Hill v. State

426 S.W.3d 868, 426 S.W.3d 900, 2014 WL 1280267, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 3471
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 31, 2014
DocketNo. 11-12-00068-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 426 S.W.3d 868 (Hill 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
Hill v. State, 426 S.W.3d 868, 426 S.W.3d 900, 2014 WL 1280267, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 3471 (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

MIKE WILLSON, Justice.

Sandrella Lakay Hill a/k/a Sandrella Spraglin appeals her conviction of aggravated robbery. The jury found Appellant guilty, found two enhancement allegations to be “true,” and assessed punishment at confinement for twenty years and a $5,000 fine. The trial court sentenced Appellant accordingly. Although there was sufficient evidence to support Appellant’s conviction, a harmful constitutional error did occur when defense counsel was precluded from asking a proper question, during voir dire, on the full range of punishment. Thus, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

I. The Charged, Offense

Section 29.02(a) of the Texas Penal Code defines robbery as follows: “A person commits an offense if, in the course of committing theft ... and with intent to obtain or maintain control of the property, he ... intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another; or intentionally or knowingly threatens or places another in fear of imminent bodily injury or death.” Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 29.02(a) (West 2011). The offense becomes aggravated if the person “uses or exhibits a deadly weapon.” Id. § 29.03(a)(2).

The grand jury included two enhancement paragraphs in Appellant’s indictment. The first dealt with a prior second-degree felony conviction in 2000 for burglary of a habitation.1 The second dealt with a prior third-degree felony conviction in 2000 for escape while under arrest.2

II. Evidence at Trial

Jesse Don Spain testified that on August 12, 2011, he was asleep on his couch in his apartment when, after 4:00 a.m., he heard a knock on his door. Spain opened the door and saw “Sleepy,” a/k/a James Andrew Richardson, and Appellant, whom he knew because Appellant had been in his apartment two times before and Richardson was her boyfriend. Spain told them to go away, closed the door, and went back to bed, but they knocked on the door again a few minutes later. Spain yelled through the door for them to go away, but they continued to knock. Spain got up because he was worried they would wake the neighbors, and he opened the door to tell them to leave. When Spain turned the doorknob, Richardson pushed the door in and knocked Spain over a love seat.

Spain said that Richardson immediately jumped on him and swung at him with his fists. Spain said that Richardson pressed his arm against Spain’s neck, choked him, and remarked to him, “You ain’t so smart now, are you?” As Richardson and Spain wrestled, Appellant took scissors from Spain’s end table and stabbed Spain in the stomach. Richardson then pinned Spain’s [871]*871head down so Spain could not move, and Appellant unplugged an upright four-foot fan and used it to hit Spain in the face. Richardson continued to hold Spain’s head down so that Appellant could hit Spain with the fan several times. Spain also said that Richardson later grabbed a curtain and tried to smother him.

Meanwhile, Appellant unplugged Spain’s television, but when Spain escaped from Richardson’s hold, Spain heard Appellant go to the kitchen and rummage through the silverware. Appellant took a steak knife from the silverware drawer, walked back into the living room, and stabbed Spain in the back three times while Spain struggled with Richardson. When Appellant tried to stab Spain’s head, Richardson told Spain, “If you don’t quit fighting and be quiet, we’re going to stab you in your head.” Spain thought they were going to kill him.

Appellant unplugged wires from the television and pulled it to the end of the piece of furniture it rested on, and the next time Spain looked over, the television was outside the apartment on the porch. As Spain gasped for breath and gathered himself, Richardson and Appellant left the apartment. Spain did not see who took the television from the porch.

Richardson and Appellant testified to a different version of events than Spain. Appellant testified that, on the night of the alleged robbery, she and Richardson were at Appellant’s mother’s apartment when they stopped by Spain’s apartment in the complex across the street. According to Appellant, Spain had called her earlier that day and told her to come to his apartment, but she declined to go. Appellant had known Spain about six or seven months, and at his invitation, she had been to his apartment approximately four times before this incident. Appellant went to Spain’s apartment on the night of the alleged offense because Spain had invited her earlier that evening and had given her money on prior occasions and she wanted to see if she could get some money from him.

Appellant and Richardson walked to Spain’s apartment and knocked on the door. Appellant and Richardson testified that Spain opened the door and invited them in and that neither Appellant nor Richardson used any physical force to enter the apartment. While inside, Appellant saw Spain and Richardson smoke crack cocaine out of pipes; Richardson also testified that he smoked crack cocaine with Spain. Appellant and Richardson testified that Spain asked Appellant if she wanted to spend the night and that, when she said no, Spain asked her if she wanted to have sex for payment. Appellant did not agree to have sex with Spain but agreed to “get him off, like masturbation” for $40. Appellant demanded that Spain take a shower, which he did, and then Appellant and Spain went into the bedroom while Richardson sat on the couch in the living room. Spain gave Appellant $40, and Appellant performed a sexual act on him. However, when Appellant refused to have intercourse, Spain became angry; Appellant then left the money on the nightstand, opened the bedroom door, and went into the living room where Richardson was sitting.

Still angry, Spain followed Appellant into the living room and aggressively pushed Richardson. Spain and Richardson wrestled and fought each other using their fists. Appellant testified that she did not observe anyone use a weapon and that she was never involved in the altercation between Spain and Richardson. Appellant said Richardson and Spain knocked over the television during the fight. After they fought for five or ten minutes, Richardson and Appellant left the apartment. Appel[872]*872lant said that Richardson took the television because it was broken after it fell during the fight. Appellant said that she never entered the kitchen and that Spain was never stabbed while she and Richardson were inside Spain’s apartment.

Richardson testified he and Appellant were at Appellant’s mother’s apartment when Appellant decided she wanted to go to Spain’s apartment because he had called her earlier. When Richardson and Appellant got to Spain’s apartment, Spain opened the door and let them inside because Richardson had some crack cocaine to smoke with Spain. After Richardson and Spain smoked crack cocaine, Spain and Appellant went into the bedroom while Richardson watched an adult video in the living room. Richardson said that, between 30 minutes and an hour later, Appellant came out of the bedroom and that Spain, who was “mad,” followed her out of his bedroom. Richardson said that he asked what was wrong and that Spain became angrier and told Richardson and Appellant to “get out.”

Richardson testified that Spain tried to “big-face” him, which meant Spain tried to put his hands on Richardson’s face and push him.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
426 S.W.3d 868, 426 S.W.3d 900, 2014 WL 1280267, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 3471, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hill-v-state-texapp-2014.