George Loran Dana v. State

420 S.W.3d 158, 2012 WL 6213501, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 10265
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 12, 2012
Docket09-11-00401-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 420 S.W.3d 158 (George Loran Dana 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
George Loran Dana v. State, 420 S.W.3d 158, 2012 WL 6213501, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 10265 (Tex. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

OPINION

DAVID GAULTNEY, Justice.

Appellant George Loran Dana pleaded “not guilty by reason of insanity” to the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The jury found him guilty. Dana claims that he was legally incompetent to stand trial, and that evidence of his drug use was improperly admitted. He claims that the evidence is legally insufficient to support the jury’s deadly weapon finding. And he argues that the statutory prohibition against informing jurors of the consequences of finding him insane violated his right to a fair trial.

We conclude that the record supports the trial court’s competency determination. Because the evidence of drug use was relevant, admissible under Rule 404(b), and not unfairly prejudicial, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence. The injuries inflicted and the testimony establish that the knife was a deadly weapon. Finally, we reject the attack on the statutory prohibition. The record reflects a fair trial. We overrule appellant’s issues and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

The Testimony

According to testimony at trial, Amtgard is an organization whose members recreate “fantasy elements of Renaissance” in costume, fight with foam swords, and participate in a “medieval feast.” The organization had a gathering at a campground near Colmesneil, Texas. F.L., an Amt-gard member, became aware of a man, later identified as Dana, who was not in costume and was walking around the cars. F.L. approached Dana and asked him how he was doing. Describing Dana as “incoherent” and “kind of fidgety[,]” F.L. testified Dana “looked aggravated” and was speaking rapidly and mumbling. F.L. explained he has seen a lot of “speed freaks[,]” and Dana looked “messed up” and “real high up on something.”

F.L. told Dana that the area had been reserved. Expressing his concern about Dana’s “being around everybody’s cars[,]” F.L. asked Dana to leave if he did not intend to watch the events. At that point, Dana turned and appeared to punch B.L., another Amtgard member, in the stomach. F.L. grabbed Dana by the shoulders and attempted to pull him away, but Dana struck him in the face. Someone screamed that Dana had a knife. F.L. realized his face had been cut. After several other people intervened, Dana was subdued, and F.L. was taken to the hospital by ambulance. He received twenty-seven stitches.

On the day in question, B.L. heard the sounds of an altercation approximately fifty yards away. He left his campsite to attempt to “calm the situation down.” While walking toward the location, he felt what he believed was a punch to his stomach. He did not see the person who struck him because it was too dark. He looked down and saw that his hand, which [162]*162he had been holding over his stomach, was covered with blood.

Another Amtgard member, P.K., testified he saw a man he did not recognize walking around looking in vehicles and at campsites. Dana was listening to P.K. and his friends talk while they were setting up camp. P.K. saw Dana attempt to open a locked truck. Dana approached the group and said, “What did you say about me?” P.K. told him that they were not talking to him. Dana repeated his question, and P.K. told him that the area had been rented and asked Dana to return to his own campsite. P.K. testified Dana “said, that ain’t going to work. And someone effectively said he’s got a knife.” Dana “swung” at P.K. “five or six times.” P.K. called 911. He later discovered that his right forearm had been cut during the altercation. When defense counsel asked whether anything about Dana left him with the impression that Dana was on drugs, P.K. testified, “Just the fact that ... we had three or four pretty good-sized people that had subdued him; and he was still ... able to fight them off.”

Upon arriving at the scene, Deputy Matthew Phillips observed a group of men standing around a picnic table. With assistance from some of the men present, Phillips picked Dana up from the ground, placed him on the hood of the patrol car, and put hand restraints on him. Dana was uncooperative, tried to remove the restraints, and attempted to kick Phillips. Phillips applied leg restraints. He explained that no drugs were found on Dana, and no toxicology screen was performed. Phillips determined what happened that night by talking to people at the scene. He learned of the knife when “[o]ne of the witnesses handed it to Deputy Calhoun[.]” Phillips testified that the knife was capable of causing serious bodily injury or death.

Deputy Donald Calhoun helped Phillips restrain Dana. Someone at the scene approached Calhoun and gave Calhoun a knife and a screwdriver. Calhoun took Dana to jail. Although no drugs were recovered, Calhoun testified he has encountered people who did not have illegal substances in their possession, but were intoxicated on illegal substances.

The defense called Tonya Cashat to testify. She explained she was in a romantic relationship with Dana, and she, Dana, and their daughter lived in a trailer at the campground where the Amtgard event took place. During the week before the occurrence, Cashat was not working outside the home because she had the flu. Dana, who normally stayed home to care for their daughter, was at home every day. Cashat testified that Dana was always agitated and “always believed that there was someone after him.” During that week, Dana never left the house without Cashat. On the day of the incident, she never saw Dana take narcotics.

According to Cashat, when the Amtgard members began entering the campground, Dana became more agitated and paranoid. He believed the Amtgard members were coming to kill Cashat or their daughter. Cashat explained that Dana was very fidgety, and he believed that television shows were sending him messages concerning what was about to happen. According to Cashat, “the longer the day went, the more people c[a]me, the more they surround us, the more [Dana] gets agitated, because the more trapped we’re getting.”

Cashat attempted to calm Dana by taking him away from the campground for a while that day. She explained that when they returned to the campground, Dana again became agitated. Cashat testified that Dana believed that his oldest daughter and her mother were bound and gagged in one of the Amtgard vehicles, so [163]*163Dana began walking around the campground to try to save them. He eventually ran to the Amtgard area, but Cashat did not see what happened. A man approached Cashat and told her Dana had attacked some Amtgard members. Cashat and her daughter left the campground. Cashat denied finding any drugs or drug paraphernalia in the residence when she returned a couple of days later.

Cashat testified that Dana had previously had episodes of agitation and hallucinations. He believed people were doing things against them, such as moving the walls inside their home. Cashat had taken Dana to a mental health center, as well as to Dogwood Clinic to see a nurse practitioner, Alicia Scoggins. According to Cas-hat, Scoggins prescribed medication. Cas-hat explained that after Dana’s arrest in the campground that night, he was taken to Vernon State Hospital, and she cut off communication with him for a time. Cas-hat testified that Dana stayed at Vernon for a couple of months, and when he returned from Vernon, he was normal and able to make rational decisions.

During cross-examination of Cashat, she testified as follows:

Q.

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Bluebook (online)
420 S.W.3d 158, 2012 WL 6213501, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 10265, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/george-loran-dana-v-state-texapp-2012.