Pritchett v. State

874 S.W.2d 168, 1994 WL 74436
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 31, 1994
DocketA14-92-01129-CR, A14-92-01130-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 874 S.W.2d 168 (Pritchett 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
Pritchett v. State, 874 S.W.2d 168, 1994 WL 74436 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

MURPHY, Justice.

Appellant entered a plea of not guilty before a jury to two counts of aggravated robbery, TexPenal Code Ann. § 29.03 (Vernon Supp.1994). The plea stemmed from two separate indictments which were joined for trial at the request of the State and with the consent of appellant. The jury found appellant guilty on both counts, and the court sentenced appellant to life imprisonment for each case. Appellant brings eight points of error, complaining of the trial court’s making an affirmative finding of use of a deadly weapon, the admission of irrelevant and prejudicial evidence, the admission of hearsay, ineffective assistance of counsel, and failure of the trial court to include a jury charge on a lesser included offense. We affirm.

Charlene Dowding worked for Industry Federal Credit Union, where one of her duties was to perform all of the credit union’s banking. On the morning of November 22, 1991, she went to a bank and picked up $8001.00 in cash for use at the credit union. When she arrived back at the credit union’s parking lot and opened her car door, she heard someone say “Give me your money. She turned and saw appellant holding a gun pointed at her head. Ms. Dowding handed him the bank bag, but he also pulled the purse off her arm and said “Give me the rest of your money.” When she told him he had all the money, his companion sprayed her with mace and the two men fled.

On the morning of January 17, 1992, Theresa Patterson and Leon Horowitz were working in Mr. Horowitz’s pawn shop. Appellant and a companion, later identified as Lee Blackshear, entered the shop and asked Ms. Patterson about a layaway. While Ms. Patterson was checking on the layaway, the men pulled out guns and ordered her and Mr. Horowitz to he on the floor. The two men started kicking the jewelry showcase, but when it did not break, Blackshear asked Mr. Horowitz how to open the case. Mr. Horowitz told him there was a key in the drawer. Blackshear took the key and laid his gun in the drawer while he opened the case. Mr. Horowitz took that opportunity to hit the alarm button, drew his own gun and shot Blackshear. When his accomplice was shot, appellant went over to Ms. Patterson and stamped his foot on her back to hold her down while he shouted for Blackshear to throw him his gun. He also continued pointing his own gun at Mr. Horowitz, repeating “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you,” but the bullets in his gun kept falling out onto the floor. Mr. Horowitz kept his gun pointed at appellant and directed him to take his companion outside and wait for the police. Both Mr. Horowitz and Ms. Patterson then held appellant at gunpoint, but he started running and escaped before the police arrived. Blackshear died approximately one week later as a result of his wounds.

Based on a tip from an informant, the police arrested appellant for both robberies, and he was positively identified by Ms. Dowding, another witness to the credit union robbery, Ms. Patterson, and Mr. Horowitz. Because the two separate cases were tried together, and share a single statement of facts, they are combined for appeal as well. In the interest of clarity, we will refer to Cause no. 618,525 as the “credit union rob *172 bery,” and Cause no. 621,734 as the “pawn shop robbery.”

AFFIRMATIVE FINDING ON USE OF A DEADLY WEAPON

In his first and second points of error, appellant maintains that the affirmative finding that a deadly weapon was used in the credit union and pawn shop robberies must be deleted, because the trier of fact never made a specific finding that appellant personally used a deadly weapon.

Both indictments charged that appellant “used and exhibited a deadly weapon, to-wit, a FIREARM,” and in both cases the jury found appellant guilty “as charged in the indictment.” However, identical language in the jury charges for each case allowed the jury to convict appellant if he was acting individually, or as a party to the offense, 1 and no special issue on appellant’s personal use of a deadly weapon was submitted to the jury in either case. Appellant elected to have the judge assess punishment. At the punishment hearing for both cases, the State did not reoffer the evidence from the guilt/innocence phase of the trial. On the State’s request, the trial judge granted the State an “[ajffirmative finding in each [case],” but he did not make a specific finding that appellant personally used or exhibited a deadly weapon, or knew that one would be used. On each written judgment, the judge appears to have used a stamp of some sort which states that a firearm “was used” during the commission of the offense.

Generally, the trial court may properly enter an affirmative finding on the use of a deadly weapon when the indictment alleges the use of a deadly weapon, the weapon is deadly per se, or the jury affirmatively answers a special issue on the use of a deadly weapon. Polk v. State, 693 S.W.2d 391, 394 (Tex.Crim.App.1985); Skinner v. State, 837 S.W.2d 718 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1992, pet. ref'd); Weaver v. State, 855 S.W.2d 116, 122 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1993, no pet.); but see Ex parte Franklin, 757 S.W.2d 778 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). When the judge is the trier of fact at the punishment stage of the trial, he has the authority to make an affirmative finding if the facts show, and he believes, that the defendant himself used or exhibited a deadly weapon, even if the jury has not answered a special issue. Fann v. State, 702 S.W.2d 602, 604 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (opinion on reh’g); Flores v. State, 690 S.W.2d 281, 283 (Tex.Crim.App.1985). This is true even if the State did not reoffer the evidence adduced at the guilt/innocence stage, as long as the judge assessing punishment is the same judge who presided at trial. See Tamminen v. State, 653 S.W.2d 799, 802 (Tex.Crim.App.1983); and Wright v. State, 468 S.W.2d 422, 425 (Tex.Crim.App.1971). However, when the jury is instructed on the law of the parties, the affirmative finding must show that the appellant used or exhibited the deadly weapon, Flores, 690 S.W.2d at 283 (emphasis in original), or that appellant knew that a deadly weapon would be used or exhibited. Tex.Code Crim.ProcAnn. art. 42.12 § 3g(a)(2) (Vernon Supp.1994) (emphasis added).

In Flores, the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the deletion of the affirmative finding, because the jury was instructed on the law of parties, returned a general guilty verdict, and the judge entered a finding that a deadly weapon “was used” in the commission of the offense. The deletion was proper because it was impossible for the Court to determine which theory the jury used to conclude that the appellant was guilty, individually or as a party, and the trial court did not specify in the judgment that the appellant used or exhibited a deadly weapon. Flores, 690 S.W.2d at 283. In order to adequately address appellant’s points of error and follow the Court’s reasoning in Flores,

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Bluebook (online)
874 S.W.2d 168, 1994 WL 74436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pritchett-v-state-texapp-1994.