Bryan v. State, 39638

• Decision Date: 25 May 1966
• Docket Number: No. 39638,39638
• Citation: 406 S.W.2d 210
• Parties: William Clark BRYAN, Jr., Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 210

406 S.W.2d 210

William Clark BRYAN, Jr., Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 39638.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

May 25, 1966.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 5, 1966.

Luther F. Hardin, John T. Nicholson, Rosenberg, John K. Gresham, Richmond, for appellant.

Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.

OPINION

BELCHER, Commissioner.

The conviction is for murder; the punishment was assessed at death.

On February 18, the deceased, Luther Douglas Price, operated a drive-in grocery store which was adjacent to a service station. The station operator last saw the deceased about 9:30 p.m. at the store; next, he saw a Cadillac parked in front of the store but never saw it leave, and before 10 p.m. he was alerted when customers of the store found it unattended with the cash register open, and on being unable to locate the deceased, the officers were notified.

The appellant was seen in the vicinity of the store about 9:30 p.m. February 18, with a .22 caliber pistol and driving a Cadillac. Later, about midnight, a man used the telephone at a residence to call a taxi, saying his car was in the ditch and he was unable to get it out; and he soon left in a taxi. On Friday morning, February 19, a Cadillac was found in a ditch in the vicinity of the residence from which the taxi was called, the sheriff was notified, and the car was stored in Richmond. About 2 p.m. Sunday, February 21, a body was found in a roadside ditch approximately one and one-half miles from where the Cadillac was bound. The identification papers on the body revealed that it was that of Luther Douglas Price and those who knew Luther Douglas Price also identified the body as that of Luther Douglas Price. Further investigation revealed that the appellant was driving the Cadillac in the vicinity of the store on the night the deceased disappeared. Also, it was determined that a friend of appellant's, R. W. (Porky) Johnson, had recently obtained a .22 caliber pistol. At this time a complaint was filed against the appellant charging him with the murder of Luther Douglas Price before Justice of the Peace Rucker. The next morning on a further search near the scene where the Cadillac had been in the ditch, a sack containing $13.75 was found.

After a newpaper story in Houston that appellant had been charged with murder, the appellant surrendered and was soon taken into custody by authority of an arrest warrant by Sheriff Gaston of Fort Bend County, who took him before Justice of the Peace Rucker where he was warned and advised of his rights. In a search for the pistol, the appellant told the officers that he threw it in the ditch between where he left the sack of money and the residence from which he called the taxi. At appellant's direction the pistol was found in the ditch, and when found the appellant told the officers at the scene that it was the pistol with which he shot Luther Douglas Price.

Dr. Bucklin examined the body of the deceased and testified that a gunshot wound in the head was the cause of death.

The appellant made and signed a written statement, which omitting the formal parts, reads in part as follows:

