Gonzales v. State

Decision Date16 February 1977
Docket NumberNo. 52707,52707
Citation546 S.W.2d 617
PartiesJuan GONZALES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
CourtTexas Court of Criminal Appeals
OPINION

PHILLIPS, Judge.

This is an appeal from a conviction for murder under V.T.C.A. Penal Code, Sec. 19.04 upon a plea of not guilty. The jury assessed punishment at fifty years.

The record reflects that appellant shot Cletus Cooper in his motel room during the early evening of August 4, 1974. Appellant's wife was present in the deceased's motel room at the time of the shooting and she was also shot, although not fatally wounded. Both appellant and his wife testified that they had been separated for a few weeks at the time of the shooting.

Appellant's wife, Diane Gonzales, testified that, unknown to appellant, she had been seeing the deceased for several months. She stated that on the afternoon of August 4, 1974, appellant had come by her house and found the deceased present. At that time appellant told the deceased that he did not want Cooper seeing his wife. At 6:30 p.m. Mrs. Gonzales went with Cooper to his room at the Stardust Motel. Mrs. Gonzales testified that she and Cooper were lying on the bed when appellant entered the darkened room and began shooting.

Appellant testified that prior to August 4, 1974, he had never met the deceased and that he did not argue with Cooper during their afternoon meeting. He further testified that while taking his three children to the movies later that day his five year old daughter, Stephanie, told him that the deceased and her mother had been making her sleep on the floor beside the bed in which they were sleeping and that Cooper had been mean to her and spanked her. Stephanie then directed appellant to Cooper's room at the motel.

Appellant testified that he went to the deceased's motel room to tell him to leave his family and children alone and that at that time he did not intend to shoot Cooper. He further testified that he did not expect his wife to be in Cooper's room because he had driven by her house on the way to the movies and her car was there and the front door was open. When appellant entered the room and saw his wife and the deceased on the bed, he pulled his gun and shot them both.

In addition to murder, the trial court charged the jury on involuntary manslaughter and...

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8 cases
  • Gold v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • September 23, 1987
    ...finding that the accused acted under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause. E.g., Gonzales v. State, 546 S.W.2d 617 (Tex.Cr.App.1977) In the instant cause there was no question that sudden passion was raised--it was, in fact, the pivotal issue in the case,......
  • High v. U.S.
    • United States
    • D.C. Court of Appeals
    • June 4, 2009
    ...home while appellant was away, allowed to repeatedly call her at their home, and come by the home honking his horn); Gonzales v. State, 546 S.W.2d 617 (Tex.Crim.App.1977) (husband adequately provoked when he killed his wife's lover after discovering the two in bed together at a local Moreov......
  • State v. Warner
    • United States
    • Hawaii Supreme Court
    • December 23, 1977
    ...submit the issue to the jury for its determination. Phillips v. State, 238 Ga. 497, 499, 233 S.E.2d 758, 760 (1977); Gonzales v. State, 546 S.W.2d 617, 618 (Tex.Cr. 1977); People v. Jacobs, 44 Ill.App.3d 290, 292, 2 Ill.Dec. 601, 357 N.E.2d 821, 824 (1976). By ruling that the evidence in th......
  • Sledge v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • August 13, 1993
    ...not determine the weight to be given to the evidence nor does it decide which testimony is true and which is false. Gonzales v. State, 546 S.W.2d 617, 618 (Tex.Crim.App.1977), citing Armentrout v. State, 515 S.W.2d 297, 298 (Tex.Crim.App.1974). When a defendant's pretrial statement differs ......
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