Santana v. State

714 S.W.2d 1, 1986 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1229
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 9, 1986
Docket68930
StatusPublished
Cited by135 cases

This text of 714 S.W.2d 1 (Santana v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Santana v. State, 714 S.W.2d 1, 1986 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1229 (Tex. 1986).

Opinions

OPINION

McCORMICK, Judge.

This is an appeal from a conviction for capital murder. Punishment was assessed at death.

On April 21, 1981, Olivero Flores, a driver for the Purolator Armored Company, was shot and killed during the course of a robbery. The evidence adduced at trial [3]*3showed that the deceased and his partner Dorothy Wright were making their last stop of the day at a Sage department store at approximately 12 noon on a Tuesday. The deceased drove their Purolator van into the Sage parking lot and parked immediately in front of the main entrance to the store. While Wright waited inside the van, the deceased exited from the driver’s side of the van and began walking around the front of the van and into the store. Two armed men (one with a shotgun and one with a pistol) were waiting by a car parked immediately beside the entrance of the store. As the deceased walked towards the store, shots rang out one of which hit the deceased. No one saw who fired the fatal shot. Witnesses testified that immediately thereafter the two men began shooting at the van, riddling it with gunfire. They eventually broke the window on the driver’s door, climbed into the van and ordered Wright to exit the van. The two robbers then drove off with the van. They were apprehended approximately an hour after the offense, just a short distance away from the scene.

In three grounds of error, appellant raises challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence. In order to answer his contentions we now summarize in detail the evidence adduced at trial. Dr. Aurelio Espinosa, the deputy chief medical examiner for Harris County, testified that he performed an autopsy on the deceased. He testified that the deceased died as a result of a gunshot wound to the chest. Dr. Espinosa further testified that the wound was consistent with that made by a bullet fired from a hand gun or a rifle. He testified that the only way the wound could have been made with a shotgun was if the shotgun shell had contained only a single pellet.

Dorothy Wright testified that she was working as the deceased’s partner on the day of the offense. When the Purolator van pulled into the Sage parking lot, she was working in the rear of the van completing paper work and the deceased was driving the van. As was their usual custom, the deceased parked the van immediately in front of the main entrance to the Sage store. The deceased exited the van and Wright watched him walk around the front of the van and towards the door of the store. Wright testified that she heard someone say “halt.” She looked in the direction of the voice and saw two men dressed in green fatigues and holding guns, standing behind a car that had parked in the first parking space to the right of the main entrance to the store. Wright heard two gunshots and saw the deceased fall to the ground. One of the men walked over to the deceased and looked at him and then raised his gun and began to shoot at the van. Wright testified she became frightened and laid down on the floor of the van. During the next few minutes the van was riddled with gunshots. Finally, the shooting stopped and Wright heard a voice say, “Bitch, open the door.” Still frightened she remained on the floor. Soon Wright heard some beating on the driver’s side window. The beating continued until the glass broke and Wright saw one person enter the van. She was ordered to leave the van or be killed. Wright exited the van via the double doors on the passenger side of the van and with hands held above her head she walked into the Sage store. After reaching the store, she turned around and saw a man with a pistol sitting in the passenger side of the van. Wright testified that she had never been able to identify any one in connection with the offense nor did she know which man shot the deceased. Finally she testified that she was not sure that the man who first had the pistol was the same man who had the pistol when she exited the van.

Joseph Hassell, an investigator for the Sage store chain testified that he was working inside the store office on the day of the offense. He heard someone calling for the police so he and three other store investigators left the office and entered the main part of the store to ascertain the problem. When they reached the main part of the store he heard four gunshots. Hassell related that he ran to another store exit near where his car was parked. When he ran outside he saw the Purolator van [4]*4parked in the parking lot and a man holding a shotgun standing next to the van. Hassell watched as the man first fired his gun into the van and then shouted at the individual inside the van. Finally Hassell saw the man take the butt of the shotgun and try to break the window out on the driver’s side of the van. Hassell retrieved his handgun from his car and then ran back inside the store. When he reached the main door, he saw a second man holding a pistol on the female Purolator guard. She had exited the van and was walking toward the store entrance with her hands held above her head. Suddenly the van started to pull away and the man with the pistol jumped into the rear door on the passenger side of the van. The van drove off slowly. Hassell attempted to follow the van in his own car but lost the van in the traffic. Hassell identified the appellant as the man he saw holding the shotgun.

Lester Allen Jackson, the owner of a linen service, testified that he was making a delivery to a pool room located directly across a drainage ditch from the Sage store. As he was walking out of the pool room he heard three pistol shots in rapid succession and then one shotgun blast. He jumped in his truck and drove in the direction of the gunshots. When he reached the front of the Sage store, he saw the Purolator van parked in front of the store and a person lying on the ground. A man with a pistol was attempting to break his way into the van. When he was unsuccessful he called over a second man who was holding the shotgun. The second man took the butt of the shotgun and used it to break the window in the driver’s door. The man with the pistol then reached inside the window and opened the door. Both men climbed into the van. Jackson testified that soon he saw Wright exit the van and walk towards the Sage store with her hands in the air. At the same time he saw a man with a shotgun run to the front of the van and rest the shotgun on the hood of the van as though he was keeping watch for his partner. After a brief time both men jumped into the van and the van began to slowly drive off. As the van passed Jackson he could see a man with the shotgun trying to close the rear passenger door which appeared to be jammed. Jackson testified that the man holding the shotgun at that time had not been the same man he had seen with the shotgun earlier. Jackson also testified that it appeared that the man with the shotgun also had a pistol stuck in his belt. Finally Jackson identified the man with the shotgun as the appellant.

David Pena testified that he was the owner of a jewelry store whose rear door looks out on the Sage parking lot. He testified that on the day of the offense he was in his store when he heard gunshots. He ran to his back door and saw two armed individuals in the Sage parking lot, one with a shotgun and one with a pistol. Pena went and got his own shotgun and then ran back to the door. He watched as the two men broke into the van. As the van began to move slowly towards the Gulf Freeway Pena ran to the front of his store where his pickup was parked so he could follow the van. However, when he came out the front door of his store, the van was passing directly in front of his store.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jason Llaban Canastra v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2024
Carrendius Walker v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2024
Timothy Hutchison v. State
424 S.W.3d 164 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014)
Xiomara Rosales Mendez v. State
379 S.W.3d 396 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Miguel Rosas v. State
373 S.W.3d 738 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Barbee, Stephen Dale
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008
Hall v. State
225 S.W.3d 524 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Ex Parte Thompson
179 S.W.3d 549 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Salinas v. State
163 S.W.3d 734 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Mohammed v. State
127 S.W.3d 163 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Prystash v. State
3 S.W.3d 522 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Sendejo v. State
953 S.W.2d 443 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Jones v. State
944 S.W.2d 642 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Dansby v. State
931 S.W.2d 297 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Soria v. State
933 S.W.2d 46 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Woods v. Johnson
75 F.3d 1017 (Fifth Circuit, 1996)
Alvarado v. State
912 S.W.2d 199 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Dinkins v. State
894 S.W.2d 330 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Ronald David Ludwig v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994
Coble v. State
871 S.W.2d 192 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
714 S.W.2d 1, 1986 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/santana-v-state-texcrimapp-1986.