Lewis v. State

628 S.W.2d 276, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 4055
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 19, 1982
Docket07-81-0014-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 628 S.W.2d 276 (Lewis 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
Lewis v. State, 628 S.W.2d 276, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 4055 (Tex. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

COUNTISS, Judge.

The offense is aggravated robbery. The punishment, enhanced by a prior conviction for burglary of a habitation, is life imprisonment. We affirm.

A few minutes before 6:00 a. m. on September 3,1979, appellant and a female companion, subsequently identified as Cecilia Munoz, entered a Seven-Eleven store in Lubbock. As they were shopping, Martha Scott, the store manager, saw Munoz place an item in her purse. When the couple came to the check-out counter to pay for a sandwich and some candles selected by appellant, Mrs. Scott suggested they also pay for the item in the purse or leave it on the counter. Appellant became angry and the couple left the store without any merchandise. A few minutes later, they returned to the store, threatened to “beat up” Mrs. Scott and started throwing various items of merchandise at her. When Mrs. Scott attempted to telephone the police, appellant ripped the receiver off the telephone and gave it to Munoz. She beat Mrs. Scott on the head and arms with the receiver, knocking her to the floor three times. Appellant then asked Munoz if she had her gun. When she said “no” appellant asked, “Well, have you got that other thing?” Replying that she did, Munoz tossed appellant a black-handled folding knife with a four and one-half inch blade.

Appellant opened the knife and, waving it around, instructed Mrs. Scott to open the cash register. Mrs. Scott testified she was “scared to death” and afraid of “imminent bodily injury” from the knife. Another employee of the store, who observed the robbery but was warned by appellant not to interfere, testified appellant threatened to cut Mrs. Scott’s throat if she didn’t open the register. A police officer testified that the knife, later recovered by officers, was an extremely dangerous weapon capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.

When Mrs. Scott opened the register, Munoz removed the money and gave it to appellant who placed it in Munoz’s purse. The act of removing the money triggered a camera that took a number of photographs of appellant, Munoz and Mrs. Scott as the robbery was in progress.

The couple then left the store. As they left, several police officers arrived at the store and attempted, unsuccessfully, to apprehend the couple. On the ground outside the store, the officers later found the knife used by appellant and the purse with approximately $160.00 in it.

The film from the camera was retrieved and developed by the police department. An officer recognized appellant from the photographs and the police subsequently arrested appellant after finding him under a pile of clothes in the closet of a residence in Lubbock.

Appellant was convicted and assessed life imprisonment by a jury after pleas of not guilty to the offense and not true to the enhancing charge. In this court, appellant contends, through his counsel, (1) the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the knife used in the robbery was a deadly weapon and (2) the trial court erred “in not allowing appellant opportunity to confront and cross-examine the picture tak *278 ing device and the installers thereof as to its operating function and reliability, which effectively denied appellant his sixth amendment right of confrontation and cross-examination of witnesses.” By a pro se brief, appellant contends (1) the indictment was fundamentally defective, (2) the knife was not a deadly weapon and (3) the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction for aggravated robbery. We will first resolve the issues concerning the knife, then resolve the remaining grounds in the order stated.

Under section 29.03 of the Texas Penal Code, the first degree felony of aggravated robbery occurs when the person committing a robbery, Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 29.02 (Vernon 1974) (1) causes serious bodily injury to another or (2) uses or exhibits a deadly weapon. In this case, the State alleged appellant committed the robbery under subdivision (a)(2) of section 29.03 by using and exhibiting a deadly weapon, to wit, a knife. Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 29.03(a)(2) (Vernon 1974). Thus, the State was required to prove that the knife was a deadly weapon, defined in section 1.07(a)(ll) of the Penal Code as follows:

(11) “Deadly weapon” means:
(A) a firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury; or
(B) anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.

Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 1.07(a)(11)(A) & (B) (Vernon 1974).

Our Court of Criminal Appeals has consistently held that an ordinary pocket knife, such as the one used by appellant in this case, is not a deadly weapon per se under Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 1.07(a)(11)(A) (Vernon 1974). Limuel v. State, 568 S.W.2d 309, 311 (Tex.Cr.App.1978). However, a pocket knife can qualify as a deadly weapon under § 1.07(a)(11)(B) by its use or intended use, Denham v. State, 574 S.W.2d 129, 130 (Tex.Cr.App.1978), its size and shape and its capacity to produce death or serious bodily injury. It is not necessary that wounds be inflicted before a knife can be a deadly weapon. Dominique v. State, 598 S.W.2d 285, 286 (Tex.Cr.App.1980); Lim uel v. State, 568 S.W.2d 309, 311-312 (Tex.Cr.App.1978). It is sufficient if a knife capable of causing death or serious bodily injury is displayed in a manner conveying an express or implied threat that death or serious bodily injury will be inflicted if the desire of the person displaying the knife is not satisfied. Orosco v. State, 590 S.W.2d 121, 124 (Tex.Cr.App.1979). Specifically, a pocket knife with a three and one-half to four inch blade is a deadly weapon under Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 1.07(a)(11)(B) (Vernon 1974) when its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. Cruz v. State, 576 S.W.2d 841, 842 (Tex.Cr.App.1979).

Thus, under the foregoing authorities, a firearm or other object satisfying the description set out in section 1.07(a)(11)(A) is a deadly weapon per se. Any other object can be a deadly weapon if the evidence establishes its use or intended use in accordance with section 1.07(a)(11)(B), Tex.Penal Code Ann. (Vernon 1974).

In this case, there is ample evidence to support the implied finding of the jury 1

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Bluebook (online)
628 S.W.2d 276, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 4055, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-state-texapp-1982.