Winfrey v. State

338 S.W.3d 687, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 2540, 2011 WL 1304892
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 6, 2011
Docket09-09-00043-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 338 S.W.3d 687 (Winfrey 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
Winfrey v. State, 338 S.W.3d 687, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 2540, 2011 WL 1304892 (Tex. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

OPINION

DAVID GAULTNEY, Justice.

Megan Winfrey a/k/a Megan Winfrey Hammond appeals her convictions for capital murder and conspiracy to commit capital murder. She asserts there is insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence supports the jury’s decision. We affirm the judgment.

The Evidence

Murray Wayne Burr was found murdered in his home. He suffered twenty-five stab wounds, primarily in the head and neck area, and multiple sharp and blunt-force injuries. Burr had extensive craniofacial fracturing, including a broken right eye orbit and broken jaw bone. His body had been dragged from the living room to the master bedroom where his throat was cut. There was no evidence of forced entry into the house or of a long-term struggle. Burr’s wallet was on the washing machine. The only item investigators initially believed to be missing was a Bible, but they later determined — from a statement made by Megan Winfrey’s father to another inmate, and then from a relative of Burr’s — that Burr owned two guns which were missing.

At the time of the murder in August 2004, Winfrey was sixteen years old. She lived near Burr. Burr worked as a janitor at the high school where Winfrey attended. According to trial testimony, Burr was cognitively “slow in some areas” but “intelligent in [some.]”

Texas Ranger Grover Huff interviewed Winfrey. According to Huff, Winfrey stated that she had last seen Burr two weeks prior to his death. Winfrey denied any inappropriate contact between her and Burr. She admitted she may have commented to people that Burr had a nice home or nice things in his home, but she denied making any comments about Burr having money hidden in his house. Winfrey denied any involvement in his death.

Ranger Huff testified that during the interview, he began questioning Winfrey about some discrepancies in her statements and about some comments she made about having an ability to exercise control over men. According to Huff, Winfrey then appeared “to be frustrated or ... somewhat angry and excused herself from the interview[.]”

None of the hair, blood, or DNA collected from the scene could be matched to Winfrey or her family members. The DNA profile that did not relate to Burr was unknown.

To assist in the investigation, Huff contacted Deputy Keith Pikett, a dog handler with the Fort Bend County Sheriffs office. Pikett used bloodhounds trained to perform “dog-scent lineups.” Pikett performed a dog-scent lineup with Winfrey’s scent sample in August 2004. Pikett used two bloodhounds to perform the lineup. The lineup involved scent samples obtained from the clothes Burr was wearing at the time of the murder and scent samples from six females, including Megan Winfrey. The dogs were “pre-scented” on the scent obtained from Burr’s clothing and then walked by a line of paint cans that each contained one of the six female scents. The jury viewed a video showing both dogs alerting to the can containing Megan Winfrey’s scent. An “alert” occurs when the dog matches the scent from the [690]*690victim’s scent pad to the scent pad obtained from the suspect.

Pikett also performed a scent lineup with scent pads obtained from Richard Winfrey, Jr. (appellant’s brother) and other males. Pikett testified that both dogs alerted to the scent of Richard Winfrey, Jr., and the jury viewed a video of the dog-scent lineup. Based on the alerts by the dogs, Pikett concluded that Megan Winfrey and Richard Winfrey, Jr. had contact with the clothes Burr was wearing at the time of the murder. On cross-examination, Pikett agreed that a person’s scent could be transferred to another person indirectly even when the two persons “have not had direct personal contact.”

In July 2006, the San Jacinto County Sheriffs Department received new information about the case from David Campbell, an inmate in the Montgomery County Jail. Campbell testified that in the summer of 2006, he shared a cell in the county jail with Richard Winfrey, Sr., Megan’s father. Winfrey, Sr. was out on parole at the time of the murder of Burr. Campbell got the impression from talking with Winfrey, Sr. that Winfrey, Sr. may have some knowledge or involvement in the murder. According to Campbell, the only way for someone to know what Winfrey, Sr. purported to know about the murder was to have been there when the murder occurred.

Campbell testified:
Q. Did Richard, Sr. have concerns about Richard, Jr., breaking?
A. He would be the first to speak, yes.
Q. So there was an indication from Richard Winfrey, Sr., that it was the kids that allowed access to be gained to the house; is that correct?
A. Not kids. He just said one of them.
Q. One of them?
A. He didn’t say which one.
Q. But did he indicate both were there, and it was one of them that let him in?
A. That let him in? He didn’t say exactly let him in. He just said—
Q. Allowed him to gain access?
A. Access. I mean, that’s hearsay. I mean—

Winfrey, Sr. told Campbell that Burr had been “[sjtabbed repeatedlyU” and also said that “[a] couple of antique guns” were taken from the house. Prior to interviewing Campbell, law enforcement investigators were not aware that any guns were missing from Burr’s home. Investigators subsequently interviewed Burr’s brother-in-law, who confirmed that Burr owned two guns that the family could not locate following his death.

Campbell also testified that Winfrey, Sr. bragged that Burr’s penis had been mutilated; this statement regarding the crime was inaccurate. According to Campbell, Winfrey, Sr. was “[vjery concerned” that Megan Winfrey or Richard Winfrey, Jr. would be held responsible for the murder, and he repeatedly stated that they were not responsible.

In August 2007, Pikett was asked to perform another “dog-scent lineup” using the scent of Richard Winfrey, Sr. The jury saw a video of this lineup. All three dogs used in the lineup alerted to the paint can with Winfrey, Sr.’s scent. Pikett testified that, based on the scent lineup, Winfrey, Sr.’s scent was also on the victim’s clothing.

Detective Katherine Wick with the San Jacinto County Sheriffs Department testified that she attempted to obtain a pubic hair sample from Megan Winfrey. Winfrey had shaved her pubic area “that morning” and Wick was unable to obtain the sample. According to Wick, Winfrey “made the comment that her brother had [691]*691called her and stated that [the sheriffs department was] harassing him and that he was mad.” Wick advised Winfrey that she would attempt to obtain a sample at a later time and that shaving prior to that time would constitute a violation of the court’s order. Wick subsequently obtained a pubic hair sample from Winfrey. The sample did not match a hair recovered from the scene.

Jason King, Winfrey’s ex-boyfriend, testified that he contacted the San Jacinto County Sheriffs Department because he was “told some things” by Winfrey that he “needed to get off [his] chest.” At that time, he had moved to another state and had married. King testified concerning what Megan Winfrey told him:

Q.

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Related

Megan Winfrey v. Keith Pikett
872 F.3d 640 (Fifth Circuit, 2017)
Winfrey, Megan AKA Megan Winfrey Hammond
393 S.W.3d 763 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Winfrey v. State
338 S.W.3d 687 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
338 S.W.3d 687, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 2540, 2011 WL 1304892, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/winfrey-v-state-texapp-2011.