Peterson v. State
| Decision Date | 09 March 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 39357,39357 |
| Citation | 399 S.W.2d 813 |
| Parties | Gene Harold PETERSON, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Henry V. Sanchez, Houston, for appellant.
Carol S. Vance, Dist. Atty., Ted Hirtz and Gerald Applewhite, Asst. Dist. Attys., Houston, and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
The offense is assault with intent to murder with malice; the punishment, five years in the penitentiary.
The only issue raised in appellant's brief before this court is whether or not the evidence is sufficient to support the jury's finding that the assault was committed with the intent to murder with malice.
Viewed in the manner most favorable to the state, the evidence reveals that appellant had been working for the Cooper Exterminating Company in Harris County for about three weeks prior to the date of the offense. His job consisted of soliciting business for the company, and he was compensated by receiving a percentage of the company's fee after the extermination work was completed.
On the afternoon of February 23, 1965, appellant entered the company office and was paid a commission by his employer, Willard Bell, the complaining witness, for an exterminating assignment which had been solicited by appellant. There followed a disagreement over salary, and appellant demanded to be paid in advance for other jobs he had solicited but which had not yet been completed. When Bell refused, appellant became angry and began cursing Bell, whereupon he was told that if he persisted in such conduct he would be fired. Appellant replied that if he were fired, that would be the biggest mistake Bell would ever make in his life. He then reached in his pocket, pulled out a pistol, and fired twice at Bell, one round grazing the victim's hair as he leaped up from his desk and ran toward the restroom. In response to the prosecutor's questions concerning what appellant said as he fired these shots, the complaining witness stated:
'He said I will shot you in the leg to show you how it hurts, and then in the body and heart.'
Bell took refuge in the adjoining restroom and locked himself in. For approximately 45 minutes appellant refused to let the witness come out of the restroom, during which time he also refused to allow other personnel in the office to leave. At one point he fired a third shot into the baseboard near the restroom door 'to scare him.' At other times when bell started to come out...
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Williams v. State, 42390
...intent to kill may properly be inferred from the fact that the appellant committed the assault with a deadly weapon. Peterson v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 399 S.W.2d 813; Hernandez v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 375 S.W.2d 285; Flores v. State, 168 Tex.Cr.R. 629, 331 S.W.2d 219. See also 4 Branch's Anno.......
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Neal v. State
...Tex.Cr.App., 501 S.W.2d 137; Klechka v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 475 S.W.2d 257; Hall v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 418 S.W.2d 810; Peterson v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 399 S.W.2d 813; Kincaid v. State, 150 Tex.Cr.R. 45, 198 S.W.2d 899. But this Court has consistently required more evidence than was shown h......
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Aguilar v. State
...to authorize the jury to find that the shooting was actuated by malice. Sloan v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 409 S.W.2d 412; Peterson v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 399 S.W.2d 813; Stewart v. State 168 Tex.Cr.R. 166, 324 S.W.2d 228, cert. denied 363 U.S. 815, 80 S.Ct. 1253, 4 L.Ed.2d 1155. See also Bell v.......
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Hall v. State, 40594
...intent to kill may properly be inferred from the fact that the appellant committed the assault with a deadly weapon. Peterson v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 399 S.W.2d 813; Hernandez v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 375 S.W.2d 285; Flores v. State, 168 Tex.Cr.R. 629, 331 S.W.2d 219. See also 4 Branch's Anno.......