Turk v. State

867 S.W.2d 883, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 3311, 1993 WL 518444
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 16, 1993
Docket01-92-01180-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 867 S.W.2d 883 (Turk 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
Turk v. State, 867 S.W.2d 883, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 3311, 1993 WL 518444 (Tex. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

OPINION

DUGGAN, Justice.

A jury found appellant, Richard Lee Turk, guilty of aggravated robbery, as charged in count one of the indictment, and burglary of a habitation with intent to commit theft, as charged in count two. He pleaded “not true” to the first enhancement paragraph alleged in each count, and “true” to the second enhancement paragraph alleged in each count. The judgment and sentence in each count recites a finding of true on each of the enhancement paragraphs. The court assessed punishment on each count at 50-years confinement, to run concurrently.

In his first two points of error, appellant argues the evidence was insufficient to sustain either the conviction in count one for aggravated robbery or the conviction in count two for burglary of a habitation. In his next four points of error, appellant argues that both convictions must be reversed because no Geesa instruction1 defining reasonable doubt was given, and that the failure of trial counsel to request a Geesa instruction constituted ineffective assistance of counsel, in violation of his federal and state constitutional rights. In his final point of error, appellant argues that both counts must be remanded for a new punishment hearing because no fact finder found the enhancement allegations to be true. We affirm both counts as to the determinations of guilt, but remand both counts to the trial court for a new punishment hearing and assessment of punishment.

At approximately 12:30 a.m. on August 2, 1991, 81 year-old Annie Sue Merriweather, the complainant, and her 53 year-old son, Thomas Varner, were awakened by a noise inside their home at 3329 Terminal in Houston. The complainant got out of bed and went to the door between her bedroom and the living room, where she saw appellant in [885]*885the corner behind the door. The complainant knew appellant “real well” because she knew his family and at one time he worked in her yard.

Upon recognizing appellant, the complainant said, “Richard Lee, what are you doing in my house? Get out of here.” As appellant came out from behind the door, the complainant began hitting him with her fists. Appellant then pushed her backwards into the bedroom until she fell on the floor. Appellant got on top of the complainant, grabbed her arm, and twisted it. The complainant told appellant he was hurting her arm. She testified that she believed he was trying to break her arm. Later, she discovered “a bad bruise” on her arm.

While appellant was on top of the complainant, she yelled for assistance from her son, Thomas, who came in and grabbed appellant. Appellant pulled away from Thomas, grabbed the complainant’s purse, and ran out the back door. As appellant fled from the house, the complainant fired her handgun at him.

Sufficiency of evidence

Aggravated robbery

In his first point of error, appellant argues that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction in count one for aggravated robbery because the evidence fails to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant caused bodily injury to the complainant “by knocking her to the floor,” as alleged in the indictment and set out in the jury charge.

In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, an appellate court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Butler v. State, 769 S.W.2d 234, 239 (Tex.Crim.App.1989). This Court may not sit as a thirteenth juror and disregard or reweigh the evidence. Moreno v. State, 755 S.W.2d 866, 867 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). If there is evidence that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and the trier of fact believes that evidence, we are not in a position to reverse the judgment on sufficiency of evidence grounds. Id.; Glass v. State, 761 S.W.2d 806, 807 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1988, no pet.). The jury, as trier of fact, is the sole judge of the credibility of witnesses, Sharp v. State, 707 S.W.2d 611, 614 (Tex.Crim.App.1986), cert, denied, 488 U.S. 872, 109 S.Ct. 190, 102 L.Ed.2d 159 (1988), and may believe or disbelieve all or any part of a witness’s testimony. Sharp, 707 S.W.2d at 614; Smith v. State, 789 S.W.2d 419, 420 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1990, pet. ref d). A jury may believe a witness even though his testimony is contradicted. Sharp, 707 S.W.2d at 614.

Count one of the indictment alleged that on or about August 2, 1991, appellant:

while in the course of committing theft of property owned by ANNIE MERRI-WEATHER and with intent to obtain and maintain control of the property, [did] intentionally and knowingly cause bodily injury to ANNIE MERRIWEATHER, a person at least sixty-five years of age, by knocking her to the floor.

(Emphasis added.) The trial court’s charge to the jury provided:

Now, if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about the 2nd day of August, 1991, in Harris County, Texas, the defendant, Richard Lee Turk, did then and there unlawfully while in the course of committing theft of property owned by Annie Merriweather, and with intent to obtain or maintain control of the property, intentionally or knowingly cause bodily injury to Annie Merriweather, a person at least sixty-five years of age, by knocking her to the floor, then you will find the defendant guilty of aggravated robbery, as charged in count one of the indictment.

(Emphasis added.) Appellant complains that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant caused bodily injury to the complainant by knocking her to the floor.

To decide whether the evidence was sufficient to support appellant’s convic[886]*886tion, we must determine if the State proved the allegations in the indictment as set forth in the jury charge. Warren v. State, 810 S.W.2d 202, 208 (Tex.Crim.App.1991); Toliver v. State, 828 S.W.2d 286, 288 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, pet. ref'd). An appellate court must “look to the charge to determine whether the part at issue is one which authorizes a conviction.” Arceneaux v. State, 803 S.W.2d 267, 271 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Toliver, 828 S.W.2d at 288. If the part at issue is one which authorizes a conviction, then the portion of the charge at issue is not surplusage, and the State must prove the unnecessary allegations. Arceneaux, 803 S.W.2d at 271; Toliver, 828 S.W.2d at 288.

It was not necessary for the State to describe how appellant caused bodily injury. Section 29.03 of the Texas Penal Code provides that a person commits aggravated robbery if:

he commits robbery as defined in Section 29.02 of this code, and he:
(3)

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Turk v. State
867 S.W.2d 883 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
867 S.W.2d 883, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 3311, 1993 WL 518444, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turk-v-state-texapp-1993.