Reginald Ferlandus Jackson v. the State of Texas

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided January 28, 2022·No. 03-20-00085-CR·Published

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-20-00085-CR

Reginald Ferlandus Jackson, Appellant v.

The State of Texas, Appellee

FROM THE 264TH DISTRICT COURT OF BELL COUNTY NO. 79562, THE HONORABLE PAUL L. LEPAK, JUDGE PRESIDING

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury found appellant Reginald Ferlandus Jackson guilty of first-degree murder, see Tex. Penal Code § 19.02(b)(1), (c), and assessed his punishment at confinement for thirty years. In three issues, appellant challenges the trial court’s discharge of a juror, the exclusion of an exhibit, and the parole law instructions in the punishment charge. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of conviction.

BACKGROUND 1

Appellant was indicted for “intentionally and knowingly caus[ing] the death of an individual, namely, Deandre Patrick Thomas, by shooting the said Deandre Patrick Thomas with

1 Because the parties are familiar with the facts of the case, its procedural history, and the evidence adduced at trial, we provide only a general overview of the facts of the case here. We provide additional facts in the opinion as necessary to advise the parties of the Court’s decision and the basic reasons for it. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.1, .4. The facts recited are taken from the testimony and other evidence presented at trial.

a firearm” on or about August 18, 2018. It was undisputed at trial that appellant caused Thomas’s death by shooting him multiple times with a .45 caliber handgun and that Thomas was unarmed. Prior to the shooting, appellant and Thomas had altercations at a club that included yelling and Thomas clapping his hands and pointing at appellant. Appellant left the club on separate occasions and individuals tried to calm him down in the club’s parking lot, but he approached Thomas, who was right outside the club’s front door at that time, and shot him multiple times at close range including after Thomas fell to the ground. After shooting Thomas, appellant walked away from the club and left the handgun along the route that he travelled on foot. Police officers located appellant shortly after the shooting and arrested him. The officers also located appellant’s handgun.

The State’s witnesses during the trial’s guilt or innocence phase included eyewitnesses to the shooting, police officers who responded and investigated the shooting, forensic scientists, and the medical examiner who performed the autopsy and testified that gunshot wounds caused Thomas’s death. The State’s exhibits included the autopsy report that documented nine gunshot wounds, forensic reports, physical evidence, photographs, and video recordings from the club from two different cameras. The shooting was captured on one of the video recordings.

The defense theory was that appellant acted in self-defense, and appellant’s witnesses were individuals who were at the club and appellant. In his testimony, appellant admitted that he shot Thomas nine times but testified that “fear took over” when Thomas’s hand was in his pocket, that he “thought [Thomas] had a weapon at that point right there,” that he was

in fear of his life when he fired the first shot, 2 that Thomas “launched toward” him after the first shot so he “backed up and continued shooting.” 3 He also testified about a previous incident with Thomas at a nightclub where Thomas worked that occurred sometime between 2010 and 2011. He testified that on that occasion, Thomas “came up to [him] from behind, grabbed [him] around [his] neck and slammed [him] on the ground.” He also testified that he knew Thomas was a “violent person” and that he had heard of Thomas’s past aggressive acts, including that he “put a guy[’s] head through a wall,” “slammed this other girl and hit her head on the bar,” and “choked a friend of mine out and slammed him throughout the club.”

The State’s rebuttal evidence included video recordings from patrol car cameras that captured appellant speaking with police officers shortly after the shooting. On the recordings, appellant initially told the officers that his name was Ferlandus and that he was coming from a girl’s house “around the corner” but later stated that he was coming from the club; that he had had an incident with Thomas “some years back” when Thomas, acting as a bouncer at a different club, “choked” and “slammed” him “on [the] floor”; that he saw Thomas at the club and “could not let it go until [Thomas] apologize[d]” about the prior incident; that Thomas told him “it’s over” if Thomas went to his truck; and that Thomas “was not getting to [his] truck.” 4 He stated that Thomas was “real aggressive” and a “bully” and that he “only” was asking for an apology.

2 Appellant testified “I really was,” when he was asked “whether or not you were in fear for your life when you fired the first shot.”

3 Appellant also testified, “[When] I fired the first shot, [Thomas] lunged. And I was really scared, so I closed my eyes and fired, fired, fired until I was empty. I was like in a daze. Only thing I could say is stupid, stupid.”

4 On the recording, appellant refers to Thomas as “Deon.

The jury found appellant guilty, and the trial proceeded to the punishment phase.

The defense theory during the punishment phase was that appellant caused the death of Thomas “under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause.” See Tex. Penal Code § 19.02(d) (explaining that offense of murder is second-degree felony if defendant proves that he caused death under immediate influence of sudden passion arising from adequate cause). After hearing additional evidence, the jury found that the offense was not committed under sudden passion arising from an adequate cause and assessed punishment at confinement for thirty years. See id. § 12.32 (stating punishment range for confinement of life or “not more than 99 years or less than 5 years” for first-degree felony).

The trial court thereafter signed the judgment of conviction in accordance with the jury’s verdict and included an affirmative deadly weapon finding. Appellant filed a motion for new trial, which was overruled by operation of law. This appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

Discharge of Juror In his first issue, appellant argues that: (i) the trial court “abused its discretion by discharging a biased but not disabled juror,” see Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 36.29(a), and (ii) because the trial court erroneously discharged a non-disabled juror, it erred by denying appellant’s motion for mistrial, and appellant was harmed, see Tex. R. App. P. 44.2(b) (requiring reversal of non-constitutional error if error affected defendant’s substantial rights).

Article 36.29(a) generally authorizes the trial court in a felony case after the trial begins to determine that a juror has become disabled and, in that case, to discharge the juror without the consent of the parties and proceed with the remainder of the jury. See Tex. Code

Crim. Proc. art. 36.29(a); State v. Hernandez, 363 S.W.3d 745, 751 (Tex. App.—Austin 2011, pet. ref’d) (explaining that if trial court finds juror disabled after trial begins, court may remove juror without consent of parties and proceed with remainder of jury). The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals “has interpreted Article 36.29 to require that a disabled juror suffer from a ‘physical illness, mental condition, or emotional state that would hinder or inhibit the juror from performing his or her duties as a juror,’ or that the juror was suffering from a condition that inhibited him from ‘fully and fairly performing the functions of a juror.’” Scales v. State, 380 S.W.3d 780, 783 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012) (citations omitted).

We review a trial court’s decision to discharge a juror for abuse of discretion. Id.

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