Prince v. State

677 S.W.2d 181, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 6230
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 29, 1984
Docket04-83-00095-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 677 S.W.2d 181 (Prince 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
Prince v. State, 677 S.W.2d 181, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 6230 (Tex. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinions

OPINION

CANTU, Justice.

Johnny Prince appeals from a conviction for attempted capital murder. His guilt was established by a jury but his punishment set at fifteen years’ confinement was assessed by the trial court.

By his first ground of error, appellant alleges that the trial judge erred in refusing to disqualify himself by reason of being a named defendant in a suit for damages, filed in Federal Court by appellant.

The disqualification of a judge in Texas is governed by TEX. CONST. art. V, § 11 and TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 30.01 (Vernon 1966).

TEX. CONST. art. V, § 11 provides, in pertinent part:

No judge shall sit in any case wherein he may be interested, or where either of the parties may be connected with him, either by affinity or consanguinity, within such a degree as may be prescribed by law, or when he shall have been counsel in the case.

TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 30.-01 (Vernon 1966) provides:

No judge or justice of the peace shall sit in any case where he may be the party injured, or where he has been of counsel for the State or the accused, or where the accused or the party injured may be connected with him by consanguinity or affinity within the third degree.

The precise contention advanced by appellant has previously been rejected by our Court of Criminal Appeals in Chamberlain v. State, 453 S.W.2d 490 (Tex.Crim.App.1970). In Chamberlain claimed error was predicated upon a trial judge’s refusal to disqualify himself on the grounds that appellant had filed a civil suit against him and one of the prosecutors.

The term “interested in the case” was held to mean a direct interest in the case or matter to be adjudicated so that the result must, necessarily, affect his personal or pecuniary loss or gain. Id. at 492. The Court further stated:

Here appellant has not shown any bias or prejudice on the part of the trial judge nor has he alleged any facts that would show any pecuniary interest of the judge on the outcome of the present case. If the mere filing of a civil action against the judge presiding at a criminal ease would disqualify him, then any judge would be subject to disqualification at the whim of a defendant. Such practice, if allowed, could delay or prevent the trial of a case.

Id.

As in Chamberlain, appellant has not met his burden of demonstrating that the trial judge had a pecuniary interest in the outcome of the case. Appellant’s ground of error one is overruled.

Appellant next contends that the trial court committed reversible error in denying his motion for an instructed verdict of acquittal.

The record reflects that appellant did not rest at the time the State rested but instead elected to present his defensive testimony. By placing before the jury defensive evidence, appellant has rendered it unnecessary for us to consider the propriety of the trial court’s ruling denying his motion for instructed verdict. As in Seals v. [184]*184State, 634 S.W.2d 899, 909 (Tex.App. — San Antonio 1982, no pet.), appellant has by deliberate choice waived any review of the trial court’s action on that motion. See also Kuykendall v. State, 609 S.W.2d 791, 794 (Tex.Crim.App.1980) and Shirley v. State, 501 S.W.2d 635, 637 (Tex.Crim.App.1973).

In presenting his contention, appellant would have us limit our review of the evidence to only that presented by the State at the time it rested its case. Indeed, appellant’s third ground of error acknowledges the existence of the element alleged to be missing at the time the State rested its case but seeks to exclude its consideration because it was elicited on rebuttal and because this evidence was allegedly erroneously admitted into evidence.

We decline to limit our review of the evidence to only that presented by the Sfate at the time it rested its case. See Orr v. State, 124 Tex.Cr.R. 252, 61 S.W.2d 490, 493 (1933) (on rehearing).

R5] A sufficiency of the evidence challenge requires this court to consider all the evidence brought forth at trial including the evidence offered by the defendant. Angle v. State, 486 S.W.2d 308, 309 (Tex.Crim.App.1972); Williams v. State, 466 S.W.2d 313, 314 (Tex.Crim.App.1971).

Thus, it is possible that any shortcomings the State’s case may possess at the time the State rests its case may be cured through evidence finding its origin in the defendant’s theory of the case or in rebuttal of that theory. Orr v. State, supra, 61 S.W.2d at 493.

In the instant case appellant’s sole complaint appears to be that at the time the State rested its case and his motion for instructed verdict of acquittal was presented to the trial court, the State had failed to make a prima facie showing that appellant knowingly and intentionally attempted to cause the death of a peace officer by shooting at him.1

On rebuttal, the State successfully had admitted into evidence its exhibit number 28, a hospital record. The admission of this exhibit forms the basis of appellant’s third ground of error.

State’s exhibit number 28, a Baptist Memorial Hospital System physician’s report on the patient’s history and physical prepared by Pat Wilson, M.D., reads in its entirety:

BAPTIST MEMORIAL HOSPITAL SYSTEM
PATIENT: MCKINNON, Beatrice PHYSICIAN®: Dr. Pat Wilson ADMISSION NO: 82-06415-6
History of gun shot wound to the right hand-index finger and ring finger joint, DIP of the index finger and NP of the ring finger. Gun shot wound at the right temporal and also the right parietal region and parietal-frontal region. She is conscious. Denies any other problems. She is allergic to no medications. Has had a tetanus shot here in the Emergency Room. She states she had a history of nervous condition. She has been under the care of a psychiatrist. Her boyfriend allegedly shot her. She states she doesn’t know what happen [sic] really.
PAST HISTORY: No previous injuries, but she has worked at the Santa Rosa as a Unit Clerk. Allergic to no medication. Denies hypertension, cardiovascular or kidney disease, TB, arthritis or bleeding dyscrasias.
REVIEW OF SYSTEMS: Denies any head, eye, ear, nose or throat difficult [sic] except for headaches occasionally and nervousness. Denies any chest pain, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, back pain, upper or lower limb pains.
[185]*185PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: This is a well developed Black female of 26 years of age. HEENT: Normal except for swelling of the temporal region on the right side and has a gun shot wound to the right temporal region just at the right side and over the parietal region. The right index finger has a wound beginning

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Joseph Kevin Villyard v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014
In Re Lincoln
114 S.W.3d 724 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
in Re Charles Edward Lincoln, III
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003
White Consol. Ind. v. American Liberty
617 So. 2d 657 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1993)
Prince v. State
677 S.W.2d 181 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
677 S.W.2d 181, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 6230, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/prince-v-state-texapp-1984.