Richardson v. State

906 S.W.2d 646, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2114, 1995 WL 520001
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 31, 1995·No. No. 2-93-439-CR·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

OPINION

RICHARDS, Justice.

A jury found appellant guilty of the offense of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced her to twenty years’ confinement. Appellant presents two points of error on appeal.

In point of error one, appellant alleges the trial court’s1 written charge on self-defense failed to instruct the jurors to view from the defendant’s standpoint alone the facts and circumstances of the offense and appellant’s previous relationship with the deceased. In her second point of error, appellant urges the [647] reformation of the judgment and sentence so as to delete the deadly weapon finding reflected therein.

We affirm in part and reform in part.

Although the sufficiency of the evidence is not challenged on appeal, a review of the factual circumstances is necessary for a complete understanding of appellant’s complaint concerning the jury instruction on self-defense.

The deceased, Ricky Richardson, was appellant’s husband. At the time of the killing, they were living with their infant son, Ricky, Jr., in a Fort Worth apartment.

Bobbie Gulley, a licensed vocational nurse, lived on the floor above their apartment. On May 28, 1988, at around 11:00 a.m., Gulley heard someone banging and shouting at her door. She opened the door to find appellant in a state of panic. Appellant told Gulley her husband had been shot and asked for Gulley’s assistance. Gulley quickly changed her clothes and ran to the Richardsons’ apart ment. Once there, Gulley picked up Ricky Jr. and placed him on a couch.

She found the victim lying face-up and naked on the bathroom floor. Later she recalled she also noticed a gun in the bathroom. The victim had a small wound to his left chest and scratches on his neck. Gulley believed Ricky was dying and, when she spoke to him, he began to cry. Although she commenced CPR, her actions were unsuccessful because air was escaping from his lungs.

Ronald Richardson, the brother of the deceased, paramedics, police, and security officer Ricky Dixon arrived immediately thereafter. At that point Gulley left and took Ricky, Jr., to her apartment. Later, she phoned the hospital and was told that Ricky had died.

When Ronald arrived at his brother’s apartment, he saw Ricky struggling to breathe and tried to reassure him. He also noticed a gun on the bathroom floor. When he called his parents to inform them about Ricky’s condition, appellant took the phone from him and explained that they had been playing with the gun and that the shooting was accidental.

Fort Worth Police Officer Larry Steffler interviewed appellant. Appellant made a statement implicating herself as the shooter; however, she made no claim of self-defense at that time.

A deputy medical examiner for Tarrant County conducted an autopsy. He found a contact wound to Ricky’s back and an exit wound to his chest. The exit wound was consistent with the deceased’s chest being against a hard surface. The exit wound was inconsistent with appellant’s assertion that she held him in a bear hug while she shot him. The deputy medical examiner also found scratches around his face. Ricky died from blood loss as a result of the gunshot wound.

Mary Louise Richardson, Ricky’s mother, recounted an occasion when Ricky had scratches on his arms. Appellant told her that she had scratched him during a fight. Appellant also allegedly told her she was willing to “fight any man.”

James Richardson, Ricky’s other brother, related that he had seen appellant’s temper on many occasions. During one argument between appellant and Ricky, he had seen appellant continue to provoke Ricky, despite Ricky’s attempts to stop the argument. On one occasion, he was present when appellant grabbed a gun, cocked it, pointed it at Ricky, and threatened to kill him.

Appellant presented a number of witnesses and testified herself in support of her claim of self-defense. Contradicting her statements immediately following the shooting, she conceded the shooting was intentional. She alleged, however, she was the victim of spousal abuse and only shot Ricky in order to save her own life. According to appellant, Ricky had physically and mentally abused her during their relationship. She related that on one occasion, after she inadvertently overcooked some noodles when preparing a meal, Ricky grabbed her by the hair, dumped the still hot pot of noodles on the floor, and forced her head down while he commanded her to eat the noodles. On another occasion, when she felt the onset of an epileptic seizure following a physical assault by Ricky, he poured her epilepsy medication down the disposal. Other instances of abuse were de[648] tailed: Ricky once held a pistol to her head and forced her to beg for her life; he hit her with a toy baseball bat; Ricky laughed after appellant defecated on herself after he put an unloaded gun to her head and pulled the trigger.

According to appellant, she killed Ricky to prevent him from killing her. Appellant related the shooting occurred immediately following a violent fight during which Ricky choked her and prevented her from breathing. In response she scratched him on the face. Appellant testified that she shot Ricky after he stated he was going to kill her in front of her son. In support of her defense, appellant presented expert testimony indicating she suffered from the battered spouse syndrome, and that from her standpoint, she was in reasonable fear for her life at the time she shot Ricky.

The jury, acting as the trier of fact, rejected appellant’s claim of self-defense, but acquitted her of murder and found her guilty of only the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter.

In her first point of error, appellant argues the trial judge erroneously denied her requested instruction under section 19.06 of the Penal Code. At the time of appellant’s trial, section 19.062 provided:

See. 19.06 Evidence.
(a) In all prosecutions for murder or voluntary manslaughter, the state or the defendant shall be permitted to offer testimony as to all relevant facts and circumstances surrounding the killing and the previous relationship existing between the accused and the deceased, together with all relevant facts and circumstances going to show the condition of the mind of the accused at the time of the offense.
(b) In a prosecution for murder or manslaughter, if a defendant raises as a defense a justification provided by Section 9.31, 9.32, or 9.33 of this code, the defendant, in order to establish the defendant’s reasonable belief that use of force or deadly force was immediately necessary, shall be permitted to offer:
(1) relevant evidence that the defendant had been the victim of acts of family violence committed by the deceased, as family violence is defined by Section 71.01, Family Code; and
(2) relevant expert testimony regarding the condition of the mind of the defendant at the time of the offense, including those relevant facts and circumstances relating to family violence that are the basis of the expert’s opinion.

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Richardson v. State, 906 S.W.2d 646, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2114, 1995 WL 520001 (Tex. Ct. App. 1995).

906 S.W.2d 646 (Richardson v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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