At trial, Johnson was the only witness called by the State. Johnson testified that his

nephew, Linville, had been staying with him in his travel trailer for a few days. According to

Johnson, because of the limited living space in the trailer, they chafed each other’s nerves. Johnson

stated that he had not slept well the night before the incident because Linville entered and exited

the trailer several times, keeping him awake. Johnson was aggravated upon rising that morning,

and as he prepared coffee, he instructed Linville to cease cluttering up the place, to be quieter, and

to quit “laying around” all day. Johnson testified that Linville jumped at him very aggressively

and cursed him. Johnson told Linville to leave, and they kept exchanging words as they went

toward the door. Johnson said that Linville then put his hands on him, and Johnson spun Linville

around and pushed him out the door and toward a tree that was in the yard. Johnson then went

back to the porch. Johnson said that when he turned around, he saw Linville coming at him with

4 a garden rake, which he was holding in the same fashion as one would a baseball bat, and struck

Johnson with the rake slightly above and behind his right ear. The blow knocked him back into

the trailer and he was rendered unconscious. Upon regaining consciousness, Johnson saw Linville

about sixty yards from where he lay, walking off the property. Johnson also testified that he

initially thought that eighty dollars was missing from a jar he kept in a cabinet, but that he found

it a few days later.

Johnson testified that the rake has a fiberglass handle with metal tines and believed that he

had been struck by the handle portion. At trial, he did not remember telling the investigating

officer that he saw the metal tines of the rake coming at his head. He testified that he saw the

whole rake coming at him but acknowledged that his memory of the event after he was struck was

rather foggy. During a re-enactment of the incident with the district attorney, Johnson testified

that initially he saw the handle portion up and back, and the tines down, and that he may have been

struck by the handle end.

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