Jackson v. State

822 S.W.2d 18, 1990 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 142, 1990 WL 324477
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 19, 1990
Docket69612
StatusPublished
Cited by66 cases

This text of 822 S.W.2d 18 (Jackson 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
Jackson v. State, 822 S.W.2d 18, 1990 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 142, 1990 WL 324477 (Tex. 1990).

Opinions

OPINION

TEAGUE, Judge.

A jury convicted appellant, Jimmy Jackson, AKA Johnny Ray Carter, of capital murder under Y.T.C.A. Penal Code, § 19.-03(a)(2). The jury answered in the affirmative each of the three special issues that were submitted to it. See Art. 37.071, Y.A.C.C.P. Consequently, the trial judge sentenced appellant to death. Appeal to this Court is automatic. See Article 37.071, supra. At the time of the commission of the offense, appellant was only 17 years of age.1

Appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, either as to his guilt or to the affirmative answers to the special issues. The facts show that on July 6, 1985, Robert Lee Brown, the deceased, was a taxicab driver in Houston. He was robbed and shot five times, with four of the shots striking him in his face and temple, and one striking him in the shoulder. Death resulted from the one shot to his temple. Appellant gave two statements to the police in which he admitted that he pointed a gun at Brown’s head and told Brown that he was going to rob him. Appellant stated that Brown reached over and tried to take his gun from him, during which struggle he shot Brown.

At the punishment stage of the trial, the State proved that when appellant murdered Brown, he, appellant, was on probation for burglary. James Jackson, another taxicab driver, but no relation to appellant, testified that on July 4, 1985, appellant and another man got into his taxicab, after which appellant placed a gun at Jackson’s head, robbed him, and forced him to get inside of the trunk of the taxicab. After the taxicab crashed into a house, people inside the house came out and got Jackson out of the trunk. Appellant avoided capture.

Theodore Williams, another taxicab driver, testified at the punishment hearing that on the same day as the Jackson robbery, July 4, 1985, appellant and another man robbed him. Appellant’s companion pointed a gun at Williams while appellant looked for money in the front seat of the taxicab. Williams told them he did not have any money. Appellant found money in William’s pockets and told his companion to shoot Williams, but his companion did not do so. After also taking Williams’ gold chains and watch, the two fled.

In the evening of the day appellant murdered Robert Brown, appellant and another man flagged down Harmony Agugua, another taxicab driver. After directing Agu-gua to a dead-end street, the two demanded Agugua’s money, which he kept in the trunk of his cab. Appellant stood behind the trunk and as Agugua got out of the car and walked back toward the trunk of the car, appellant shot him in the leg. Although Agugua had been shot in the leg, he successfully managed to escape and get help.

[22]*22Appellant was arrested on the night of July 6, 1985, after the shooting of Agugua. At the time of his arrest he possessed a revolver and 39 rounds of ammunition.

The State also offered evidence showing that from the time of his arrest in July, 1985, through trial in early 1986, appellant was transferred numerous times within the Harris County jail because he fought with other inmates. He was placed in administrative segregation, by himself, because he was considered a threat to the general jail population. Appellant also threatened to kill Edward Donald Miles, one of the deputies who testified against him at the punishment phase. The State also introduced evidence that during the trial of the case appellant possessed a handmade knife.

The only evidence appellant introduced at the punishment phase of the trial were the two statements he had made to the police concerning the instant case in which he stated that Brown struggled with him, during which struggle appellant shot Brown.

In his first two points of error, appellant asserts that the Texas capital murder scheme is unconstitutional because it applies to defendants who are 17 years of age at the time the capital offense was committed.2 Appellant contends that because he was 17 years old at the time of the offense his age alone should bar imposition of the death penalty as cruel and unusual punishment under either the Texas or United States Constitution. We disagree.

In Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361, 109 S.Ct. 2969, 106 L.Ed.2d 306 (1989), the United States Supreme Court held that imposition of the death penalty on an individual who was 16 or 17 years-old at the time of the commission of the offense does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Thus, appellant’s claim under the United States Constitution is without merit. Compare, however, Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815, 108 S.Ct. 2687, 101 L.Ed.2d 702 (1988).

In Ferguson v. State, 573 S.W.2d 516 (Tex.Cr.App.1978), this Court stated, without direct reference to either the Texas or United States Constitution, that the death penalty was not unjust for a 17 year-old in light of the facts of the offense. Appellant also acknowledges this Court’s decision in Barney v. State, 698 S.W.2d 114 (Tex.Cr.App.1985), in which we stated that a defendant’s youth alone will not prevent the imposition of the death penalty. See also Livingston v. State, 739 S.W.2d 311 (Tex.Cr.App.1987), and Cannon v. State, 691 S.W.2d 664 (Tex.Cr.App.1985). In these cases, this Court upheld the imposition of the death penalty by stating that youth alone will not prevent imposition of the death penalty. In light of these cases and Stanford, we reaffirm what has been at least implicit in our past decisions, that an individual who was above the age of 17 when he commits the offense of capital murder may be sentenced to death without offending constitutional provisions concerning cruel and unusual punishment.

Appellant also argues that because there is nothing within Art. 37.071, supra, that authorizes jury consideration of a defendant’s youthful age as mitigating evidence, the statute is unconstitutional. He argues that the special issues do not allow for consideration of the age of the defen-' dant. We disagree.

In Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S.Ct. 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989), the United States Supreme Court held the Texas capital murder statute unconstitutional “as applied” in the face of a challenge based upon lack of additional instructions concerning mitigating circumstances. The mitigating factors at issue in Penry — mental retardation and child abuse — are not present in the instant case.

In Franklin v. Lynaugh, 487 U.S. 164, 108 S.Ct. 2320, 101 L.Ed.2d 155 (1988) (plurality opinion), the defendant requested a special instruction at the punishment phase for the jury to give consideration to evidence showing that he had no record of disciplinary violations while incarcerated awaiting trial. The Franklin plurality held that “petitioner was accorded full op[23]*23portunity to have his sentencing jury consider and give effect to any mitigating impulse that petitioner’s prison record might have suggested to the jury as they proceeded with their task.” Id. 108 S.Ct. at 2329.

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Bluebook (online)
822 S.W.2d 18, 1990 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 142, 1990 WL 324477, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-state-texcrimapp-1990.