Lopez v. State
| Decision Date | 04 April 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 34326,34326 |
| Parties | Frances Ramon LOPEZ, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
William C. McDonald, San Angelo, for appellant.
Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
BELCHER, Commissioner.
The conviction is for murder without malice; the punishment, two years.
No bills of exception appear in the record. There are no objections to the court's charge or any specially requested charges.
Appellant strenuously challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction.
Officer Wagner testified that when he arrived at the home of the appellant she was in the kitchen and the body of the deceased was on the kitchen floor. After he found a small hole in the left side of the chest of the deceased, the appellant told Officer Wagner that she had shot him, and gave the Officer a gun which had been recently fired containing one empty cartridge. He further testified that appellant told him that when she returned from taking the children to school her 16 year old, afflicted daughter told her that deceased had gotten in bed with her and had taken her panties off. She telephoned the deceased at his place of employment and, when he came home, they got in an argument and she shot him as he tried to take the gun away from her. When asked if she told him that the pistol went off accidentally, the officer replied: 'No, sir; she said she shot him on purpose and intended to kill him'.
The appellant testified that she had seven children, five born [172 TEXCRIM 318] of a former marriage and two since her marriage six years before to the deceased. On the morning in question, after returning from taking the children to school, her 16 year old, afflicted daughter told her about the deceased coming to her bed and taking her panties off. She telephoned the deceased and he returned home immediately. She testified that she asked him about these actions and when he continued to deny any misconduct with her daughter, she used the pistol to scare him and get him to tell the truth. When the girl related her experience in his presence, he then admitted his guilt, but became angry and threatened them. In the scuffle that followed, the gun went off accidentally and shot him in the chest. She further testified that she did not intend to kill him.
She called several witnesses who testified that her general reputation for truth and veracity and as being a peaceable and law abiding citizen was good.
At the close of the evidence, the plea of guilty which had been entered by the appellant in the beginning of the trial was withdrawn by the court and a plea of not guilty was entered for her.
The disposition of this case on appeal is made solely on the basis of a plea of not guilty.
Appellant first contends that the trial court erred in refusing her motion for an instructed verdict of not guilty when the state rested its case at the close of Officer Wagner's testimony because of the insufficiency of the evidence.
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Gordon v. State, 04-81-00116-CR
...evidence. Vera v. State, 428 S.W.2d 664 (Tex.Cr.App.1968); Bellah v. State, 415 S.W.2d 418 (Tex.Cr.App.1967); Lopez v. State, 172 Tex.Cr.R. 317, 356 S.W.2d 674 (Tex.Cr.App.1962); Cross v. State, 100 Tex.Cr.R. 88, 271 S.W. 621 (1925). The test as to the sufficiency of the corroboration is to......
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... ... child abuse was going on." Garcia v. State , 792 ... S.W.2d 88, 91 (Tex.Crim.App. 1990). Outcry statements from ... multiple witnesses may be admissible under the statute if ... each witness testifies about different incidents of abuse ... See Lopez v. State , 343 S.W.3d 137, 140 ... (Tex.Crim.App. 2011). Evidence admitted under Article 38.072 ... is restricted to the live testimony of a properly designated ... outcry witness and does not include a complainant's ... video-recorded statement. [ 2 ] Bays v. State , 396 ... ...
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Aguilar v. State
...to appellant) We conclude that the testimony of the eye witness alone was sufficient to support the jury's verdict. See Lopez v. State, 172 Tex.Cr.R., 356 S.W.2d 674. Further, under this testimony, the failure of the court to charge on circumstantial evidence was not error. This was brought......
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...by the State to test its sufficiency. 24 Tex.Jur.2d 395, Sec. 725; Wright v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 437 S.W.2d 566 (1969); Lopez v. State, 172 Tex.Cr.R. 317, 356 S.W.2d 674. "In Bellah v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 415 S.W.2d 418, and in Cross v. State, 100 Tex.Cr.R. 88, 271 S.W. 621, it was held tha......