Whipple v. State

281 S.W.3d 482, 2008 WL 3895936
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 22, 2009
Docket08-06-00202-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 281 S.W.3d 482 (Whipple 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
Whipple v. State, 281 S.W.3d 482, 2008 WL 3895936 (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Justice.

Mary Jean Whipple appeals her conviction of murder. A jury found Appellant guilty and assessed her punishment at imprisonment for ninety-nine years. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

Appellant was convicted of murdering her seventy-one-year-old business partner, Art Loustaunau, by shooting him in the chest with a firearm on August 7, 2003. In finding Appellant guilty, the jury impliedly rejected Appellant’s claim of self-defense. Because Appellant challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury’s rejection of her defensive theory, we will set forth the evidence in considerable detail.

The Prior Relationship Between Appellant and Loustaunau

Loustaunau had been married to Pauline Loustaunau for forty-seven years at the time of his death. He and Appellant had operated a bingo hall together since 1994 or 1995. Appellant often complained that he was short-changing her financially and owed her money. In addition to the business relationship, Loustaunau had an affair with Appellant, who was about twenty years younger than he and also married. In 2001, Appellant divorced her husband, James “Buck” Whipple. She expected Loustaunau to divorce his wife so they *488 could marry, but he did not do so. Appellant told others before the shooting that she and Loustaunau were no longer romantically involved, but it is not clear from the record when that aspect of their relationship ended.

In addition to her complaints about the business, Appellant accused Loustaunau of being physically, emotionally, and sexually abusive. She claimed he used the knowledge that she had been sexually abused by her father to manipulate her. Defense witness Mike Olivares, one of Loustau-nau’s business partners, testified that Loustaunau was dominant, manipulative, and verbally abusive towards Appellant. The defense introduced into evidence a police report dated October 14, 2000 in which both Appellant and Loustaunau complained of being assaulted by the other.

But the State introduced evidence that Appellant had threatened to kill Loustau-nau on more than one occasion and had committed acts of violence against him. Albert Guerra recalled that Appellant and Loustaunau argued most of the time they were together and Appellant often screamed at Loustaunau. During one argument, he saw Appellant shove Loustau-nau and kick the side of his car. Guerra had also heard Appellant threaten to kill Loustaunau as well as herself.

Loustaunau’s son, Raymond “Bo” Lous-taunau, testified that in 1998 or 1999, he was in El Paso visiting his parents. His father received a telephone call indicating a problem at the office and Bo accompanied him to check it out. Bo did not want to meddle in his father’s business so he remained just outside the door in the hallway, but he could smell a strong odor of gasoline. When Loustaunau entered the office, Appellant yelled that he had ruined her life and she called him vulgar names. When Bo heard his father grunt loudly as though he had been hit in the stomach, he entered the room and found him down on the floor. Appellant was kicking him in the stomach and groin while trying to strike a match to light the gasoline that she had poured throughout the office. Loustaunau was terrified and unable to defend himself. Bo placed Appellant in a bear hug to prevent her from setting his father and the office on fire. He picked her up and carried her to the couch and held her down. Appellant continued to struggle and say “horrible things” to Lous-taunau. To this point, Bo did not know that Appellant and his father had been having an affair but Appellant’s comments revealed this to be true. Bo said that it took all of his might to hold Appellant. His father tried but was not successful in his efforts to calm Appellant. She did not calm down until her husband arrived several minutes later.

Rene Gonzalez, another of Loustaunau’s business partners, testified that Appellant often complained about Loustaunau. On one occasion, Appellant arrived at Lous-taunau’s office with a gun and threatened to kill both Gonzalez and Loustaunau before killing herself. It took Loustaunau 35 to 40 minutes to convince Appellant to put the gun away. Afterward, Loustaunau asked Gonzalez to not call the police. On another occasion, Loustaunau learned that someone had crashed into his car in the parking lot. He found Appellant sitting in her pickup a short distance away from his own damaged car. Loustaunau confronted Appellant and they argued for a while before leaving together.

The Disappearance

The day before the shooting, Loustau-nau had dinner with his cousin, Rafael Loustaunau. Over a one and a half hour period, Appellant called Loustaunau’s cell phone eight to ten times. Loustaunau did *489 not answer any of the calls but his facial expressions indicated to Rafael that he was worried. Concerned about an argument he was having with Appellant, Loustaunau asked Rafael to follow him home. Rafael did so and he waited outside until Loustau-nau was safely inside.

The following day, Loustaunau, dressed in a sweat suit, left his house for the bingo hall at 6 a.m. as he typically did. Cell phone records showed that Appellant called Loustaunau’s cell phone several times that morning between 7 and 8 a.m. He returned home shortly after 8 a.m. and told his wife, Pauline, that he was going to the gym but he wanted to get a change of clothes in the event he went straight to the office after his workout. Before he left, he asked Pauline to retrieve a manila envelope containing money from their bedroom dresser drawer. Pauline got the envelope, which she described as “bulky,” and gave it to him. Loustaunau left at around 8:45 a.m., and Pauline never saw him again.

Albert Guerra, a bingo hall employee, spoke with Loustaunau on the phone sometime between 9 and 9:30 that same morning. Loustaunau asked him to get some deposit books and checks from his desk and meet him at Loustaunau’s house at 1 p.m. Guerra went to the house at 1, but Loustaunau never showed up. Guerra talked with Pauline and left the deposit books and checks with her. During the remainder of the day, Guerra tried to contact Loustaunau both in person and by phone but he could not locate him. Pauline was not overly concerned when her husband did not come home for dinner because he often worked late, but she became concerned when one of his employees called that evening looking for him. She did not sleep at all that night and she began looking for her husband early the following day.

Upset and worried, Pauline called Guerra at 7 a.m. the next morning and told him that Loustaunau had not come home. Guerra told her he would make some calls and try to find him. He immediately got in his truck and drove to Appellant’s house to look for Loustaunau. When Guerra pulled up in front of the house, he saw Appellant standing in the front yard watering her lawn. As soon as she saw him and their eyes met, she dropped the hose and ran inside. He waited to see if she would come back out, but she did not and he left. Guerra returned to the bingo hall and waited with another of Loustaunau’s business associates, Hector Mena, to see if Loustaunau would show up. At 1 p.m., they called Bo in Fort Worth and told him that his father was missing.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
281 S.W.3d 482, 2008 WL 3895936, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whipple-v-state-texapp-2009.