Jon T. Banks v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 11, 2014
Docket03-12-00010-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Jon T. Banks v. State (Jon T. Banks 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
Jon T. Banks v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-12-00010-CR

Jon T. Banks, Appellant

v.

The State of Texas, Appellee

FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, 390TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT NO. D-1-DC-11-904061, HONORABLE JULIE H. KOCUREK, JUDGE PRESIDING

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury found appellant Jon T. Banks guilty of murder and assessed a sentence of

twenty-three years in prison. Appellant contends that the trial court erred by admitting portions of

his interactions with his friend Humberto Tambunga and the police. He also contends that the jury’s

verdict was not supported by legally sufficient evidence. We affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

Appellant’s girlfriend, Jessica Krause-Patterson, worked as a dancer at a strip club.

On April 12, 2010, Elmore Allen went to that club and bragged of having a lot of money, having

recently cashed an $1,800 paycheck. He stayed at the club for several hours and interacted with

several dancers, including Krause-Patterson. Allen drank heavily and fell asleep intermittently at

his table. Around 11 p.m., appellant came to the club in a car driven by his brother, Ricky Epps.

The brothers spent some time outside the club with Krause-Patterson, and she paid for appellant to

enter the club for a while. Shortly before the club’s 2 a.m. closing, appellant and Epps drove to a

gas station. Before they returned, Krause-Patterson accepted a ride from Allen. She testified that,

while Allen drove, he tried to put his hand down her pants and also grabbed her chest.

Krause-Patterson directed Allen to take her to the apartment complex where she and

appellant had lived with Eric “Gecko” Franklin. She testified that she did not want Allen to know

where she currently lived. At 2:04 a.m., Krause-Patterson texted Epps’s phone,1 “Are you at the

light to Geck’s or my club?” A return text stated, “The car in front of y’all.” Video recordings from

a store located between the strip club and Franklin’s apartment complex show a white passenger car

similar to Epps’s car driving past, followed within a minute by a white pickup similar to Allen’s

truck. Krause-Patterson said she directed Allen to park near the back of the complex because it was

nearer Franklin’s apartment.

Krause-Patterson testified that when she got out of Allen’s truck, he followed her.

She said that he grabbed her by her pants, then her arm. She testified that appellant arrived and

said, “hey,” which caused Allen to let go, but that Allen then blocked their path and said, “I’m the

man.” Krause-Patterson testified that appellant punched Allen in the face, Allen fell, and she and

appellant left.

Epps testified that appellant returned to the car about three or four minutes after

they had parked at the front of the apartment complex, and that Krause-Patterson walked with

1 There was testimony that appellant was without his phone and used other people’s phones.

2 him, carrying a duffel bag. Along their drive home, she threw some trash away. Krause-Patterson

testified that the duffel contained her clothing and that the trash was a paper bag into which

she had vomited from the stress of her encounter with Allen. Epps testified that appellant told him

that, if asked, Epps should not say anything about whether he and appellant had been to the

apartment complex.

Franklin, appellant’s and Krause-Patterson’s former roommate, found Allen’s body

at around 7:00 the next morning lying on an area of landscaped groundcover with his head lying on

the top of a stone retaining wall. The blood flow patterns on Allen’s face indicated to investigators

that he had been hit in the face while standing up, then lay on his back afterwards. The medical

examiner testified that falling on the stone wall caused Allen’s brain to swell, leading to

vasoconstriction, stroke, and death. Allen’s pockets were empty, as was his cell phone case, but

other valuables like rings and his truck keys remained. DNA was recovered from Allen’s clothing,

but appellant, Krause-Patterson, Franklin, and Epps were excluded as contributors of that DNA.

DISCUSSION

Was the evidence sufficient to support the jury’s verdict of guilty?

We will begin with appellant’s sufficiency challenge because that review will provide

context for our analysis of his challenges to the admission of evidence. The jury found that appellant

robbed or attempted to rob Allen and that, in the course of and in furtherance of that crime, he

committed or attempted to commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that caused Allen’s

death—namely, hitting Allen in the head with his hand or an unknown object. See Tex. Penal Code

§ 19.02(b)(3). Appellant contends that the jury should not have found him guilty of murder because

3 a rational trier of fact could have inferred only that he punched Allen to defend Krause-Patterson

from Allen’s alleged assaultive behavior and did not intend to kill him. See id. §§ 9.02, .32-.33.

In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction, we consider

all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to decide whether any rational trier of

fact could find the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia,

443 U.S. 307, 318-19 (1979); Temple v. State, 390 S.W.3d 341, 360 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013).

Circumstantial evidence is as probative as direct evidence in establishing an actor’s guilt, and an

actor’s guilt can be established with circumstantial evidence alone. Temple, 390 S.W.3d at 359. In

circumstantial-evidence cases, every fact need not point directly and independently to the guilt

of the appellant; it is enough if the conclusion is warranted by the combined and cumulative force

of all the incriminating circumstances. Id. The jury is the sole judge of the credibility and weight

to be attached to the testimony of witnesses. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319. When the record supports

conflicting inferences, we presume the jury resolved the conflicts in favor of the verdict and defer

to that determination. Temple, 390 S.W.3d at 359-60 (citing Jackson, 443 U.S. at 326).

The burden is somewhat different regarding defensive issues. A defendant has the

burden of producing some evidence to support a claim of a defense under Penal Code section 2.03.

Zuliani v. State, 97 S.W.3d 589, 594 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003). Once the defendant produces that

evidence, the State bears the burden of persuasion to disprove the raised defense. Id. The State need

not produce evidence, but must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. If the jury finds the

defendant guilty, then it implicitly finds against the defensive theory. Id.

4 Appellant does not here dispute that his punch caused Allen to fall, hit his head, and

die, but contends that the evidence is insufficient to show that he hit Allen in the course of robbing

or attempting to rob him. He contends that he did not take anything from appellant and was instead

defending Krause-Patterson. Krause-Patterson testified that Allen began groping her in his truck

and, at the apartment complex, repeatedly tried to stop her from walking away from him. Krause-

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Crawford v. Washington
541 U.S. 36 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Wilkerson v. State
173 S.W.3d 521 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Laws v. State
549 S.W.2d 738 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1977)
Ramos v. State
245 S.W.3d 410 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Manns v. State
122 S.W.3d 171 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Zuliani v. State
97 S.W.3d 589 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
De La Paz v. State
273 S.W.3d 671 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Woodall v. State
336 S.W.3d 634 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Castillo v. State
530 S.W.2d 952 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1976)
Montgomery v. State
810 S.W.2d 372 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Temple, David Mark
390 S.W.3d 341 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Jon T. Banks v. State, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jon-t-banks-v-state-texapp-2014.