Patterson v. State

950 S.W.2d 196, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 3831, 1997 WL 412094
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 24, 1997
Docket05-94-01014-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 950 S.W.2d 196 (Patterson 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
Patterson v. State, 950 S.W.2d 196, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 3831, 1997 WL 412094 (Tex. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

*198 OPINION

CHAPMAN, Justice.

Appellant appeals his conviction for murder. The jury assessed punishment at ninety-nine years’ confinement. In six points of error, appellant generally contends: (1) the trial court erred in entering an affirmative deadly weapon finding; (2) the trial court erred in denying appellant an instruction on the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter; (3) the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to prove his intent to kill; and (4) the trial court erred in submitting a charge on the law of parties to the jury. We reform the judgment to delete the deadly weapon finding and affirm the judgment as reformed.

Facts

A rivalry existed between a group of young men from Sherman (the Sherman group) and a group from Denison (the Denison group). Appellant was part of the Sherman group. On August 30,1993, members of the Denison group drove to Sherman to retaliate against the Sherman group because they had “shot up” one of their houses. The Sherman group was at Ronald Polk’s house when appellant’s sister arrived and warned them the Denison group was in town and “riding strong.”

The Sherman group decided to find the Denison group. They got into three cars, and began the search. Appellant was in a red Nissan with Charles Jackson and two others. Appellant was in the front passenger seat, and Jackson was behind appellant in the back seat. Appellant had a Tech-9 semiautomatic pistol that had been converted to fire fully automatic. A Tech-9 fires nine-millimeter bullets. Jackson also had a weapon that fired nine-millimeter bullets.

The Sherman group saw a light colored Cadillac they recognized as belonging to the Denison group. The ear was coming out of an apartment complex. The Sherman group began to chase the Cadillac. The Nissan was in the lead.

The Nissan caught up to the Cadillac and the two ears bumped each other. Polk, who was in the car behind the Nissan, saw a gun firing shots from the Nissan’s front passenger seat, where appellant was sitting. Polk also saw shots fired from the back seat, where Jackson was sitting. The Cadillac crashed.

The deceased was found in the Cadillac after the shooting. He died of three gunshot wounds, one to the left thigh and two to the left abdominal area. The bullets recovered from the deceased’s body were all nine-millimeter bullets and were all fired from the same gun.

Appellant made a voluntary statement to police. In the statement, appellant admitted he went looking for the Denison group on the day of the shooting. He said he tried to shoot at the Cadillac, but his gun would not fire. He said Jackson was in the seat behind him, and he shot his nine-millimeter gun several times. He said another person in the car shot a .25-caliber weapon.

The jury found appellant guilty of murder and assessed punishment at ninety-nine years’ confinement. The trial court entered an affirmative finding on the judgment that appellant used a deadly weapon in commission of the offense. This appeal followed.

Deadly Weapon Finding

In his first point of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in entering a deadly weapon finding. Appellant asserts the trial court could not enter an affirmative deadly weapon finding because: (1) the jury was the trier of fact at both guilt/innoeence and punishment, and (2) the jury never specifically found appellant used a deadly weapon in commission of the offense.

The trier of fact is responsible for making the affirmative finding concerning use or exhibition of a deadly weapon. Ex parte Thomas, 638 S.W.2d 905, 907 (Tex.Crim.App.1982). Therefore, when the jury is the trier of fact, the jury must make the finding. Adams v. State, 685 S.W.2d 661, 671 (Tex.Crim.App.1985); Thomas, 638 S.W.2d at 907. The finding must be express; an implied finding will not suffice. Davis v. State, 897 S.W.2d 791, 793 (Tex.Crim.App.1995). The jury can make an express affirmative deadly weapon finding in three ways: *199 (1) by finding the defendant guilty as charged in the indictment if the indictment alleges use of a deadly weapon; (2) by finding the defendant guilty as charged in the indictment if the indictment names a weapon that is a deadly weapon per se; or (3) by making an affirmative finding to a special issue on use of a deadly weapon. Polk v. State, 693 S.W.2d 391, 396 (Tex.Crim.App.1985).

In the instant case, the indictment contained two paragraphs, both alleging that appellant committed murder on August 30, 1993. The first paragraph alleged appellant committed murder by intentionally and knowingly causing the death of the deceased by shooting him with a firearm. The second paragraph alleged appellant, acting with the intent to cause serious bodily injury, committed an act clearly dangerous to human life, “to wit: shoot[ing] at the vehicle” driven by the deceased. The second paragraph did not specify what appellant used to “shoot at the vehicle.”

The indictment thus charged appellant with murder under both sections 19.02(a)(1) and 19.02(a)(2) of the penal code. While the first paragraph alleged appellant used a firearm, a deadly weapon per se, the second paragraph did not allege use of a deadly weapon. The jury was charged under both paragraphs of the indictment and on the law of parties. The jury found appellant “guilty of the offense of [m]urder, as charged in the [ijndictment.” The verdict does not refer to appellant’s use of a deadly weapon. Additionally, the jury did not answer a special issue on the use of a deadly weapon. Because the jury’s verdict does not specify whether the jury found appellant guilty under the first or second paragraph, we cannot determine whether the jury found appellant guilty of shooting the deceased with a firearm. Nevertheless, the State asserts a deadly weapon finding was proper because (1) the indictment alleged use of a firearm, a deadly weapon per se; (2) the application paragraphs each alleged appellant personally used a firearm; and (3) the jury found appellant guilty as alleged in the indictment. We cannot agree with the State’s contentions. The State’s argument fails to recognize that only one theory of murder in the indictment alleged use of a deadly weapon. It is impossible to determine which theory the jury used to find appellant guilty. Because the jury did not expressly find appellant used a deadly weapon, we conclude the trial court erred in entering a deadly weapon finding on the judgment. Cf. Flores v. State, 690 S.W.2d 281, 283 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (deadly weapon finding improper when jury finds appellant guilty as charged in the indictment, but it is impossible to determine whether jury found appellant guilty as a party or as a principal). Accordingly, we sustain appellant’s first point of error and reform the judgment to delete the deadly weapon finding.

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Bluebook (online)
950 S.W.2d 196, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 3831, 1997 WL 412094, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patterson-v-state-texapp-1997.