San Roman v. State

815 S.W.2d 785, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 1958, 1991 WL 148340
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 7, 1991
Docket08-90-00217-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 815 S.W.2d 785 (San Roman 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
San Roman v. State, 815 S.W.2d 785, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 1958, 1991 WL 148340 (Tex. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION

KOEHLER, Justice.

Appellant was convicted by a jury of an aggravated rape alleged to have occurred *787 on February 22, 1982. Punishment was assessed by the court at seventy-five years in prison. We reverse and remand for retrial of the punishment phase only.

The Appellant was originally convicted of aggravated rape and assessed fifty years’ punishment by a jury in October 1982. This conviction was reversed on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel and the case remanded for retrial, 681 S.W.2d 872. When the case came up for a second trial in 1986, the Appellant pled guilty to aggravated rape and was again sentenced, this time by the court, to fifty years in the penitentiary. In a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus proceeding, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals set aside the second conviction on the ground that his guilty plea was not voluntary. At the third trial, the Appellant was once again convicted of aggravated rape by a jury and sentenced by the court to seventy-five years’ imprisonment.

In the first two of three points of error, Appellant asserts that the trial court erred by its failure to include in its charge the lesser included offenses of “attempted aggravated rape” and “aggravated assault.” At trial, the only direct evidence that a rape had taken place came from the testimony of the complainant. She testified that sometime after 3:30 p.m. on February 22, 1982, she returned to her home after visiting a friend. The Appellant came to the front door ostensibly for the purpose of making a phone call. The complainant allowed Appellant to use an extension telephone on the front porch. He then proceeded to force his way into the house, knocking the complainant to the floor. In the struggle that ensued, the Appellant cut her hands with a kitchen knife, robbed her of more than $150.00 and ordered her to disrobe. He threatened to kill the complainant if she looked at his face. He pushed her into a bedroom, forced her to commit fellatio on him and then, after hitting her, had sexual intercourse with her. She testified that his penis penetrated her vagina.

After the Appellant left her house, the complainant called the police and shortly thereafter, she was taken to Sierra Medical Center for a rape examination. Although the doctor noted bruises and abrasions on her body and the lacerations on her hands, the pelvic examination was negative for presence of trauma, sperm and foreign pubic hair. The doctor testified that it was not abnormal for a rape victim who had been married for a number of years and had given birth to four children to show no evidence of trauma resulting from a sexual assault. He also testified that it was not unusual for the sexual assailant not to ejaculate during a rape. Appellant did not testify and offered no other evidence.

Appellant properly preserved error by requesting the inclusion of the lesser included offenses of attempted aggravated rape and aggravated assault and by objecting to the court’s refusal to charge on those offenses. With respect to lesser included offenses, the Code of Criminal Procedure provides:

An offense is a lesser included offense if:
(1) it is established by proof of the same or less than all the facts required to establish the commission of the offense charged;
(2) it differs from the offense charged only in the respect that a less serious injury or risk of injury to the same person, property, or public interest suffices to establish its commission;
(3) it differs from the offense charged only in the respect that a less culpable mental state suffices to establish its commission; or
(4) it consists of an attempt to commit the offense charged or an otherwise included offense.

Tex.Code Crim.Pro.Ann. art. 37.09 (Vernon 1981).

Attempted aggravated rape would be a lesser included offense of aggravated rape, and although there is some doubt whether aggravated assault was a lesser included offense of aggravated rape as those offenses were worded in the Penal Code in effect in 1982, we will assume that aggravated assault was also a lesser included offense. Even though a lesser included offense is included within the proof *788 of a greater offense, a jury charge on the lesser offense is not always warranted. Aguilar v. State, 682 S.W.2d 556, 558 (Tex. Crim.App.1985). The Court of Criminal Appeals in Royster v. State, 622 S.W.2d 442 (Tex.Crim.App.1981) enunciated a two-prong analysis to determine when a charge on a lesser included offense is required, followed in Aguilar and Havard v. State, 800 S.W.2d 195, 215 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). First, the lesser included offense must be included within the proof necessary to establish the offense charged. Second, there must be some evidence in the record that the defendant is guilty only of the lesser included offense. Royster, 622 S.W.2d at 446.

If evidence from any source raises the issue of a lesser included offense or a defensive theory, it must be included in the court’s charge. Marras v. State, 741 S.W.2d 395 (Tex.Crim.App.1987); Lugo v. State, 667 S.W.2d 144 (Tex.Crim.App.1984). If a defendant presents evidence that he did not commit any offense, McKinney v. State, 627 S.W.2d 731 (Tex.Crim.App.1982), or if he presents no evidence at all, Denison v. State, 651 S.W.2d 754 (Tex.Crim.App.1983), and there is no other evidence raising an issue, a charge on the lesser offense is not required. Aguilar, 682 S.W.2d at 558; Royster, 622 S.W.2d at 447. In this case, there was no evidence presented by the Appellant that if he was guilty of an offense, he was guilty only of one or the other of the lesser included offenses. The complainant's testimony was direct and positive in establishing the necessary elements of the aggravated rape. Although the medical evidence was inconclusive as to whether the complainant had been raped, that inconclusiveness would only raise an issue on whether a rape had been committed, not an issue on whether some lesser included offense had been committed. Thomas v. State, 578 S.W.2d 691, 698 (Tex.Crim.App.1979); Hackbarth v. State, 617 S.W.2d 944, 946 (Tex.Crim.App.1981); Rettig v. State, 90 Tex.Crim. 142, 233 S.W. 839 (App.1921); cf. Lawrence v. State, 783 S.W.2d 789

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Bluebook (online)
815 S.W.2d 785, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 1958, 1991 WL 148340, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/san-roman-v-state-texapp-1991.