O'Neal v. State, 40301
| Decision Date | 24 May 1967 |
| Docket Number | No. 40301,40301 |
| Citation | 416 S.W.2d 433 |
| Parties | Lynwood O'NEAL, Jr., Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Ogg, Merrill & Turner, by Joe E. Turner, Houston, (On Appeal) for appellant.
Carol S. Vance, Dist. Atty. James C. Brought, Asst. Dist. Atty., Houston, and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
The appellant and Walter Joe Alexander and Benjamin Bell were jointly indicted for the offense of statutory rape.
Upon the granting of a severance, appellant was separately tried and convicted and his punishment assessed at life imprisonment.
Trial was prior to January 1, 1966, under the 1925 Code of Criminal Procedure.
The state's testimony shows that on the night in question the prosecutrix, then seventeen years of age, had a date with a young man--whom she subsequently married--prior to the date of trial. During the evening the couple drove to a place along White Oak Bayou near Creekmont Street, in Harris County, and parked. They got out of the car, and upon seeing lights of an approaching automobile they got back in the car. The approaching car then stopped and three young Negro men got out. One of the men, who was positively identified by the prosecutrix and her companion as the appellant, pulled the young man out of the car and beat him into unconsciousness with a tire tool. Appellant and the other two men, later identified by the prosecutrix as Benjamin Bell and Walter Alexander, then proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her without her consent. Appellant was the first to rape her and was followed by his two companions, and then each of the three raped her again. After the assault, appellant and his companions left the scene.
The prosecutrix and her companion then left and went to two separate hospitals for treatment of their injuries. An examination of the prosecutrix at the hospital showed that she had been raped and also corroborated her testimony of prior chastity.
Appellant was arrested at 10 p.m. the following day by Officer J. N. Dechman, in front of the home of his co-indictee Alexander.
Following his arrest, appellant gave Officer Lloyd Frazier the underwear he was wearing. The underwear was bloodstained and a pubic hair found on the shorts was determined by Chemist McDonald to be identical with pubic hairs of the prosecutrix. A tire tool found near a vacant lot within a block of appellant's home was identified by the prosecutrix's male companion as the weapon used by appellant in assaulting him on the night in question. There was human blood on the tire tool but not of sufficient quantity for the chemist to type. The young man's wallet was found in possession of the appellant's co-indictee Bell.
As a witness in his own behalf, appellant denied having ravished the prosecutrix and swore that he was at another place at the time of the offense.
Witnesses were called who testified in support of his defense of alibi.
Appellant's defense of alibi and his application for a suspension of sentence were submitted to the jury.
The court also instructed the jury on the law of principals.
Appellant predicates his appeal upon four grounds of error.
In his first two grounds he insists that the court erred in admitting in evidence the tire tool (state's exhibit 7) and the billfold (state's exhibit 10) because the items had not been properly connected with him and therefore were not relevant.
Under the record we find no merit in appellant's contentions. The tire tool (state's exhibit 7) was identified by the prosecutrix's male companion as the weapon used by appellant in committing the assault upon him. He also identified state's exhibit 10 as his wallet, which he had on his person on the night in question. Appellant's co-indictee Walter Joe Alexander led the officers to where the tire tool was found, and the billfold was found on the person of his other...
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...by the complaining witness Johnson as the armed robbers, the search of the apartment for the pistols was justified. See O'Neal v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 416 S.W.2d 433; Trammell v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 445 S.W.2d 190; Price v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 410 S.W.2d 778, and Ware v. State, 151 Tex.Cr.R.......
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Dickson v. State
...evidence fruits of the crime found on the person of another actor-principal. Bennett v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 450 S.W.2d 652. See O'Neal v. State, 416 S.W.2d 433; Williams v. State, 170 Tex.Cr.R. 595, 343 S.W.2d 263; Cruz v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 411 S.W.2d 531. Further, appellant's objection t......
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Trammell v. State
...an arrest warrant in hopes that appellant and his companion would still be where last seen since he feared their escape. O'Neal v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 416 S.W.2d 433. Ground of error #2 is Next, appellant contends the trial court erred in admitting into evidence a set of his fingerprints ta......
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Fry v. State
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