Watts v. State

680 S.W.2d 667, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 7008
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 29, 1984
DocketNo. 2-84-166-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 680 S.W.2d 667 (Watts 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
Watts v. State, 680 S.W.2d 667, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 7008 (Tex. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

HILL, Justice.

Appellant, Carroll Wayne Watts, was convicted of attempted capital murder and sentenced to twenty years in the Texas Department of Corrections.

On appeal, he argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction, and that the State made improper jury arguments during both the guilt/innocence and punishment phases of the trial. He further complains that the trial court’s [669]*669charge on intoxication and insanity caused the jury to reject his insanity defense, and that the rejection was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence.

We affirm.

Appellant’s grounds of error numbers one, two and seven urge that there was no evidence or insufficient evidence to support the conviction.

On October 3, 1981, about 8:50 p.m., Truett Owens, the son of a deputy sheriff, saw appellant standing next to his pickup truck about a block from the county jail, holding a pistol and staring at the jail. Appellant’s son was being held in the jail on juvenile charges. Owens drove to the jail and reported what he’d seen to the dispatcher on duty. As Owens drove away from the jail, appellant started to follow him in his pickup. Appellant chased Owens at speeds up to 80 m.p.h. When Owens stopped, appellant pointed a pistol at him and threatened to blow his brains out. Owens escaped and reported the second incident.

Deputy Sheriff Jean Denton heard the radio traffic about appellant and reported for duty early. He and Constable Wilson Porter were given appellant’s name and the number and description of his pickup truck. They left the jail in a patrol car, which was clearly marked, and stopped for gas at the Texaco station. The station attendant told them that appellant had driven by and fired a shot at the attendant.

Meanwhile, appellant went to the VFW, ordered a beer, and talked to Earl Janes, a local farmer. He asked Janes, “Have you seen any cops? I just shot one and I’m looking for another one to shoot.” Janes testified that Watts had a “goofy” look but seemed fairly normal and spoke calmly. Appellant did not appear to be drunk, and left a few minutes later with his can of beer.

Officers Denton and Porter spotted appellant in his truck at the corner of 8th and Dallas Streets. Denton called in and was told that appellant had also fired a shot at the Conoco gas station. Denton activated the car’s flashing lights and started to follow appellant down Dallas Street, toward 7th Street. Appellant sped up, turned right on 7th, and right again onto Highway 83, running a stop sign. The officers followed. Appellant threw a beer can out of his truck.

As both vehicles picked up speed on Highway 83, the patrol car was about 50 feet behind appellant’s pickup. As the two vehicles crossed 8th Street, an object hit the patrol car. The same thing happened at about 15th Street. Both officers initially thought the objects were pieces of gravel slung up from the road, but as the patrol car caught up to appellant’s truck, Porter said to Denton, “The man is shooting at us.” The officers identified appellant through the open driver’s window of the pickup. Denton, the driver, radioed in and was told to stop the pickup. At this point, as the two vehicles reached 110 m.p.h., both officers heard three or four gunshots. Denton told Porter to blow the pickup’s tires out with a shotgun, which Porter proceeded to do. Appellant’s pickup flew off the road and ended up on its side. Appellant was not injured, although he was admitted into the hospital for observation for a couple of days.

After the chase was over, the officers discovered a hole in the front grill of the patrol car and a crease along the front hood of the car, holes that were not there before the chase began. A half-full whiskey bottle was found in the pickup, and a .357 Colt Magnum with six spent shells in it was found fifteen feet from the pickup. Appellant had .38 ammunition on his person. Marshall Peters, a man who lived along Highway 83, also heard the four gunshots.

In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence in a circumstantial evidence case, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict and consider whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Houston v. State, 663 S.W.2d 455, 456 (Tex.Crim.App.1984); Wilson v. State, 654 [670]*670S.W.2d 465, 471 (Tex.Crim.App.1983, opinion on rehearing).

Appellant was charged with knowingly and intentionally attempting to cause the death of a person or persons he knew to be peace officers acting in the lawful discharge of their duties by knowingly and intentionally shooting at them with a gun.

Appellant does not dispute that he knew Denton and Porter were peace officers acting in the lawful discharge of their duties. He does argue that there is insufficient evidence that he shot at the patrol car.

Both Denton and Porter twice heard something strike the patrol car. Porter told Denton that the man was shooting at them. Both officers heard four gunshots, as did bystander Peters. The patrol car was damaged in two places, damage that could have been caused by bullets. Appellant had a pistol and ammunition with him in the pickup and, in his own words, was looking for a cop to shoot. We find that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

However, 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 (1979). Thus, it follows that a conviction based on circumstantial evidence cannot be sustained if the circumstances do not exclude every other reasonable hypothesis except that of the guilt of the defendant. Johnson v. State, 673 S.W.2d 190, 195 (Tex.Crim.App.1984); Wilson, 654 S.W.2d at 471.

Appellant urges that the State failed to exclude the reasonable hypothesis that the patrol car was damaged by gravel, not bullets. He points to the testimony of the two police officers. Each initially thought that it was gravel striking the car, and neither actually saw appellant holding a pistol or firing it at the officers.

These portions of the officers’ testimony do show that the State’s case was circumstantial. They do not show, however, that gravel was a reasonable alternative. The police officers realized almost immediately that appellant was shooting at them. The fact that neither saw split-second muzzle flashes while engaged in a sudden high-speed pursuit in and out of light cast by streetlights does not mean that there were no muzzle flashes. It means only that the officers did not see any. Appellant offered no evidence that gravel could cause the type of damage that the patrol car sustained. We therefore hold that the jury could find that no other reasonable hypothesis existed besides appellant’s guilt. We overrule grounds of error one, two and seven.

Appellant’s ground of error number three alleges improper jury argument by the State.

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Bluebook (online)
680 S.W.2d 667, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 7008, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/watts-v-state-texapp-1984.