Reyes v. State

694 S.W.2d 556, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 6366
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 28, 1985
Docket13-84-282-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 694 S.W.2d 556 (Reyes 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
Reyes v. State, 694 S.W.2d 556, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 6366 (Tex. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

BISSETT, Justice (Retired).

This is an appeal from a conviction for murder. Appellant was charged by indictment that he did:

“then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual, FRANCISCO BLAS LUNA, by shooting the said FRANCISCO BLAS LUNA with a firearm, and by cutting the throat of said FRANCISCO BLAS LUNA with a knife.”

He was tried and found guilty by a jury, and punishment was assessed at ninety-nine years’ imprisonment. 2

Joel Villarreal testified that Roel Reyes (a brother of appellant) telephoned him about 3:00 p.m. on September 23, 1983. Joel had known Roel for eight to ten years. Roel came over to Joel’s house about 3:30 and knocked on the door. Joel opened the door for him, and Roel came in and sat down. Joel was getting dressed, “and the next thing I know, he [Roel] had a gun at my head.” Roel pointed the gun at Joel and told him to sit down. Joel asked what was going on, and Roel responded: “You’ll see.” The next thing that happened “was there’s a knocking at the door again, and he [Roel] told me to get the door.” Joel did so, and appellant was at the door. Appellant came in, went through “my drawers and stuff, and found my gun.” Appellant told Joel Villarreal to get dressed, “that we were going for a ride.” Joel, Roel and appellant then walked outside and went to Joel’s car. Roel got in the car with Joel, and appellant got in his (another) car.

Joel was driving his car as Roel held the gun on him, and appellant followed in the other car. They drove their car to Frank Luna’s house, where Luna got into the car with Joel and Roel. They (Joel and appellant still in separate cars) drove around some more and, at one point, stopped for gas. At the gas station, appellant told Roel that, if Joel or Frank “moved or tried anything funny, to gut [them].”

The group ultimately proceeded to Tom Gill Road. At some point between the gas station and Tom Gill Road, appellant got into the car with Joel, Roel and Luna. After driving to where a bus was parked on Tom Gill Road, Joel Villarreal parked about fifty to sixty feet in the driveway of the *560 area. Then, “They — Ruben [appellant] took my wallet, my watch, my buckle. Then he — * * * took Frank’s — .” Joel testified that this was outside the car, and that appellant told Roel: “We’re going to make it look like a robbery.” Roel did not respond. Roel was holding Joel’s gun to Frank. Appellant had handed that gun to Roel without saying anything.

Joel Villarreal also testified that “They— we proceeded to go to where the bus was at.” Joel was taken around to the side of the bus. “All four of us traveled together.” When they got to the side of the bus, was some black rope and, at appellant’s direction, “Roel tied us up with that rope.” After being tied up, according to Joel, Roel forced him to kneel “By pointing the gun at us.”

Appellant then gave Roel a knife and whispered to him, following which, “Roel got behind Frank and slit his throat.” Next, Joel testified that appellant “walked on the other side of the bus, and Roel was just looking at Frank, and about two minutes later, Roel got up. Went and talked with [appellant]. I don’t know what they talked about. And the next thing I know, Roel came out with my 357 and shot me.” Joel was shot in the neck. As he was falling, Joel heard another shot. Joel then passed out.

Frank Luna’s body was later found at the scene, face down, with his hands tied behind his back, with a cut across the throat from ear to ear and with blood on the neck and head. An autopsy showed the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the back of the head.

Appellant, in his first four grounds of error, contends that the trial court’s application of law of parties in its charge to the jury constituted reversible error. In his fifth and sixth grounds of error, he attacks the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction. The trial court charged the jury that:

“Each party to an offense may be charged with commission of the offense. A person is criminally responsible as a party to an offense if the offense is committed by his own conduct, by the conduct of another for which he is criminally responsible, or both. A person is criminally responsible for an offense committed by the conduct of another if, acting with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense, he solicits, encourages, aids, or attempts to aid the other person to commit the offense. Mere presence alone will not constitute one a party to the crime.
Therefore, if you believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant either by his own conduct or, acting with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense, solicited, encouraged, directed, aided or attempted to aid Roel Reyes to commit the offense charged, as defined above, you will then find the Defendant guilty of the offense charged. If you do not so believe, or if you have a reasonable doubt thereof, you will find the Defendant not guilty.”

Appellant first contends that the trial court erred in refusing to give the following requested instruction on parties:

“You are further instructed that the mere presence of Defendant RUBEN GARCIA REYES at the scene of the murder, if any, of FRANCISCO LUNA, would not constitute the defendant criminally responsible as a party to the offense, if any, and if you should find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that someone other than the defendant did then and there commit the said murder of said FRANCISCO LUNA as aforesaid, but you further find and believe from the evidence, or you have a reasonable doubt thereof, that the Defendant RUBEN GARCIA REYES
1) did not at the time and place in question possess an intent to promote or assist the commission by some other person or persons of the murder offense charged in the indictment herein, or
2) did not agree to or solicit, encourage, direct, aid, or attempt to aid either some other person or persons, in the commission of said murder, *561 then you will find the Defendant RUBEN GARCIA REYES ‘Not Guilty’ of the offense of murder as charged in the indictment herein.”

Appellant asserts that the court “failed to charge on appellant’s affirmative defense that the jury must acquit although the appellant was at the place of Francisco Luna’s murder, if his purpose was not criminal, or if the jury had a reasonable doubt thereof.” Apparently, appellant’s thrust of this ground of error is that the trial court failed to give a converse charge of the issue. However, when explaining the requested charge to the court, appellant’s attorney explained:

“MR. RAMON: Number 23, Your Hon- or, is on the converse of the law of parties, that if he did not, in anyway, do these things, that he’s got to be found not guilty.”

We believe that appellant’s requested charge was little more than a restatement of the charge given by the court. While it is true that it was “converse” to the charge on parties given by the court, it was not a converse charge on an affirmative defense. See Hitchcock v. State, 388 S.W. 428 (Tex.Crim.App.1965); Barton v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
694 S.W.2d 556, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 6366, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reyes-v-state-texapp-1985.