Finley v. State

529 S.W.3d 198
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 15, 2017
DocketNO. 14-16-00411-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 529 S.W.3d 198 (Finley 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
Finley v. State, 529 S.W.3d 198 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

Kevin Jewell, Justice

Appellant Jason Finley appeals from his conviction for murder. In two issues, he argues that he is entitled to acquittal because there is legally insufficient evidence that he committed the murder, or alternatively, that he is entitled to a new trial based on a racially motivated strike of a prospective juror during jury selection.

We affirm.

Background

On a Tuesday afternoon in April 2013, two teenage girls came home from school and found their mother, Darlishia Watson, lying dead on the living room floor. She had been stabbed 82 times.

When police arrived and searched the home, they discovered that Watson’s cell phone and keys were missing, as was the trash bag from the kitchen trash can. Police believed Watson was murdered sometime between 2:42 p.m., when she last sent a text message from her cell phone, and roughly 3:00 p.m., when her two eldest daughters arrived home from school. One [201]*201of Watson’s daughters told an officer, “[I]t was Jason.”

Appellant and Watson had been in a dating relationship for roughly eight months. Witnesses placed appellant at or near Watson’s house on the afternoon Watson was murdered. He left around 3:00 p.m. and is seen on a neighbor’s surveillance camera walking away from Watson’s house holding a white or clear trash bag. The neighbor, Craig, who was home that day, thought it was “suspicious” that someone was carrying a bag of trash down the street on trash day and the trash had not yet been collected: “why not just put the trash on the curb.” Craig “g[o]t a good look” at the man walking down the street and identified him as appellant; Craig also identified appellant from a photo array.

A twelve-year-old boy who lived in the neighborhood, Jonathan, was outside his house playing basketball around 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. Jonathan said he saw a man carrying a plastic bag walk “fairly quickly” down the street. Jonathan thought “it was kind of weird, you know. One, it was trash day and two, I’m not really sure why you would take a trash bag to a Texaco.”

While riding the school bus home, Watson’s oldest daughter saw appellant walking down the street carrying a trash bag.

Deputy Clayton, the investigator who processed the crime scene, noted the presence of bloodstains in the living room, where Watson was murdered, and in the kitchen. Blood stained the area around the kitchen sink, indicating that someone had tried to wash their hands or clean up after the murder. Bloodstains were present on the side of the kitchen trash can, which did not have a trash bag in it. Deputy Clayton sprayed the floor with a chemical designed to enhance any hard-to-see bloodstains. The sprayed floor revealed partial footprints going in both directions between the living room and the kitchen. There were bloody footprints on the floor around the sink and around the trash can, as well as a partial footprint on the trash can’s foot pedal, which could be depressed to lever the lid open.

Deputy Clayton believed that, based on the blood spatter, the suspect was likely wounded and bleeding. As he explained, when a knife is used to stab a victim repeatedly blood is likely to spread from the blade up the handle, making the handle slippery. If the knife lacks a guard to stop the assailant’s hqnd from sliding, the assailant’s hand often will be cut when it slides down the blade.

Police suspected appellant may have been responsible for Watson’s death. Appellant was living in a hotel at the time. Police officers went to the hotel the night of Watson’s murder to talk with him, and appellant consented to a search of his room. The officers seized three knives from appellant’s room, though police were ultimately unable to connect any of the knives to Watson’s death. Appellant also agreed to go to the police station to give an interview. During the officers’ interactions with appellant, they observed that appellant had a “pretty substantial cut or gash” on the palm side of his right-hand pinkie finger, consistent with Deputy Clayton’s expectations regarding potential injury to the assailant’s hand.

Police also asked for appellant’s consent to obtain a DNA sample, which appellant provided. Forensic testing revealed that DNA obtained from two blood swabs on the floor could not exclude appellant as a possible source of the DNA (and thus the blood).1 Harris County’s forensic analyst [202]*202testified that the chance of finding another African-American with the same DNA profile as appellant’s in, the crime-scene blood is 1 in 161 quintillion.2 The DNA analyst testified that “[y]ou would have to search [23 billion] earth[s] with the same population to find the same DNA profile again.” DNA obtained from the bloodstains at the sink was consistent with a mixture of DNA from two or more individuals; Watson and appellant could not be excluded as possible-contributors to that mixture.3

Appellant was charged with Watson’s murder. He pleaded not guilty and the case proceeded to a jury trial. The jury found appellant guilty as charged in the' indictment, and the trial court sentenced appellant to life in prison. This appeal timely followed.

Analysis'

A. Sufficiency of the Evidence

In his second issue, appellant argues that there is insufficient evidence that he committed the murder for which he was convicted. We address this issue first because it seeks .the greatest relief. See Campbell v. State, 125 S.W.3d 1, 4 n.1 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2002, no pet.) (reviewing court will first address issues that, if sustained, require reversal and rendition of judgment, before turning to issues seeking remand).

1. Standard of review and governing law

We apply -a legal-sufficiency standard of review in determining whether the evidence is sufficient to support each element of a criminal offense that the State is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979); Temple v. State, 390 S.W.3d 341, 360 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013). Under this standard, we examine all the evidence adduced at trial in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether a jury was rationally justified in finding guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Temple, 390 S.W.3d at 360; Criff v. State, 438 S.W.3d 134, 136-37 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2014, pet. ref'd). This standard applies to both direct and circumstantial evidence. Criff, 438 S.W.3d at 137. Accordingly, we will uphold the jury’s verdict unless a rational factfinder must have had a reasonable doubt as to any essential element. Laster v. State, 275 S.W.3d 512, 518 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009); West v. State, 406 S.W.3d 748, 756 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2013, pet. ref'd).

Appellant was charged with, and convicted of, murder. A person commits murder if, as; relevant here, he: (1) intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual; or (2) intends to cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clear[203]*203ly dangerous to human' life that causes the death of an individual. Tex.

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Bluebook (online)
529 S.W.3d 198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/finley-v-state-texapp-2017.