Leibengood v. State

866 S.W.2d 732, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 3066, 1993 WL 471326
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 18, 1993
DocketNo. C14-92-00345-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 866 S.W.2d 732 (Leibengood 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
Leibengood v. State, 866 S.W.2d 732, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 3066, 1993 WL 471326 (Tex. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBERT E. MORSE, Jr., Former Justice,

sitting by designation.

This is an appeal of a murder conviction. Appellant Leibengood claims that the evidence was insufficient, that he was denied a specific array of jurors, and that he was denied a jury charge on self-defense. We affirm.

We summarize the facts in the light most favorable to the verdict. Leibengood’s air conditioner malfunctioned. He called his grandfather to come over and repair it. Before his grandfather arrived, Leibengood laid a small-caliber pistol on the sofa and covered it with a towel or blanket. Leibengood’s grandfather arrived and was sitting in a chair when Leibengood became agitated, pulled out the pistol, and fired.

Ms. Betty Wesley, who lived across the street from Leibengood, heard four gunshots and saw Leibengood running out of his front door. Leibengood ran to the clubhouse of the apartment project where he said to Ms. Kathleen Kuzik, a real estate agent, “Someone’s been shot.” She called 911. Leiben-good waited near the clubhouse until police arrived. When Deputy Constable Ronald Brumley arrived, Leibengood pointed to a corner apartment and said, “It’s my grandfather. We were arguing.” Brumley asked Leibengood for the gun, and Leibengood told him that it was on a stand next to a chair. Brumley put Leibengood inside the patrol car.

Brumley went inside the townhome and found the body of Leibengood’s grandfather [734]*734sitting in a chair. Police found an empty .25 caliber automatic pistol and seven spent shell casings. The victim was unarmed. At the victim’s feet was a small screwdriver and flashlight. In his back pocket was a pair of pliers and a small volt/ohm meter. The physical evidence suggested that the victim was holding the screwdriver and flashlight in one hand and dropped them when he was shot.

A post-mortem examination of the body revealed that the victim sustained four .25 caliber gunshot wounds — one in the right upper chest, one in the right lateral chest, one in the right lateral shoulder, and one in the right upper arm which passed through the arm and entered in the lower lateral chest. Due to the downward direction of the bullet tracks, the medical examiner opined that the deceased was sitting when he was killed.

Leibengood gave police a videotaped statement in which he admitted killing his grandfather. While in jail, he called Jill Miller, a friend, and said, “This is Scott. I’m in jail. I had an argument with my grandfather, and I shot him.” When Miller visited Leiben-good in jail, he told her, “My grandfather would never say he was sorry.”

A jury found Leibengood guilty of murder. He appeals.

In point of error one, Leibengood complains that the evidence was insufficient to show that he caused the death of his grandfather intentionally and knowingly.

On review of the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and affirm the verdict if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Butler v. State, 769 S.W.2d 234, 238-39 (Tex.Crim.App.1989). Where the record supports conflicting inferences, we presume that the trier of fact resolved such conflicts in favor of the State. Jackson, supra 443 U.S. at 326, 99 S.Ct. at 2792. The jury is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses. Sharp v. State, 707 S.W.2d 611, 614 (Tex.Crim.App.1986), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 872, 109 S.Ct. 190, 102 L.Ed.2d 159 (1988). We may not sit as the thirteenth juror and reweigh the evidence. Moreno v. State, 755 S.W.2d 866, 867 (Tex.Crim.App.1988).

In the light most favorable to the verdict, we summarize the evidence bearing on Leibengood’s criminal intent. There was evidence from two psychiatric experts that Leibengood was sane and competent. There was evidence of planning, i.e., Leibengood’s prepositioning and concealing of the pistol on the sofa. There were seven spent shell casings, with four shots striking the victim. Finally, Leibengood used a deadly weapon against his grandfather. See Flanagan v. State, 675 S.W.2d 734, 744 (Tex.Crim.App.1984) (intent to kill may be inferred by the jury from the use of a deadly weapon). While Leibengood’s killing of his grandfather may appear senseless, “[I]t is never indispensable to a conviction that a motive for the commission of crime should appear.” Preston v. State, 8 Tex.Ct.App. 30, 38 (1880).

We find that any rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Leibengood caused the death of his grandfather knowingly and intentionally. We overrule point one.

In point two, Leibengood contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a specific array of jurors.

Leibengood is a dwarf, between 4'5" and 4'8". He filed a motion for a specific array of jurors to be assembled for his trial. He wanted some persons in the venire under five feet tall who would understand the prejudices of taller people against little people and the emotional and mental processes of little people. He wanted at least an opportunity for a jury of his peers.

He argues that dwarf persons are a cognizable group. They have common needs and attitudes, as well as experiencing common frustrations and discriminations. Particularly because the penal code allows evidence of the previous relationship existing between the accused and the deceased in a criminal homicide prosecution, together with any relevant facts and circumstances going to show the condition of the mind of the accused at [735]*735the time of the offense, the availability of at least some persons who can relevantly examine the viewpoint of the accused was essential. See TexPenal Code Ann. § 19.06 (Vernon Supp.1993).

Leibengood asserts that the denial of his motion for a specific array of jurors denied him his right to a fair and impartial jury under the United States and Texas Constitutions. U.S. Const, amend. VI; Tex. Const. art. I, § 10. He contends also that it denied him his right to equal protection of the law. U.S. Const, amend. XIV; Tex. Const, art. I, § 3a.

“The Sixth Amendment requirement of a fair cross section on the venire is a means of assuring, not a representative jury (which the Constitution does not demand), but an impartial one (which it does).” Holland v. Illinois, 493 U.S. 474, 479, 110 S.Ct. 803, 807, 107 L.Ed.2d 905 (1990) (emphasis in original). That is, there is “no requirement that the petit juries actually chosen must mirror the community and reflect the various distinctive groups in the population.” Id. at 483, 110 S.Ct. at 808-09, citing Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 538, 95 S.Ct. 692, 537, 42 L.Ed.2d 690 (1975) (emphasis added); Seubert v.

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Bluebook (online)
866 S.W.2d 732, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 3066, 1993 WL 471326, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leibengood-v-state-texapp-1993.