Payne v. State

194 S.W.3d 689, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 4606, 2006 WL 1459870
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 30, 2006
Docket14-04-00876-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 194 S.W.3d 689 (Payne 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
Payne v. State, 194 S.W.3d 689, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 4606, 2006 WL 1459870 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

EVA M. GUZMAN, Justice.

In this case, appellant Tracy Lamar Payne asks us to evaluate the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for the murder of Billy Williams. He also asks us to determine whether the trial court erred when it submitted a jury charge that authorized the jury to convict appellant as either a principal or a party over appellant’s objection that the record contains no evidentiary support for the charge. Because the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to sustain appellant’s conviction, and because we find no reversible error in the jury charge, we affirm.

I. Factual and ProcedüRal BackgROund

On the evening of May 2, 2003, Billy Williams went to a bar in Houston, Texas with several friends, including Sequinia Moore and Lonnie Harris. Appellant and his brother Taft were also at the bar that evening. Both appellant and Taft knew Williams and his friends. A disagreement arose between Taft and Williams and the two began arguing. At this point, the testimony of the prosecution and defense witnesses diverge; however, it is undisputed that Williams was killed during a fight in the parking lot of the bar sometime after this argument, and that his death was caused by multiple stab wounds accompanied by blunt impact trauma to the head.

In separate statements to police, Moore and Harris said that Taft, appellant, and Williams exited the bar and began fighting outside; that appellant struck Williams on the head, knocking him to the ground; that one of the two brothers yelled, “Let’s go!”; that both brothers then fled the scene; and that Taft folded a knife and put it in his pocket as he fled. Bar patron Jimmy Wheeler identified appellant from a photo lineup. He told police appellant invited Williams to “go outside” where appellant and another man “jumped” Williams in the parking lot. Appellant and Taft were arrested and charged with murder.

*692 II. Issues PResented

Appellant presents six issues for our review. In his first two issues, he argues there is no evidence to support the jury-charge permitting his conviction as a principal or a party in causing Williams’s death with a knife. In issues three and four, appellant contends the evidence is legally insufficient to support his conviction as a principal or a party. In issues five and six, he challenges the factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction as a principal or a party.

III. Evidence at Tmal

Three purported eyewitnesses to the murder testified at trial. According to Moore, Taft and Williams had an argument in the bar and Williams’s party decided to leave. As Moore waited outside, Taft exited the bar, followed by appellant and Williams. Moore described the events leading up to the fight in her testimony:

THE STATE: As they walk out, describe for the ladies and gentlemen what you observe.
MOORE: They was talking, arguing and arguing and they put up they [sic] dukes.
THE STATE: ... Who put up their dukes?
MOORE: Taft and [Williams].
THE STATE: What happened?
MOORE: That’s when [appellant] knocked him in the head.
[[Image here]]
THE STATE: I want you to describe that for the ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I want you to be [appellant] and I’ll be [Williams], and I want you to show them how he struck [Williams].
MOORE: Like that (indicating).
THE STATE: Okay. With his two hands?
MOORE: All I could see was it go up. I didn’t see no object or nothing.

Moore testified that Williams then turned and fell on his back, and Taft and appellant continued to strike Williams as he lay on the ground. Taft struck Williams in the “upper head portion” of his body and on his chest, while appellant was on Williams’s lower torso, striking Williams “all over.” Within a few seconds, appellant ran to his vehicle, calling, “Let’s go!” to his brother. Moore testified that she saw Taft fold a knife and put it in his pocket before getting into appellant’s vehicle, and the two men fled the scene together. According to Moore, she was eight or nine feet away from Williams during the fight.

Harris testified that he saw Taft and Williams arguing in the bar. Harris further testified that he went to his car for cigarettes and witnessed the fight while he was walking back to the bar. Harris stated Williams, Taft, and appellant were standing in the parking lot, and Taft and Williams already had “exchanged blows” before appellant “came from behind” Williams and struck Williams in the head. Williams twisted and fell on his back, and Harris could see that Williams was bleeding. According to Harris, appellant and Taft then stopped attacking Williams, and Harris heard one of the brothers yell, “Let’s go!” Harris did not know which of the two brothers spoke. Harris also testified that he saw Taft fold a knife and put it in his pocket, but he was unsure if the brothers fled together or in separate vehicles.

Jimmy Wheeler did not previously know Williams, Taft, appellant, or the other witnesses. Wheeler testified that just before the fight, he had been standing about one and one-half feet from Williams at the bar. *693 According to Wheeler, Williams pointed out Taft and stated, “See that guy over there? That guy told me if I continue to talk to his girl, he’s going to kill me.” Wheeler further testified that Taft approached Williams ten to fifteen seconds later, and Wheeler heard Taft whisper to Williams, “I hear’ that. I told you to leave her alone. I’m going to kill you if you keep messing with her.” According to Wheeler, Taft left the bar, and appellant approached Williams seconds later. Wheeler heard appellant say to Williams, “let’s step outside,” and watched Williams follow appellant out of the bar. Wheeler testified that appellant and Taft “jumped on [Williams] immediately.” Wheeler stated that he ran outside and saw appellant and Taft run from the scene, and drive away in separate vehicles.

Dr. Dwayne Wolf, a deputy medical examiner for Harris County, testified about the medical findings. Autopsy photographs showed that Williams had ten stab wounds and a single blunt impact injury. Williams was stabbed three times in the chest, and the knife punctured his heart and both lungs. Another stab wound was located on Williams’s left shoulder, and another was located high on Williams’s forehead. All of the remaining five stab wounds were inflicted on the back of Williams’s head and neck. The single blunt impact injury was located near the top of Williams’s head, adjacent to the stab wound on his forehead. Dr. Wolf also testified that a knife is considered a deadly weapon; that a blunt object can be used as a deadly weapon; and that striking someone in the head is an act that can be considered clearly dangerous to human life.

Appellant offered the testimony of Shirley Moore, 1 who testified there was no fight between Williams and the Payne brothers.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
194 S.W.3d 689, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 4606, 2006 WL 1459870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/payne-v-state-texapp-2006.