Wade v. State

951 S.W.2d 886, 1997 WL 471869
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 26, 1997
Docket10-96-174-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 951 S.W.2d 886 (Wade 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
Wade v. State, 951 S.W.2d 886, 1997 WL 471869 (Tex. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

DAVIS, Chief Justice.

A jury convicted Keith Alan Wade of aggravated assault and assessed punishment at five years’ confinement. Wade now appeals by six points of error attacking the wording of the indictment, the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence, and the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury regarding the terms of community supervision. Because the wording of the indictment is not erroneous, the evidence is sufficient, and the trial court did not err in the charge, we affirm.

In his first point of error, Wade contends that the State’s indictment only charged him with simple assault, rather than aggravated assault, which removed this ease from the district court’s jurisdiction. The indictment alleged in part:

KEITH ALAN WADE, hereinafter styled Defendant, heretofore on or about the 29th day of September, AD.1995, and before the presentment of this indictment, in the County and State aforesaid; did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause bodily injury to KAREN SCHULZ by striking her, and did then and there use a deadly weapon, to-wit: a knife.

The essence of Wade’s complaint is that the indictment fails to allege the deadly weapon was the means used to inflict the bodily injury.

An indictment serves two functions. Cook v. State, 902 S.W.2d 471, 475 (Tex.Crim.App.1995). First, it provides notice of the offense in order to allow a defendant to prepare a defense. Id. Second, an indictment serves a jurisdictional function. Id. Jurisdiction vests only upon the filing of a valid indictment in the appropriate court. Id. at 476.

Article V, § 12(b) of the Texas Constitution defines an “indictment” as “a written instrument presented to a court by a grand jury charging a person with the commission of an offense.” Tex. Const. art. V, § 12(b); Cook, 902 S.W.2d at 477; Studer v. State, 799 S.W.2d 268, 265 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). Thus, to comprise a valid indictment within the definition provided by the Constitution, an indictment must charge: (1) a person; (2) with the commission of an offense. Cook, 902 S.W.2d at 477. An indictment may properly charge the offense of aggravated assault by alleging (1) the defendant (2) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly (3) caused bodily injury to another and (4) used a deadly weapon. Tex. Penal Code Ann. §§ 22.01(a)(1), 22.02(a)(2) (Vernon 1994); Butler v. State, 928 S.W.2d 286, 288 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1996, pet. ref'd).

Wade contends the indictment alleges only simple assault because it alleges he struck Schulz “and” he used a deadly weap *889 on. Under Wade’s construction, the indictment must have alleged that he caused Schulz’s bodily injury “by” using a deadly weapon. However, bodily injury caused by a deadly weapon is not a necessary element of aggravated assault. Rather, the defendant must intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly cause bodily injury to another and use a deadly weapon during the assault. Therefore, the failure to allege that the deadly weapon caused the bodily injury does not render the indictment insufficient to charge aggravated assault. The indictment in this case properly charged Wade because it alleged all the essential elements of aggravated assault. Butler, 928 S.W.2d at 288.

Moreover, as a general rule, an indictment in the language of the statute creating and defining the charged offense will be sufficient. Beck v. State, 682 S.W.2d 550, 554 (Tex.Crim.App.1985). The indictment charging Wade was sufficient because it tracked the language of the statute creating and defining aggravated assault. We overrule the first point.

Wade’s second point claims that the indictment was fundamentally defective because it faded to allege the necessary culpability with regard to the use of the deadly weapon. A second culpable mental state is not required to be proved in connection with the aggravating element of the use of a deadly weapon. Butler, 928 S.W.2d at 288; Peacock v. State, 690 S.W.2d 613, 615-16 (Tex.App.—Tyler 1985, no pet.); Pass v. State, 634 S.W.2d 857, 860 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1982, pet. ref'd). Because the indictment alleged Wade intentionally and knowingly caused bodily injury, it was not necessary to allege that Wade intentionally and knowingly used a deadly weapon. Point two is overruled.

Wade complains in his third point that the evidence is legally insufficient to support his conviction for aggravated assault as alleged in the indictment. By this point, Wade contends there is no evidence to show that he used a knife to inflict bodily injury upon Schulz. In conducting a legal sufficiency review, we determine whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, any rational trier of fact could have found the challenged elements beyond a reasonable doubt. Moore v. State, 935 S.W.2d 124, 126 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). The jury is the sole judge of the weight of the evidence and may choose to believe all, some, or none of it. Id. Reconciliation of conflicts in the evidence is within the exclusive province of the jury. Id.

The elements of aggravated assault are (1) the defendant (2) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly (3) caused bodily injury to another and (4) used a deadly weapon. TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. §§ 22.01(a)(1), 22.02(a)(2); Butler, 928 S.W.2d at 288. Under section 22.02(a)(2), an aggravated assault occurs when a person commits a simple assault “and” uses a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault. The word “and” has the same meaning as the phrases “as well as” and “at the same time.” Pass, 634 S.W.2d at 862. Although a deadly weapon must be used at the same time as the assault occurs, nothing in the language of this statute requires that a deadly weapon actually cause the bodily injury.

The word “use” is commonly employed to describe conduct in which the verb’s object (in this case, a deadly weapon) is utilized in order to achieve a purpose. Patterson v. State, 769 S.W.2d 938, 941 (Tex.Crim.App.1989). In other words, the deadly weapon must be utilized, employed, or applied in order to achieve its intended result. Id. The use of a deadly weapon extends to any employment of a deadly weapon, even its simple possession, if such possession facilitates the associated offense. Id. The “use” of a deadly weapon during an aggravated assault certainly refers to inflicting of bodily injury, but it can also refer to simple possession of a knife if the possession facilitated the aggravated assault.

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Bluebook (online)
951 S.W.2d 886, 1997 WL 471869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wade-v-state-texapp-1997.