Oiler, Robert Gene A/K/A Chris Edward Enke v. State

77 S.W.3d 849, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 2281
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 28, 2002
Docket13-99-00317-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 77 S.W.3d 849 (Oiler, Robert Gene A/K/A Chris Edward Enke 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
Oiler, Robert Gene A/K/A Chris Edward Enke v. State, 77 S.W.3d 849, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 2281 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

[850]*850OPINION ON REMAND

YÁÑEZ, Justice.

This case is before this Court on remand from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Robert Gene Oiler, appellant, was convicted in April 1999 of aggravated assault on a police officer. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 22.01 (Vernon Supp.2002).1 Appellant challenges his conviction with one point of error. We affirm.

I. Background

On August 27, 1999, officers Darren Staneik and Rick Boone, of the Jackson County Sheriffs Department, were dispatched to an accident along a state highway. While en route to the accident, the officers were informed that a fight had developed between the people involved in the accident, and that a baseball bat had been used. Upon arriving, the officers were warned by people at the scene that appellant was violent and had stated that the police would not take him alive. Stan-eik approached appellant, who was bloody from injuries sustained in a fight with his stepson before the officers arrived.

When he saw that appellant had a metallic object in his hand, Staneik ordered appellant to put his hands on his car. Instead of complying with -the officer’s command, appellant approached officer Staneik in an aggressive manner, swearing and holding a knife. Initially Staneik drew his pistol, but in a remarkable show of restraint, holstered his sidearm and used pepper spray to stop appellant, after appellant had approached to within fifteen feet of the officer. The pepper spray failed to incapacitate the appellant, so officer Boone assisted Staneik in wrestling the appellant to the ground.

The officers struggled with appellant while he was on the ground, eventually managing to handcuff him. Appellant continued to struggle even after being handcuffed, kicking and spitting at the officers. As Staneik was retrieving -the knife appellant had brandished, appellant kicked Staneik in the leg, just below his knee. Appellant also threatened Staneik when he kicked him. Appellant was still. on the ground when he kicked Staneik, and the officers left appellant on the ground and radioed for additional officers and emergency medical services. • ■

Appellant remained belligerent throughout the remainder of the evening, threatening most of the people who had contact with him, and lashing out constantly, even attempting to kick the emergency medical technicians who attempted to treat his injuries.

Appellant was tried before a jury, found guilty of assault on a public servant, and, with enhancements, was sentenced to ninety-nine years in the Texas Department of Corrections, Institutional Division. The charge provided to the jury at trial included only the charge of assault on a public servant. Appellant objected to the charge and requested that the charge include resisting arrest as a lesser-included offense of assault on a public servant. The trial court overruled appellant’s objection, and refused the amendments to the charge.

Appellant challenged his conviction, arguing in his sole point of error that the trial court erred in refusing to submit a jury charge on the lesser-included offense of resisting arrest. In&an unpublished opinion issued on December 7, 2000, this Court sustained appellant’s sole point of error, and reversed and remanded. Oiler [851]*851v. State, No. 13-99-00317-CR, 2000 WL 33739842, (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi December 7, 2000)(Seerden, CJ, dissenting)(not designated for publication). The court of criminal appeals, in an unpublished per curiam opinion delivered September 19, 2001, reversed our decision and remanded the case to this Court to consider in light of the court of criminal appeals’ decision in Lofton v. State, 45 S.W.3d 649 (Tex.Crim.App.2001).

II. Lofton v. State

A. Factual Background

The facts in Lofton are similar to those of the case now before this Court. See Lofton, 45 S.W.3d at 650-51. In Lofton, police officers in Temple, Texas responded to a domestic disturbance call. Id. at 650. When the officers arrived at the scene, they found Morris Lofton belligerent and upset. Id. When the officers attempted to arrest Lofton, he first attempted to flee, then struggled with the police officers, striking one of the officers in the face. Id. The police officers testified that Lofton stated “You’re not arresting me, you’ll have to kill me.” Id. Eventually the officers overpowered Lofton and placed him in handcuffs. Id. Lofton was convicted of assault on a public servant, and appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in refusing a jury instruction on the lesser-included offense of resisting arrest. Id. The Austin Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. Lofton v. State, 6 S.W.3d 796, 798 (Tex.App.-Austin 1999), rev’d, 45 S.W.3d 649 (Tex.Crim.App.2001).

The court of appeals held that the evidence at trial could have supported either a conviction for resisting arrest, or one for assault, writing that “[f]rom the evidence before it, the jury could have rationally believed that appellant intended to obstruct the arrest and the force he used was incident to that intent.” Lofton, 6 S.W.3d at 800. The court of criminal appeals reversed the court of appeals, stating:

We conclude that the evidence in the instant case did not raise the issue of the lesser included offense of resisting arrest. A defendant’s own testimony that he committed no offense, or testimony which otherwise shows that no offense occurred at all, is not adequate to raise the issue of a lesser-included offense. In Bignall v. State, we concluded, “if a defendant either presents evidence that he committed no offense or presents no evidence, and there is no evidence otherwise showing that he is guilty only of a lesser-included offense, then a charge on a lesser-included offense is not required.” The evidence must establish that if a defendant is guilty, he is guilty only of the lesser included offense.
The evidence at trial showed that appellant intended to assault a public servant who appellant knew was in the lawful discharge of his official duty. Appellant struck a police officer twice in the face during the officer’s attempt to arrest appellant, causing the officer to suffer pain and a cut on his face. Even if appellant had intended only to prevent his arrest, the force used by appellant against [the police officer], at the very least, recklessly caused [the police officer] to suffer a bodily injury. Regardless of appellant’s intent, the State proved that appellant assaulted [the police officer]. Resisting arrest was not a rational alternative to assault on a public servant in the instant case.

Lofton, 45 S.W.3d at 652 (quoting Bignall v. State, 887 S.W.2d 21, 23 (Tex.Crim.App.1994)).

B. Legal Analysis

Under Texas law, a defendant is entitled to a charge on a lesser-included offense if: (1) the lesser-included offense [852]

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77 S.W.3d 849, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 2281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oiler-robert-gene-aka-chris-edward-enke-v-state-texapp-2002.