Rhoten v. State

299 S.W.3d 349
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Rhoten v. State. Read the opinion of the Court — 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 8058
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided October 16, 2009·No. 06-09-00025-CR·Published

Opinion

299 S.W.3d 349 (2009)

April Suzanne RHOTEN, Appellant,
v.
The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 06-09-00025-CR.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Texarkana.

Submitted: September 18, 2009.
Decided: October 16, 2009.

*350 Austin R. Jackson, Tyler, for appellant.

Michael J. West, Asst. Dist. Atty., Tyler, for appellee.

Before MORRISS, C.J., CARTER and MOSELEY, JJ.

OPINION

Opinion by Justice CARTER.

I. Factual and Procedural History

After trial by jury, April Suzanne Rhoten was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to eighteen years' imprisonment. Rhoten's sister, Amber Rhoten, discovered text messages on Rhoten's cell phone indicating Rhoten's intention to kill their father. Amber alerted the police, who investigated the matter and interviewed Rhoten on two separate occasions. During police questioning, Rhoten confessed to agreeing with James Perkins to kill her father and to planning the murder through telephone calls and text messages with Perkins. Before and throughout the guilt/innocence phase of the trial, Rhoten sought to offer expert and lay testimony of her mental retardation to contest that she had the requisite mens rea to commit conspiracy to commit murder. The trial court excluded the evidence under Texas Rule of Evidence 403.

On appeal,[1] Rhoten argues that: 1) the evidence supporting the judgment was legally and factually insufficient; 2) the trial court erred by excluding evidence of her mental retardation during the guilt/innocence phase of the trial; and 3) the judgment erroneously indicates Rhoten pled guilty.

We reform the judgment and affirm because: 1) the evidence was legally and factually sufficient to prove the existence of a criminal conspiracy to commit murder; 2) Rhoten failed to preserve error regarding the exclusion of mental impairment evidence; and 3) Rhoten pled "not guilty."

II. Legal and Factual Sufficiency

The indictment against Rhoten alleges that

with the intent that murder ... be committed, agreed with James Perkins that *351 one of them would engage in conduct that would constitute said offense, and said defendant and April Rhoten performed an overt act in pursuance of said agreement, to wit: by sending of text messages agreeing to commit the murder.

In her first point of error, Rhoten argues the evidence supporting her conviction was legally and factually insufficient to prove: 1) the existence of an agreement to commit a felony, and 2) she or Perkins committed an overt act in pursuance of the agreement.[2] We disagree.

A. Standard of Review

In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, we view all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and determine whether, based on that evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Laster v. State, 275 S.W.3d 512, 517-18 (Tex.Crim.App.2009); Roberts v. State, 273 S.W.3d 322 (Tex. Crim.App.2008); Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1, 7 (Tex.Crim.App.2000).

In a factual sufficiency review, we review all the evidence, but do so in a neutral light instead of the light most favorable to the verdict. We determine whether the evidence supporting the verdict is either too weak to support the fact-finder's verdict, or, considering conflicting evidence, is so outweighed by the great weight and preponderance of the evidence that the jury's verdict is clearly wrong and manifestly unjust. Laster, 275 S.W.3d at 518-19; Lancon v. State, 253 S.W.3d 699, 705 (Tex.Crim.App.2008); Roberts v. State, 220 S.W.3d 521, 524 (Tex.Crim.App.2007); Marshall v. State, 210 S.W.3d 618, 625 (Tex.Crim.App.2006); Watson v. State, 204 S.W.3d 404, 414-15 (Tex.Crim.App.2006); Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 134 (Tex. Crim.App.1996).

In this analysis, we use a hypothetically correct jury charge to evaluate both the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence. Grotti v. State, 273 S.W.3d 273 (Tex.Crim.App.2008). Such a charge accurately sets out the law, is authorized by the indictment, does not unnecessarily increase the State's burden of proof or unnecessarily restrict the State's theories of liability, and adequately describes the particular offense for which the defendant was tried. Villarreal v. State, 286 S.W.3d 321 (Tex.Crim.App.2009); Malik v. State, 953 S.W.2d 234, 240 (Tex.Crim.App.1997).

A person commits the offense of criminal conspiracy if, with the intent that a felony be committed, he or she agrees with one or more persons that they or one or more of them engage in conduct constituting the felony and he or she or one or more of them performs an overt act in pursuance of the agreement.

TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 15.02(a) (Vernon 2003). Since direct evidence of intent is rarely available, the existence of a conspiracy can be proven through circumstantial evidence. Miles v. State, 259 S.W.3d 240 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2008, pet. ref'd); see Underwood v. State, 967 S.W.2d 925, 931 (Tex.App.-Beaumont 1998, pet. ref'd); see also Farrington v. State, 489 S.W.2d 607 (Tex.Crim.App.1972).

B. Existence of a Conspiracy Analysis

*352 Rhoten and Perkins worked together at Goodwill Industries. Heather Goggans, a manager at Goodwill Industries, contacted Amber to report that she would be suspending Rhoten and Perkins for embracing on the job. To punish her for this conduct, Amber took Rhoten's cell phone. When inspecting that phone, Amber saw a text message to Perkins asking, "When do you plan on killing my dad?" Investigator Matthew Smyser photographed text messages sent between Rhoten's cell phone and Perkins' cell phone, stating "get money," "priority high," and "plan way to kill my father." When Detective Dennis Matthews interviewed Rhoten, she stated that she wanted to kill her father, that Perkins agreed to help her commit the murder, and that they planned the murder via telephone calls and text messages.

As to Perkins' involvement in this plot, a note from Rhoten to Perkins was found in Perkins' room entitled "Tips on how to act like nothing happened" and another note listing:

DNA; relationship; proximity; type of crime; timing; early morning hours or daytime; tools; alibi; get away; thick gloves; wait at least one month to buy supplies for murder; to hotel with no cameras; don't watch the news and avoid newspapers; to funeral; act sad have remorse; rent a car; act like you're crying; get rid of the body; act like nothing happened; don't talk to nobody; avoid the cops; don't ta

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Rhoten v. State, 299 S.W.3d 349 (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

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