Smith v. State

316 S.W.3d 688, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 4068, 2010 WL 2132872
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 27, 2010
Docket2-08-390-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 316 S.W.3d 688 (Smith 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
Smith v. State, 316 S.W.3d 688, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 4068, 2010 WL 2132872 (Tex. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

ANNE GARDNER, Justice.

I. Introduction

Appellant Brandon Ray Smith a/k/a Brandon Smith appeals his convictions for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He contends in three issues that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support his convictions, that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of an extraneous offense, and that *692 the trial court erred by denying his request for a limiting instruction concerning evidence of a different extraneous offense. We affirm.

II. Procedural Background

A grand jury indicted Appellant for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The indictments collectively alleged that Appellant intentionally or knowingly threatened imminent bodily injury to Gary and Randolph (Randy) Osburg and that Appellant used or exhibited a truck as a deadly weapon during the commission of the assaults. The indictments also alleged that Appellant had a previous felony conviction. Appellant pleaded not guilty to both counts, was tried in October 2008, and the jury found Appellant guilty of both counts. During the punishment phase of his trial, Appellant pleaded true to the repeat offender notice in the indictments. The jury found the enhancement to be true and assessed Appellant’s punishment at thirteen years’ confinement for each count; the trial court ordered Appellant’s sentences to run concurrently. These appeals followed.

III. Factual Background

Randy Osburg testified at trial that he took his son, Gary Osburg, to a convenience store in Tarrant County, Texas, on February 11, 2008, to buy some cigarettes. As they were leaving the store, Randy and Gary saw Appellant and his female companion, Banu Kurt, involved in what they believed was an altercation; they saw Appellant hit Ms. Kurt twice in the chest with a closed fist. After the second hit, Ms. Kurt moved backward, hit the gas pump, and fell down. Sitting in Appellant’s truck were two children Randy believed were between three and six years old; one of them was crying.

Gary further testified that, upon seeing the second hit, he got out of Randy’s truck to help Ms. Kurt and to confront Appellant. As Gary approached Appellant, Appellant pulled brass knuckles from his pocket and told Gary to mind his own business. Gary and Randy started “mov[ing] around” Appellant, and although they did not “jump on” him, Appellant ran around the building and away from them.

Randy yelled for someone to call the police, and Appellant jumped into his truck and “acted like he was going to leave.” Randy started talking to Ms. Kurt, but something in Ms. Kurt’s expression made Randy turn around. Randy then saw Appellant driving straight at him. When Randy heard Appellant accelerate, Randy jumped into the bed of Gary’s truck; Randy testified that he was afraid of dying or being badly hurt. Appellant then circled the gas pump and drove straight at Gary; Gary testified that he believed Appellant was trying to kill him, and Randy testified that he was afraid Appellant was going to kill Gary. When Gary saw Appellant driving at him, he grabbed a hammer from Randy’s truck and threw it at Appellant, hitting the truck’s windshield. Appellant slammed on the brakes, got out of his truck “in a complete rage,” and ran after Gary while his truck was still moving. Appellant’s unoccupied truck rolled across the street and came to rest against a sign and a telephone pole.

Appellant then chased Gary around the convenience store on foot. Gary came out from the back of the convenience store and got into Randy’s truck, and Gary and Randy drove away from the store. Appellant ran across the street to his truck and followed Gary and Randy. Randy testified that he drove away from the convenience store and turned right on a street two or three blocks away. As he and Gary approached a stop sign after turning right, *693 Gary said, “He’s behind us. He’s going to ram us.” Randy looked in his mirror and saw Appellant’s truck “coming at [them] fast.”

Randy said that he accelerated and “got maybe a little bit across the street when [Appellant] hit us.” Randy testified that he accelerated again and believed he was driving sixty or seventy miles-per-hour when Appellant “rammed [him] two or three more times.” Randy testified that Gary had retrieved his hammer from the convenience store parking lot and was leaning out the truck window as they drove to throw the hammer at Appellant “to slow him down.” Randy also testified that he was afraid Appellant would push them into traffic at an upcoming intersection. Randy said that he then slammed his brakes and that Appellant also slammed his brakes, avoiding a collision. When traffic on the ci’oss-street was clear, Randy accelerated again but Appellant approached them in the outside lane. Gary said, “He’s going to ram you,” and Randy again slammed his brakes. Randy testified that Appellant “ended up going across our lane, trying to ram us from the side, but luckily, he just barely missed me.” Randy said that Appellant’s truck crossed some railroad tracks, “went into the air,” and stopped in a ditch.

Gary testified that he was scared and his adrenaline was going when they drove away from the convenience store. Gary testified that while Randy drove, Gary looked out the window and saw Appellant get into his truck and follow them. Gary said less than fifteen seconds passed before Appellant “was already up on us,” tailgating them. Gary testified that Appellant “ended up striking” the rear of Randy’s truck three times, jarring Randy and Gary. As Randy approached a T-intersection, Randy turned right and Appellant followed. Gary testified that he “saw [Appellant] coming up on us really fast and I told my dad to get over into the next lane and stop and hit his brakes. And when he did, [Appellant] was coming at us, barely missed us, and went into a ditch.”

Randy testified that after Appellant drove into the ditch, he and Gary drove back to the convenience store, hoping the police had arrived by that time. The police were there and noted damage to the bumper on Randy’s truck, but no photographs were taken. Randy said he was somewhat able to repair the dent in the bumper by tying it to a tree and pulling it out. The police also noted front-end damage to Appellant’s truck, but the officer did not recall noticing any damage to the windshield.

During cross-examination, Randy acknowledged that he had joked with someone after the altercation that he would gladly have the case dropped and all charges dismissed if Appellant would meet Gary for a one-on-one fight. Randy also admitted that he “forgot” to tell the jury that he also had a weapon during the altercation — a tile cutter he had gotten from the bed of his truck.

Tricia Nyamongo Walton, the clerk from the convenience store, testified that she saw Appellant, a woman, and two other men standing behind a white truck. She saw Appellant drive the white truck around the store, and she told police that Appellant was “driving crazy,” almost ran into the building, the gas pumps, and her car. She also told police that Appellant chased the other men with his truck.

Ms. Kurt testified for the defense that she and Appellant were not fighting but were instead “just playing around.” She said that Appellant pushed her but that she tripped over the gas pump. Ms.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
316 S.W.3d 688, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 4068, 2010 WL 2132872, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-state-texapp-2010.