Heckert v. State

612 S.W.2d 549, 1981 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1011
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 25, 1981
Docket59979
StatusPublished
Cited by100 cases

This text of 612 S.W.2d 549 (Heckert v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Heckert v. State, 612 S.W.2d 549, 1981 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1011 (Tex. 1981).

Opinion

OPINION

TOM G. DAVIS, Judge.

Appeal is taken from a conviction for capital murder. After finding appellant guilty, the jury answered “no” to the first two special issues under Art. 37.071(b)(1), (2), V.A.C.C.P. Punishment was assessed at life.

Appellant was convicted of having murdered Anne Loftis while in the course of committing a burglary in the Sagemont Addition of Houston on August 6, 1975. The victim died as a result of gunshot wounds. Appellant denied commission of the offense.

In his third ground of error, appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. Specifically, he maintains that the State failed to prove that he intentionally or knowingly caused the death of the deceased.

Appellant’s written statement was admitted into evidence at trial. In that statement, appellant relates that he and another party (identified as Tommy in the statement) broke into a home. A portion of the statement is as follows:

“ ... After we got in the house Tommy told me to watch the hallway. Tommy then told me there was a purse laying on the couch. Tommy said ‘Here, hold this’ and he pulled a pistol from his waist and handed it to me. As soon as Tommy handed me the pistol I heard a noise and saw a shadow coming from a room on my left. All I remember doing then was just holding the trigger back and hearing a scream. I do not know how many times I fired the gun but I do know I fired at least twice. .. . ”

In order for a homicide to be punishable, the evidence must show that the defendant committed a voluntary act with the requisite culpable mental state. Simpkins v. State, 590 S.W.2d 129 (Tex.Cr.App.). Proof of a culpable mental state will generally rely on circumstantial evidence. Dillon v. State, 574 S.W.2d 92 (Tex.Cr.App.).

V.T.C.A. Penal Code, Sec. 6.03(a) and (b), provides as follows:

“(a) A person acts intentionally, or with intent, with respect to the nature of his conduct or to a result of his conduct when it is his conscious objective or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the result. “(b) A person acts knowingly, or with knowledge, with respect to the nature of his conduct or to circumstances surrounding his conduct when he is aware of the nature of his conduct or that the circumstances exist. A person acts knowingly, or with knowledge, with respect to a result of his conduct when he is aware that his conduct is reasonably certain to cause the result.”

The evidence in the instant case reveals that appellant was armed with a pistol while inside a burglarized home. Upon seeing a person other than his codefendant, appellant fired two shots which brought about the death of the deceased. We conclude that the evidence presented by the State was sufficient for the jury to find that appellant intentionally or knowingly caused the death of the deceased.

In his fourth ground of error, appellant contends that the court erred in admitting eight photographs of the deceased into evidence. He maintains that these photographs were admitted solely to inflame the jury.

*551 The photographs depict the deceased lying in a pool of blood on the floor of her home. Cheryl Sierk, a neighbor of the deceased, testified that the photographs truly and accurately depicted the scene of the offense and the condition of the deceased’s body.

Testimony concerning the scene of a murder, including a description of the body is admissible to throw light on the transaction and reveal its general nature. Campbell v. State, 525 S.W.2d 4 (Tex.Cr.App.); Bell v. State, 442 S.W.2d 716 (Tex.Cr.App.). If a verbal description of the body and scene is admissible, then a photograph depicting the same is admissible. Luck v. State, 588 S.W.2d 371 (Tex.Cr.App.); Martin v. State, 475 S.W.2d 265 (Tex.Cr.App.). It has been stated that a photograph is merely a graphic portrayal of oral testimony. Welch v. State, 576 S.W.2d 638 (Tex. Cr.App.).

We find that the photographs in question depicting the physical condition of the body and the scene of the offense were properly admitted into evidence. Appellant’s fourth ground of error is overruled.

In his fifth ground of error, appellant maintains that the court erred in admitting the victim’s bloodstained nightgown into evidence. He contends that the gown was admitted solely to inflame the jury.

This Court recently addressed the issue of the admissibility of bloodstained clothing worn by the victim of a criminal offense. In Bradford v. State, 608 S.W.2d 918 (Tex. Cr.App.), it was held that if a verbal description of the body and scene is admissible, the clothing worn by the victim of the offense, even if bloodstained is admissible into evidence.

We find that a description of the victim’s body and clothing at the scene was admissible to throw light on the offense and reveal its general nature. Such a verbal description being admissible, the clothing worn by the deceased was likewise admissible in evidence. No error is shown in the trial court overruling appellant’s objection to the admission of the victim’s nightgown.

In his first ground of error, appellant contends that the court erred in admitting evidence of an extraneous offense. He maintains that the evidence was admitted in order to “brand [ajppellant as an armed robber.”

Appellant testified that after he was arrested, he was questioned by officers concerning various robberies. In describing his willingness to cooperate with the officers, appellant stated as follows:

“Q. What happened the next Saturday morning?
“A. Well, I think it was Detective Mu-sick come to get me, because it wasn’t the same ones that arrested me. He didn’t come up — Bonds didn’t come up. Musick come and got me, to the best of my knowledge, and took me down to the Robbery Division. He sat me in there, and some other detective was sitting in there, and the other detective that was sitting at the chair asked me if I would sign a waiver to a lineup, because they were investigating some robberies.
“Q. Did you sign the lineup waiver?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. Why?
“A. I didn’t do any robberies. So, I wasn’t worried about it.”

Following the above testimony, the State called Lorna Hagen. The witness stated that she was employed at a 7-11 convenience store in Pasadena. Hagen stated that on August 4, 1975, appellant and another party entered the store.

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Bluebook (online)
612 S.W.2d 549, 1981 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1011, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/heckert-v-state-texcrimapp-1981.