Gaona v. State

498 S.W.3d 706, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 7641, 2016 WL 3947378
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 18, 2016
DocketNo. 05-15-00541-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 498 S.W.3d 706 (Gaona 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
Gaona v. State, 498 S.W.3d 706, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 7641, 2016 WL 3947378 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice Francis

A jury convicted Santana Gaona:of murder and sentenced him to fifty years in prison.. In two issues, appellant contends the evidence is legally insufficient to support the jury’s rejection of his claims of self-defense and sudden passion. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

In August 2011, appellant’s wife, Rosario, accused him of rape. The charges were ultimately dropped, but the couple remained separated. Two months later, Samuel Rojas, who was married to Rosario’s sister, hosted a family birthday party. Rosario and several of her family- members attended the party. Several hours into the party, appellant showed up and went to the back yard where several people were gathered.-.One of Rosario’s sisters saw him and was upset that he was there. She confronted appellant, and he decided to leave.

Appellant was getting into his car when Samuel’s brother, Javier, approached him and asked why he was leaving. Appellant explained that “they ran him off.” Then Samuel walked up and also -asked appellant why he was leaving. Appellant was seated in his convertible with the top and windows down as the three men talked. When Jayier walked off to go to his car, Samuel and appellant continued to chat. A few minutes later, Jesse Benavides walked up and asked to speak with appellant. Be-navides was the boyfriend of another sister of Rosario’s.

, Samuel said he moved back a couple of steps but remained close enough to hear what was said. Benavides was angry and told appellant he had “no shame” in coming to the party. He was talking loudly and wanted appellant to get out of. the car and fight. Appellant told Benavides he did not want more problems with the police, and Benavides assured him he would not call the police if appellant got out of the car. When appellant still refused, Benavides called him a “chicken.”

Benavides slapped appellant’s windshield and turned to leave. As he was walking away, Benavides said “fucking mother,” or a similar phrase. Appellant [708]*708immediately asked, “What did you say? Wait a minute.” Samuel said appellant got out of the ear with a pistol in his hand. This was the first time Samuel had seen appellant- with a gun. Appellant walked toward Benavides, who stopped and turned around. Benavides told appellant he was not scared of his “little pistol,” and appellant began shooting. Benavides tried to turn and duck, but appellant continued to shoot at him before fleeing- the scene. Be-navides was shot seven times and died from his injuries. A forensic pathologist testified all seven bullets entered Bena-vides’ side or back.

Javier corroborated Samuel’s version of what occurred and told the jury Benavides went up to the car and wanted to fight appellant. Benavides “said something” as he was “withdrawing,” and' appellant got out of the car carrying a pistol. Appellant walked toward Benavides, who stopped and said he was not afraid of “that little pistol.” Javier saw appellant shoot Bena-vides two to three times. According to Javier, Benavides grabbed his side and slid against a nearby car. Javier ran to the back'yard of the house to protect his children and heard more shots fired. Both Samuel and Javier testified that Bena-vides’ hands were empty when appellant shot him, and neither heard Benavides ever threaten.to Mil appellant.

Appellant did not deny he shot Bena-vides and generally agreed with the events described by Samuel and Javier, up to the point where Benavides demanded he get out of thé car and fight. Appellant said when he refused to fight, Benavides told him, “What I am going to do is I’m going to Mil you, motherfucker.” As he made the threat, appellant said Benavides reached for his hip pocket as if to grab a gun, but nothing was there. Appellant said he knew Benavides' owned a gun because he had seen it somé months' before. Benavides then started to walk toward the house but stopped at a car. Appellant said Benavides tried to open the car door, but it was locked, at which time he looked back at appellant and again threatened to kill him.

Appellant said because cars were passing on the street and he was focused on Benavides, there was “no way” for him to leave so he took his gun and got out of the car. He walked toward Benavides with the gun pointed to the ground. Samuel grabbed his hand or arm to take the gun, and Benavides “stepped forward.” Appellant hit Samuel “to get him away from my gun,” then lifted his hand and shot Bena-vides. Appellant said he did not know whether Benavides had a gun because Be-navides was unable to get into the car, but he shot him because he saw Benavides was coming towards him and “feared” what he would do. Appellant did not remember what happened next or how many shots he fired, but he knew there were ten bullets in the magazine and only one was left after the shooting, indicating he shot at Bena-vides nine times.

On cross-examination, appellant acknowledged that he gave a written statement to the police after his arrest. The statement was made in Spanish and later translated into English. The prosecution questioned him about inconsistencies between his statement and his testimony. In particular, appellant’s statement omitted that Benavides reached for his hip as he was threatening to kill appellant, and Samuel grabbed his arm or hand. Appellant testified he told the police this information, but it was not included in his statement. Appellant agreed that Benavides never touched him. Appellant also agreed he told the police that Benavides’ hands were empty right before he shot him, although at trial he said Benavides had one hand in his pocket.

[709]*709In his first issue, appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s rejection of his self-defense claim.

When an appellant brings a sufficiency challenge on the basis of his claim of self-defense, we do not look to whether the State presented evidence that refuted self-defense. Saxton v. State, 804 S.W.2d 910, 914 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). Instead, after reviewing all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, we determine whether any rational trier of fact would have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt and found against the appellant on the self-defense issue beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. The jury resolves any conflicts in the testimony and determines the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given to their testimony. See Wise v. State, 364 S.W.3d 900, 903 (Tex.Crim.App.2012). Our duty is to ensure the evidence the State presented supports the jury’s verdict and the State has presented a legally sufficient case of the offense charged. Montgomery v. State, 369 S.W.3d 188, 192 (Tex.Crim. App.2012).

As charged here, a person commits murder if he (1) intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual, or (2) intends to cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 19.02(b)(l)(2) (West 2011).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Joseph Dale Harris v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2025
Jeremiah Jordan Brown v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2025
Robert Michael Frazier v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2024
Christopher Mark Wall v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2024
Harry Anderson v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2024
Curtis Tyrone Bullock v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Ruben Alvarado v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Edwin Figueroa v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Andrew Martinez v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Clyde Earl Taylor v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2022
Ryan Matthews v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2022
Keithion Dywane Derrick v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2021
Cedric Dewayne Thompson v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2021
Randall Jones v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Javier Sobrevilla Jr. v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Christopher Jones v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Johnelle Renee Hall v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Juan Gonzales, Jr. v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Jacob Nathan Ross v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
498 S.W.3d 706, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 7641, 2016 WL 3947378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gaona-v-state-texapp-2016.