Michael Eugene Lewis v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 6, 2023
Docket01-22-00440-CR
StatusPublished

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Bluebook
Michael Eugene Lewis v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

Opinion issued June 6, 2023

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-22-00440-CR ——————————— MICHAEL EUGENE LEWIS, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 228th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 1742369

MEMORANDUM OPINION

The trial court found appellant Michael Eugene Lewis guilty of the offense of

aggravated kidnapping1 and assessed his punishment at confinement for 20 years.

The trial court also entered an affirmative finding that Lewis used or exhibited a

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE § 20.04(b). deadly weapon, namely, a knife, during the commission of the offense. In two

issues, Lewis contends that his trial counsel was ineffective during the

guilt/innocence phase of trial and that the judgment should be reformed to reflect his

actual jail-time credit.

We affirm.

Background

In August 2017, Lewis, his wife P.H., and their three children were living with

P.H.’s mother (complainant R.M. (“Mother”)) and seventeen-year-old sister

(complainant D.M. (“Sister”)).2 Lewis’s two minor sons by a prior relationship, E.L.

and O.L., were also living in the house.

P.H. testified that Lewis had a history of losing his temper and physically

assaulting her. She noted that he kept “guns and knives” and had used them to

threaten her on several occasions during their marriage. On August 13, 2017, Lewis

“strangled [her] and used a bedsheet to wrap around [her] face” in front of their

children. That night, P.H. and the children left and went to a domestic-violence

shelter.

2 In accordance with our common practice, and as did the State in its brief, we protect the identities of the children involved in this case by referring to them, and to their family members, by initials or pseudonyms. See Bays v. State, 396 S.W.3d 580, 582 n.2 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013); Jenkins v. State, No. 01-18-00987-CR, 2020 WL 1679697, at *1 n.3 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Apr. 7, 2020, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not designated for publication). 2 Mother testified that she did not know why P.H. had left or where she had

gone. Eight days later, Sister accompanied Mother to her housekeeping job at a

hotel. When they got home after work, around 1:00 a.m., Lewis was in the driveway

waiting for them. E.L. and O.L. were waiting for them in the house as well.

Mother testified that Lewis directed her and Sister to give him their cellular

phones. They complied and Lewis turned them off. Lewis, who was holding a knife,

asked where P.H. had gone. When Mother replied that she did not know, Lewis

“pulled [Mother] by her hair and took [her] down to the ground.” Lewis placed his

hands around Mother’s neck and choked her. When Mother awoke, her head was

wrapped in tape and her hands and feet were bound. She heard Lewis tell one of his

sons to shoot her if she moved.

Mother was carried outside to Lewis’s truck, and Sister, who was also bound,

was placed on top of her. Mother felt the truck start, and it was moving for a “very

long” time. When it stopped, Sister was removed. Lewis then “dragg[ed]” Mother

out and along the ground. Mother heard sounds that she identified as weapons being

loaded. Mother then felt Lewis place the cold blade of a knife against her neck, and

she thought that he was going to “slit [her] throat.”

Instead, Lewis said something inaudible and cut the tape from Mother and

Sister. Lewis put them back into the truck and drove back to the house. During the

drive, Lewis threw the duct tape that had bound Mother and Sister into the street.

3 And Lewis told Mother and Sister not to tell anyone what had happened, because he

had “friends who were in a cartel.”

When they arrived back at the house, Lewis directed Mother and Sister to give

him their clothes so that he could wash them. Mother testified that she and Sister

stayed in Mother’s room because they did not feel free to leave.

Early the next morning, Mother awakened Sister and the two of them quietly

left the house and drove to a police station. Mother was then taken by ambulance to

a hospital. The trial court admitted into evidence Mother’s medical records and

photographs of the wounds she suffered to her neck, chest, elbow, and wrists.

Sister testified that on the night of the kidnapping, Lewis “pulled [Mother] by

her hair” and “pulled both of us to the floor.” He put his hands around Mother’s

neck and strangled her, until she “turned purple” and “went unconscious.” Sister

further testified that Lewis told E.L. and O.L. to bind Mother’s and Sister’s ankles

and wrists with duct tape, and they complied. They taped Sister’s hands behind her

and put tape over her mouth. Sister noted that either E.L. or O.L. had a gun. Lewis

opened the garage and carried Mother to his truck. He placed her on the backseat

floorboard and placed Sister on top of her.

Sister also testified that Lewis drove them to a forest, where he “pulled

[Mother and Sister] out of the truck onto the grass.” Sister testified that Lewis had

a “hunting knife” and that she saw him “pull” Mother’s hair up and “put [the] knife

4 on her neck.” Sister thought that Lewis going to kill Mother. Instead, he cut the

tape off of Mother and Sister and told them that they were going home and that “none

of that happened.” During the drive, Lewis told Mother and Sister not to tell anyone

or go to the police because “he has people who can find [them] and kill [them].”

Sister additionally testified that, once back at home, she and Mother stayed in

Mother’s bedroom. Lewis came in and demanded their clothes and ordered them to

shower. Early the next morning, Mother and Sister left the house barefooted to avoid

waking Lewis or his sons.

E.L. testified under an immunity agreement with the State. E.L. testified that

at the time of the events, he was 13 years old. He further testified that when P.H.

left, Lewis was “outraged.” Before Mother and Sister got home from work on the

night of the kidnapping, Lewis told E.L. and O.L. “exactly what we were going to

do that night.”

According to E.L., everything “happened exactly as [Lewis] planned.” E.L

and O.L had duct tape and, at Lewis’s direction, they “taped [Mother’s and Sister’s]

hands first and then their mouths, then their legs and sat them down.” As they were

doing that, Lewis was “[s]tanding there with a gun.” E.L. further testified that during

the kidnapping two firearms were used—an AR-15 and a Glock. Lewis also

brandished an “all-black hunting knife” with paracord wrapped around the handle.

5 After Mother and Sister were bound, Lewis, E.L., and O.L took them to

Lewis’s truck. Mother and Sister were “stacked” on the backseat floorboard of the

truck and blankets were put on top of them. Lewis then drove everyone to his land

about 45 minutes away. Once they arrived, E.L. testified that he helped Lewis take

Mother and Sister out of the truck and place them on their knees. Lewis then directed

E.L. and O.L. to wait in the truck. About an hour later, Lewis, Mother, and Sister

came walking back to the truck. According to E.L., Lewis said during the drive

home that “We don’t speak about this. This didn’t happen. Everybody goes to bed.”

E.L. further testified that, early the next morning, Mother and Sister were

gone. Lewis then directed E.L. and O.L.

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