Hunter v. State

161 Tex. Crim. 225
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 8, 1954
DocketNo. 27,161
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 161 Tex. Crim. 225 (Hunter 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
Hunter v. State, 161 Tex. Crim. 225 (Tex. 1954).

Opinions

WOODLEY, Judge.

The conviction is for assault with intent to murder with malice; the punishment, three years in the penitentiary.

Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to establish a specific intent to kill, contending that in the absence of evidence showing that a deadly weapon was used or that serious bodily injury was inflicted the conviction for assault with intent to murder cannot stand.

A specific intent to kill is an essential element of the offense of assault with intent to murder, the intent to kill being a fact question, the existence of which must be determined by -the jury from the evidence and cannot be presumed as a matter of law.

The jury may, however, infer the intent from any facts in evidence which to their minds prove the existence of such intent to kill, as from the use of a deadly weapon. Proof of the infliction of injury is not absolutely essential to a conviction for assault with intent to murder. Branch’s Ann. P.C., Sec. 1658.

The nature of the wounds inflicted sometimes justify the inference that a deadly weapon was used, and in turn, the use of a weapon which in the manner of its use is capable of producing death or inflicting serious bodily injury is sufficient to [227]*227authorize the jury to infer that the assault so committed, with such instrument, was with intent to kill.

Though statements may be found which appear to support such theory, we cannot agree that in every case of assault with intent to murder the evidence must show that the assault was committed with an instrument capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.

In Smith v. State, 160 Texas Cr. Rep. 227, 268 S.W. 2d 144, we upheld a conviction for assault with intent to murder, made upon an infant with the hands, and said:

“An assault with intent to murder upon a helpless child between 9 and 11 months old could consist of the slightest violence applied to its tender body and not necessarily be confined to a vigorous assault as would be necessary against a person of mature age.”

We have also upheld convictions for murder inflicted by the use of the hands and with the feet. See Saucier v. State, 156 Texas Cr. Rep. 301, 235 S.W. 2d 903; Ray v. State, 160 Texas Cr. Rep. 12, 266 S.W. 2d 124.

If the weapon used was not of itself deadly, the intent to kill may be established by other facts. Branch’s Ann. P.C., Sec. 1636.

The question for our determination then is whether or not the evidence is sufficient to sustain the jury finding that appellant intended to kill Mr. Turner.

In determining this question we are to consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the state. See Hankins v. State, 140 Texas Cr. Rep. 520, 146 S.W. 2d 195; Dunning v. State, 159 Texas Cr. Rep. 215, 262 S.W. 2d 495.

The assault was made upon W. A. Turner on the night of January 22, 1924. Turner was 78 years of age, was feeble, and had been in bad health. He testified that he was on a diet, had a bad stomach and high blood pressure and had been taking medicine; that his health had been bad for three years.

Appellant was 38 years of age and was described as a strong man, a man of robust health and strength.

[228]*228Turner operated and occupied a room in an apartment or rooming house. He had retired for the night before appellant came to his room, rattled the screen door, then jerked or pulled the dor open, breaking the hook, and without uttering a word began to beat Turner in the face as he lay in his bed.

Mr. Turner called for help, and when a roomer from upstairs arrived and said “Come out” appellant departed. In the meantime Turner had been beaten into a state of unconsciousness and was lying between the bed and the wall.

Asked to tell the jury the extent of his injuries, Mr. Turner testified:

“Well, on the back of my head, why - - I finally rolled over on my right side to keep him from beating me in the face, then, he must have used an instrument that he had, because there was a bruise up there on clear around, and well, about that time, this fellow Curley came down and assisted there and he went out, and they rushed me to the hospital. And I was on the operating table, I guess, an hour. I don’t know how many places were sewed up, and that was a big gash too, right there, and it was deep and bad too.

“Q. All right. How long did you stay in the hospital? A. Four days.”

Turner testified that there was no weapon used, but when asked “All he was hitting you with is his fists?” he answered “That would be all I could swear to because I didn’t see anything else.” No weapon was found at the scene.

Mr. Turner was recalled by the state in rebuttal, and was cross-examined as follows:

“Q. Now Mr. Turner, did you - - I believe you testified this morning, didn’t you, that you didn’t think Mr. Hunter had the intention of killing you, didn’t you? A. No, I don’t think I did. I think he fully intended to kill me. I think he came in there for that, with that particular idea in his mind, to murder me.

“Q. Well, what kept him from it? A. Well, due to the fact that I got some help down there. I squalled out there for somebody to come down there and Curley Fox came down and said, ‘What are you doing in there’ and told him to come out and he walked out.

[229]*229“Q. You think Curley Fox is the only thing that kept him from killing you? A. I do, absolutely.”

Dr. G. L. Straub attended Mr. Turner after the assault. He testified that Turner had multple wounds on the face and head and back of the head, and two cuts across his left knee, but said that his general condition was satisfactory. He described the wound found on the back of Turner’s head as a “contused wound,” and expressed the opinion that it was caused by some blunt instrument and not with a man’s fist. Dr. Straub testified also that Mr. Turner was “pretty badly beaten up” but was not in serious condition. On cross-examination he testified that the wound on the back of the head could have been caused from a fall as well as a blunt instrument, and the cuts on the leg could have been caused from broken glass. Also that Mr. Turner was in no immediate danger and not even in probable danger of death.

D. A. Fox heard Turner “hollering for help” and came from his room upstairs. He called to the person who was in Turner’s room to come out, and heard the crash of a window knocked out. He called a second time and appellant came out and said “I am going to beat fifteen dollars out of that old man.”

Asked if appellant had anything in his hands, the witness Fox testified:

“Well, I couldn’t identify it, but he did look like he had something folded up in his hands, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I couldn’t see it. Of course, his hand was folded big enough, but it looked like he had something in it, but I couldn’t swear that there was.”

On cross-examination he testified:

“Q. Now, we will go into this thing folded into his hand. That is just a surmise? A. I couldn’t swear to what it was.

“Q. You don’t know even if there was anything in there? A. Well, I didn’t see it much, I couldn’t swear.

“Q. It is just a surmise that there may have been something in his hand? A. Yes.

“Q. Now, then, as far as you know, he could have just had his fist doubled up? A.

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Related

Smith v. State
653 S.W.2d 835 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1982)
Harris v. State
562 S.W.2d 463 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1978)
Williams v. State
502 S.W.2d 130 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Brown v. State
475 S.W.2d 938 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1971)
Hunter v. State
468 S.W.2d 96 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1971)
Rhodes v. State
427 S.W.2d 889 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1968)
Hall v. State
418 S.W.2d 810 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1967)
Marion v. State
387 S.W.2d 56 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1964)
Flores v. State
331 S.W.2d 219 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1960)
Washburn v. State
167 Tex. Crim. 125 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1958)
Davis v. State
306 S.W.2d 353 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1957)
Pruitt v. State
299 S.W.2d 148 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1957)

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Bluebook (online)
161 Tex. Crim. 225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hunter-v-state-texcrimapp-1954.