Neal v. State
| Decision Date | 29 January 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 36448,36448 |
| Citation | 374 S.W.2d 668 |
| Parties | John E. NEAL, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Rex Emerson, Houston (Court Appointed Attorney on Appeal Only), for appellant.
Frank Briscoe, Dist. Atty., Carl E. F. Dally, James I. Smith, Jr. and Jon N. Hughes, Asst. Dist. Attys., Houston, and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
The offense is murder; the punishment 30 years confinement in the State Penitentiary.
Appellant was jointly indicted with three others, but severance was granted and appellant was tried alone.
Since this is a companion case to that of James Stafford Harris, Harris v. State Tex.Cr.App., 370 S.W.2d 886, recently affirmed by this court, the facts being substantially the same will only be briefly stated.
A group of 5 young men which included appellant, started an argument with deceased who was walking home on an empty street in the company of a young female companion. A fight ensued, deceased was kicked in the back and struck many blows by members of the group. Appellant's confession admits that he was among the group and that he personally hit deceased twice with a large board. Appellant, testifying in his own behalf, said he hit deceased around the shoulder and denied striking deceased in the head with the board and further stated that he struck back in his own self-defense.
Appellant identified a board brought into the courtroom as resembling the board used by him in the affray.
Detective J. M. Thornton, a witness called by the state, testified that the board in question, when used as a club in the hands of a man the size and strength of appellant, in a swinging and striking motion * * * with force against the head or body of another adult human being was a means that would be calculated to produce death.
The deceased did not die as a direct result of a blow to the head, but died five days later because of complications growing out of a fractured jaw and two fractured ribs which he sustained during the course of the assault upon him. From these fractures, according to expert medical testimony, there was released into the blood stream fat emboli which, when the emboli reached the lungs, caused an impairment of the pulmonary function which eventually caused death.
The jury resolved any conflict in favor of the state, and we find the evidence sufficient to support their verdict. Harris v. State, supra.
It is insisted by appellant that the trial court erred in not instructing a verdict...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Mireles v. State
...Thomas v. State, 753 S.W.2d 688 (Tex.Crim.App.1988); McManners v. State, 592 S.W.2d 622, 623 (Tex.Crim.App.1980); Neal v. State, 374 S.W.2d 668, 669 (Tex.Crim.App.1964). It has thus been clear from the earliest times that the allegation of a specific date in an indictment or information is ......
-
Romines v. State
...v. State, 592 S.W.2d 622, 623 (Tex.Crim.App.1980); Williams v. State, 565 S.W.2d 63, 64 (Tex.Crim.App.1978); Neal v. State, 374 S.W.2d 668, 669 (Tex.Crim.App.1964); White v. State, 86 Tex.Crim. 420, 217 S.W. 389, 389 (1919) (opinion on reh'g); Sanders v. State, 70 Tex.Cr.R., 209, 156 S.W. 9......
-
Knapp v. State, 46226
...or information and not so remote as to be barred by limitation.' I adhere to this theory completely. For example, in Neal v. State, 374 S.W.2d 668 (Tex.Crim.App.1964), the indictment alleged June 16, 1962, as the date of the offense. Evidence reflected that the murder was committed on June ......
-
Penton v. State
...victim in scalding water, causing fat to melt in victim's legs and resulting in fat emboli entering the blood stream); Neal v. State, 374 S.W.2d 668 (Tex.Ct.App.1964) (defendants struck victim, fracturing jaw and ribs, and causing release of fat emboli into blood stream). Criminal responsib......