Vasquez Orona v. State

737 S.W.2d 432, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8519
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 24, 1987
DocketNo. 2-86-156-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 737 S.W.2d 432 (Vasquez Orona 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
Vasquez Orona v. State, 737 S.W.2d 432, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8519 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

KELTNER, Justice.

Richard Vasquez Orona appeals from his conviction by a jury of murder. The jury assessed punishment at ninety-nine years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections. See TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. sec. 19.02 (Vernon 1974).

We affirm.

Appellant and Guadalupe Orona (the deceased victim) had been married approximately ten years. However, at the time of Guadalupe’s murder, they were separated and in the process of divorcing.

On the morning of the offense, Guadalupe arose at her regular time and prepared for work at approximately 3:00 a.m. At the time, Guadalupe was living with her family. Oscar Galvan (the deceased’s brother-in-law), testified that he was awake and watching t.v. when Guadalupe left the house. He testified that she left the house through the back door which led to a driveway area. Once Guadalupe was outside, Oscar heard her yell, “[N]o, Richard, no.” Immediately after the outcry he heard two gunshots. Oscar testified that after hearing the shots, he went to his bedroom and got his rifle to defend his family. He then looked outside through a window, but he saw nothing.

Elvira Galvan (the deceased’s sister), testified that she had been asleep when she was awakened by her sister screaming, “[N]o, Richard, no,” followed by two gunshots.

Antonia Najar (the deceased’s mother), testified that months before the shooting, appellant called Najar’s house looking for Guadalupe. During that conversation, appellant told Najar that he had received the divorce papers filed by Guadalupe and he needed to talk with her to insure that he would get his fair share of the community property. Najar further testified that appellant told her that if Guadalupe did not call him, a lot of people were going to get hurt.

[434]*434Anita Tijerina (the deceased’s sister), testified that months before the shooting, appellant had told her that he was going to “beat the hell” out of Guadalupe because she wanted child support. However, soon thereafter, appellant and Guadalupe agreed on an amount for child support.

Jennifer Orona (daughter of the deceased and the appellant), testified that on the morning of the shooting, she was awakened by the screaming of Elvira. Jennifer testified that Elvira ran into Jennifer’s room. Jennifer looked outside through a crack in the curtains and saw appellant outside. Jennifer testified that earlier that month, she witnessed Richard beat up her mother.

A medical examiner testified that Guadalupe died as a result of two gunshot wounds to the face. Officer J.V. Carter of the Fort Worth Police Department, testified' that appellant voluntarily turned himself in five days after the shooting.

Appellant brings eight points of error.

In the first point of error, appellant contends there was insufficient evidence to support the judgment for murder.

In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence in either a direct or circumstantial evidence case, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and consider whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. State, 672 S.W.2d 801, 803 (Tex.Crim.App.1984); Houston v. State, 663 S.W.2d 455, 456 (Tex.Crim.App.1984); Wilson v. State, 654 S.W.2d 465, 471 (Tex.Crim.App.1983) (opinion on reh’g). A conviction cannot be sustained if the evidence leaves any reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 317-18, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2788, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, 572-73 (1979).

Specifically, appellant argues that his “mere presence” at the scene of the crime, is alone insufficient to conclude that he committed the offense. This is a correct statement of the law. However, it is not applicable to this case. In the instant case, the evidence establishes that Guadalupe died as a result of two gunshot wounds to her face. Jennifer, appellant’s and Guadalupe’s eleven-year-old daughter, testified she saw appellant at the crime scene seconds after the shooting. Two witnesses testified that seconds before the shooting, they heard Guadalupe yell, “[N]o, Richard, no.”

In summary, one witness placed Orona at the scene, and other witnesses heard the shots and the victim’s screams of “[N]o, Richard, no.” Previously, appellant had threatened his victim. Even though no one witnessed the actual shooting, the evidence is sufficient to sustain the conviction. See Houston v. State, 667 S.W.2d 157, 160 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1982, pet. ref’d) (circumstantial evidence held sufficient where one witness placed defendant at the crime scene when the shot was fired, even though he did not actually see the crime, and another witness heard a shot and saw the defendant shortly thereafter). The first point of error is overruled.

In his second point of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in overruling his objection to prejudicial argument of the State. Specifically, Orona objected to the following statement:

I am going to sit down here in a minute and after me the Defense is going to argue. I would caution you, ladies and gentlemen, that they are both very experienced Defense lawyers. They know how to argue to get people off the charges they are charged with.

The State concedes that the above quoted argument was improper. We agree and do not condone the prosecutor’s argument.

The purpose of closing argument is to facilitate the jury in properly analyzing the evidence presented at trial so that it may arrive at a just and reasonable conclusion based on the evidence alone and not on any fact or inference not admitted into evidence. Campbell v. State, 610 S.W.2d 754, 756 (Tex.Crim.App.1980).

However, an argument that exceeds the permissible bounds does not necessarily constitute reversible error, unless, in light of the record as a whole, the argument is [435]*435extreme or manifestly improper, is violative of a mandatory statute, or injects new facts harmful to the accused into the trial proceedings. Mathews v. State, 635 S.W.2d 532, 539 (Tex.Crim.App.1982); see Bell v. State, 614 S.W.2d 122 (Tex.Crim.App.1981).

The test used by our courts to determine whether improper jury argument is harmless error, is not whether conviction could have been had without the improper argument, but whether there is a reasonable possibility that the argument complained of might have contributed to the conviction or punishment assessed. TEX. R.APP.P. 81(b)(2); see also Garrett v. State, 632 S.W.2d 350, 353-54 (Tex.Crim.App.1982). In other words, the question is whether the prosecutor’s comment so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process. Darden v.

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Related

Raffaelli v. State
881 S.W.2d 714 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
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791 S.W.2d 125 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
737 S.W.2d 432, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8519, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vasquez-orona-v-state-texapp-1987.