'My name is William Clark Bryan Jr. and I am 25 years of age. * * * I have been advised of my rights to counsel and I do hereby waive that right before making this statement. On Thursday, February 18, 1965, I was living with a friend of mine by the name of R. W. (Porky) Johnson at the above address. At about 6:30 P.M. on this date I went into the bedroom and I got a .22 Cal pistol that belonged to Porky and I checked it and it had 3 rounds of ammunition in it and I asked Porky if I could borrow his 1958 model Cadillac automobile and he told me that I could. When I got out to the car I looked into the turtle shell and I got some more .22 cal shells out of this compartment. I put 3 more rounds into the pistol and I put some loose shells in my pocket. I then got into the car and started driving around. I then went to a couple of beer joints and I drank some beer. I then drove over on Bissonnett to a couple of friends of mine by the name of Dave and Stanley. I don't know their last names. I tried to get Dave to call a girl friend of mine down at McMahons drug store but he wouldn't do it and he told me that I ought to leave her alone. While I was at Dave and Stanley's house I showed them this .22 cal pistol that I had. I left their house about 9:45 P.M. in this yellow cad. I then drove over to the U-Totem on 9530 Braeburn Glenn and I drove up in front of the store and parked the car. I went into the U-Totem store and I saw that there was no one in the store but this man that run the store and he was sweeping the floor. He was sweeping the floor around the check out counter and when I walked into the store I had my pistol in my hand and I walked up to him and I told him that this was a stick up and I want to change this, I just told this white man to give me the money and he walked to the cash register and opened it and he gave me the money and I told him to lets go and he walked out to my car with me and I told him to drive and we got into the car and drove off. We drove out Bissonett and through the back roads to Richmond and then on to Rosenberg, Texas. This man told me that his name was Price and he told me that he was married and that he had four children and that his wife was going to pick him up at 11:00 P.M. and he was afraid that he would miss her. Mr. Price was driving the car and I was setting in the front seat with him and we were just talking about his family and I told him that I had a wife and two children. When we got to the underpass on the west side of Rosenberg I told him to turn around and I would take him back closer to Houston. He turned around and we went back through Rosenberg and Richmond and back toward Houston on Hwy 59. After we went through Sugarland I told this man to turn on a black top road which the Officers have told me the name of this road is the Elderidge Road. We went down this road until we Came to Bissonett and he turned right toward Houston and we went until we came to a gravel road and I told him to turn right and we came to the Belknap road and I told him to turn right again on another road which the officers told me was Stiles Lane and up this road about 150 feet and I told him to stop the car. It must have been about 11:15 or 11:30 P.M. and we were walking back down the road from the car and I was going to show him the way that I wanted him to walk. Mr. Price told me that he didn't want to walk down the road so I told him to go ahead and cross the ditch and walk across the field. He then told me that he didn't want to walk across the field. I then fired 4 shots to scare him and he told me to stop shooting and I asked him if he was hit and he said yes in his left side. He then walked back up out of the ditch up to me and I looked at his left side but I couldn't tell that I had hit him because it was dark. I asked him if it hurt and he told me no so I told him to go ahead and walk across the field. Mr. Price turned around and then turned about half around again and drew up his arm and I thought that he was going to hit me so I shot him again. Mr. Price fell backwards and I saw that he was partly in the water in the ditch so I turned him over and he went all the way into the water. I didn't see where I had shot him but I knew that he was hit bad and I figured that he was dead so I ran and got into my car and turned it around and drove back past where Mr. Price was at and I went to the right until I got to Bissonnett and I turned left and drove until I came to a muddy gravel road and I was driving so fast that I lost control of the car and I went into the ditch and got stuck. I then got out of the car, and I had a paper sack with some silver in it that I had stolen from the U-Totem store laying in the seat and I took this sack and I got up on the road walking and I saw 2 or 3 houses on the opposite side of the road from where my car was stuck and I started walking down this gravel road. I walked quite a while and I decided to get rid of this sack of money that I was carrying so I walked over to the bank of the creek and I put the sack down on the ground. I then started walking on down the road and a little ways further I decided to get rid of the pistol so I went down into the ditch and dug a hole in the water and burried the gun. I then walked on until I cam out on a black top road and I figured that this was Bissonnett and there was 2 or 3 houses across Bissonett so I turned toward Houston and walked up to one of these houses and rang the doorbell. A boy about 17 or 18 years old came to the door and I told him that I had car trouble and would like to call a cab and he let me in the house to use the telephone. I called the courteous cab. co. and I then left the house and walked on toward Houston until I met the cab. This cab driver carried me first to the Nomad Motel in the 10,000 block of South Main and I went in and registered under the name of J. L. Whitmore, That I was working for the Gore Truck Line and lived in San Antonio, Texas. I had the cab wait for me because I wanted to know if the porter was working so I could get a beer and after I found out that he wasn't working I decided not to stay there and I got back into the cab and went over to the King Motel and checked in and spent the night. The next night I checked in at the Nomad Motel. On Monday, February 22, 1965 I saw in the newspaper that I was wanted for Murder so I czlled the Sheriff's Dep't. in Houston and talked to Lt. Joe Thorpe and told him where I was at and if he would come and get me I would surrender and he came and picked me up. Where I short Mr. Price and killed him was in Fort Bend County Texas, I can read and write the English Language and I have read the above statement and it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.'

The appellant did not testify before the jury. He...