Wallace v. State

659 S.W.2d 460, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 5256
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided September 7, 1983·No. No. 09-83-025-CR·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

OPINION

BROOKSHIRE, Justice.

Ronald Paul Wallace, Appellant, was charged by indictment with the offense of murder, it being alleged that on or about February 17, 1981, he did intentionally and knowingly cause the death of his father, Bobby Kenneth Wallace, by stabbing him with a knife. The Court appointed two attorneys to represent Appellant, and the record discloses the attorneys served Appellant ably and admirably.1 The jury was charged with the law of circumstantial evidence, though such according to recent holdings is no longer required in Texas.2 Instructions and charges were also given on the defense of insanity. The jury nonetheless found Appellant guilty and further assessed punishment at ninety-nine (99) years. Motion for new trial was overruled and timely notice of appeal was given.

Appellant, in his complaint of circumstantial evidence insufficiency, asserts that his mere presence at the scene of the crime does not justify drawing'an inference that he participated therein, especially when he and his deceased father lived at the house, the scene of the crime, along with Appellant’s sister, infant niece, and mother. Appellant further claims that such presence, coupled with flight, are not enough to conclude he committed the offense.

We agree with Appellant that, in certain fact situations, presence and/or flight from the scene of a crime are alone not enough to establish guilt. See King v. State, 638 S.W.2d 903 (Tex.Cr.App.1982); Bonds v. State, 573 S.W.2d 528 (Tex.Cr.App.1978); and Culmore v. State, 447 S.W.2d 915 (Tex. Cr.App.1969). In the instant case, however, we find other buttressing facts and circumstances that, taken with such presence and flight, warrant a conviction being sustained.

The testimony of Lisa Wallace Best, Appellant’s sister, was as follows: On February 17, 1981, Appellant resided with his [462]*462father, mother, Mrs. Best, and infant niece in Dayton, Liberty County. Appellant was home at about 7 a.m. on that date when the deceased, Bobby Kenneth Wallace, came home from working graveyards at the J.M. Huber Corporation. At that time, Appellant’s mother was at work at the Brookshire Brothers Store in Liberty. It was usual for Appellant’s father, after he came home from working such shifts, to close the door of the master bedroom and go to sleep dressed in his undershorts. Mrs. Best said that on the morning of February 17, 1981, Appellant seemed calm and nothing appeared to be bothering him, but there was one thing she thought was unusual — when she was in the bathroom she heard Appellant talking. The inference from this testimony, in light of Mrs. Best thinking it unusual, was that her twenty-year-old brother was either talking to himself or to imaginary characters, although Mrs. Best did concede that Appellant could have been talking with his father. Mrs. Best said she left Appellant and her father alone in the house at about 9:00 or 9:30 a.m. on that date when she went to visit a friend in Daisetta.

Michael Verner, an installer-repairman for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, said that at about 11:30 a.m., February 17, 1981, he visited the Wallace home for the purpose of checking a noisy line and for replacing a temporary drop found on the ground at the rear of the house. He said that when he arrived he went directly to the terminal and then began following the drop. As he approached the house, a young man, eighteen to twenty years of age and dressed in jeans, came out of the rear patio door of the Wallace home. Verner said the young man seemed mad and upset, appeared hostile toward Verner, and made the repairman feel a certain amount of apprehension. Verner said the young man told him they were “having a fight” in the house and asked if the repairman could come back later. The repairman said he left immediately. Verner said he could not recognize in the courtroom the man who approached him.

Roy H. House, a building contractor, testified that on February 17, 1981, he was supervising the building of a house about 60 to 75 feet to the rear of the Wallace residence. Shortly after 1 p.m. on that date he was in a motor-coach that he uses as an office at construction sites. He heard a knock at the door of the motor-coach and when he opened it, a young man, whom he identified as Appellant, asked him: “Are you the man that’s going to take me out of the country, or drive me away from here?” House said the young man had a “glazed eye”, his speech was slurred, and he resembled one who was intoxicated. The young man had a “strange mannerism about him”, House said. The building contractor told Appellant he thought he had the wrong party. He then observed Appellant turn and walk away. Appellant appeared to have lost weight at the time of trial, House said.

Donald Eugene Nichols, who lived across the street from the Wallace residence, also said that Appellant’s appearance had changed from February 17, 1981, until the date of trial, in that Appellant had lost a considerable amount of weight. Nichols testified that at about 1:00 or 1:30 p.m., February 17, 1981, Nichols and his wife were on their front porch waiting for the mailman when they saw Appellant, whom they had known as their neighbor, walking down the road in a westerly direction away from the Wallace house. When Nichols first observed Appellant, Appellant was about 150 feet away, was by himself, dressed in blue jeans, walking fast and carrying suitcases. It struck Nichols as unusual for Appellant to be walking down the road, especially when the deceased’s truck was parked in the driveway. Nichols said he had been checking his mail periodically that morning (the postman was running late) and he saw no one else at or near the Wallace residence that day.

Betty Joe Weisgarber, a housewife who lived about a half-mile west of the Wallace residence, said that between 1:00 and 1:30 p.m., February 17, 1981, she was driving to town when she passed, face to face, a stocky young man with blond hair and [463]*463wearing blue jeans and a red plaid shirt. The young man was walking down the road carrying two suitcases, one big and the other small. The small one resembled a man’s toiletry bag. She said she had never seen the man before that date. She hesitated in her in-court identification of Appellant as the man she saw walking down the road. “[H]e’s lost quite a bit of weight if that’s him,” she said. She did, however, note a resemblance in the face.

Both Mrs. Best and Plorice Wallace, Appellant’s mother, testified that they arrived in separate cars at the Wallace residence at about 4:00 or 4:30 p.m., February 17, 1981. Mrs. Best was with her two-year-old daughter, Stephanie Best, and Mrs. Wallace had with her Mrs. Wallace’s mother, Natalie Freytag. They found the rear patio door of the house locked and this was unusual because Appellant was usually home that time of day. Mrs. Best crawled in through a kitchen window and, once inside, let in the others. Mrs. Wallace said when she entered she called Appellant’s name and looked for him but he was not there. Mrs. Wallace then went into the master bedroom and found her husband’s body on the floor. She said her husband looked as if he were dead and she called for her daughter. Mrs. Best said she noticed what appeared to be blood on her father’s undershorts and on his body. The bedspread partially covered the deceased. Mrs.

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Wallace v. State, 659 S.W.2d 460, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 5256 (Tex. Ct. App. 1983).

659 S.W.2d 460 (Wallace v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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