Sattiewhite v. State

• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
• Writing for the Court: W.C. DAVIS; CAMPBELL; TEAGUE; CLINTON; DUNCAN
• Citation: Sattiewhite v. State, 786 S.W.2d 271 (Tex. Crim. App. 1989)
• Decision Date: 25 October 1989
• Docket Number: No. 69763,69763
• Parties: Vernon Lamar SATTIEWHITE, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

Page 271

786 S.W.2d 271

Vernon Lamar SATTIEWHITE, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 69763.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas En Banc.

Oct. 25, 1989.

Rehearing Denied March 28, 1990.

David R. Weiner, court appointed on appeal only, San Antonio, for appellant.

Fred G. Rodriguez, Dist. Atty., Edward F. Shaughnessy, III, Bill Harris, Karen Amos, Asst. Dist. Attys., San Antonio, and Robert Huttash, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.

Before the Court en banc.

OPINION

W.C. DAVIS, Judge.

Appeal is taken from a conviction for capital murder. V.T.C.A. Penal Code § 19.03(a)(2). After finding appellant guilty, the jury returned affirmative answers to the first two special issues under Art. 37.071(b), V.A.C.C.P. Punishment was assessed at death. Appellant raises seven points of error. We will affirm.

In order to dispose of several of appellant's points of error, a recitation of the facts disclosed at trial is necessary. ¹ The indictment filed against appellant alleges in pertinent part that,

on or about the 19th day of JUNE, A.D., 1986, VERNON LAMAR SATTIEWHITE, hereinafter called defendant, did then and there intentionally cause the death of an individual, namely: SANDRA SORRELL, hereinafter called complainant, by SHOOTING THE SAID COMPLAINANT WITH A FIREARM, TO-WIT: A HANDGUN, and the said defendant did then and there intentionally cause the death of the said complainant while in the course of committing and attempting to commit the offense of KIDNAPPING upon THE SAID COMPLAINANT; ...

The record reflects that on the morning of June 19, 1986, the deceased, Sandra Sorrell, and her boyfriend, Willington Damian Mingo, Jr., were walking on Main Street in San Antonio toward American Careers, a nursing aide school in which they were both enrolled. As Mingo and Sorrell neared the school, they were approached by appellant, Sorrell's former boyfriend. Appellant said he wanted to talk to Sorrell and grabbed her by the arm, and held her in a headlock position with his arm wrapped around her neck. Appellant then displayed a .22 calibre pistol, as he took Sorrell around the building. Mingo followed appellant and Sorrell but lost sight of them when he sought help in some offices on Main Street. Mingo caught up with them again after appellant had taken Sorrell around the corner and the two were standing in a parking lot. Mingo tried to reason with the appellant to release the deceased, but appellant continued holding the deceased with his arm around her neck. Appellant then jerked Sorrell off the ground and shot her twice in the head. The deceased died as a result of the two gunshot wounds to her head.

Witnesses testified that after the shooting appellant knelt down by the deceased, tore his shirt off, and twice placed the gun to his own head before fleeing the scene in the direction of the river. Several San Antonio police officers testified concerning the apprehension of appellant. Appellant was observed standing by the river holding a gun to his head and attempting to fire the gun without success. Appellant surrendered when confronted by the officers. At his arrest and later at the police station, appellant was crying and emotionally upset.

Willington Damian Mingo, Jr., was the key witness in the State's case-in-chief. He testified that he had met Sandra Sorrell at the American Careers School, and the two had become boyfriend and girlfriend. He testified that he was in love with Sorrell and had not dated anyone else since he had begun dating her.

On the morning of the shooting, Mingo, Sorrell and their friend Gary Harris rode the city bus to the school, located at 410 S. Main at Heritage Plaza. The three were walking toward the front entrance to the school when they were approached by appellant. Appellant said he wanted to talk to Sorrell. Mingo tried to reason with the appellant, but the appellant displayed a gun. Mingo whispered to Harris to call the police. Appellant "grabbed the deceased by the arm and took her up under one of his arms and held her around her neck, and took her around the building." As appellant took Sorrell around the corner, Mingo unsuccessfully tried to retrieve help from some nearby law offices. He then followed appellant to a nearby parking lot, where Mingo asked the parking lot attendant to call the police.

As the confrontation continued, Sorrell was whimpering and "hollering", still held tightly within appellant's grip, with the gun held to her head. Appellant told Mingo if he [appellant] couldn't have her, "ain't nobody else gonna have her."

During this time, another man tried to come up behind appellant, but ceased the attempt when appellant told him, "[s]tay where you are or I'll shoot you, too." Appellant then jerked the deceased off the ground and shot her twice in the head. After the deceased fell to the ground, appellant raised the palm of her hand and checked for a pulse. Appellant briefly turned the gun to himself, put it down and walked away from the scene. Mingo stayed with the body until the police arrived.

Mingo explained that prior to the shooting, Sorrell had difficulties with appellant, her former roommate. Ten days prior to the shooting, appellant called Sorrell at her mother's house and told Sorrell that she owed him some money. Sorrell wanted Mingo to accompany her to the apartment that she had shared with appellant, in order to return the money. He did so and waited outside in the car. As he was waiting, a passerby caught Mingo's attention, and he looked up to see appellant with his arm around Sorrell's neck and a .12 gauge shotgun to her head. Mingo was told to leave or appellant would "blow her brains out." After leaving the area, he called the police. After waiting approximately ten minutes, he drove to Sorrell's mother's house and told her about the situation and she called the police.

Mingo recalled a second violent encounter between appellant and Sorrell, occurring approximately four to five days following the first incident. Mingo had accompanied Sorrell again to the apartment to retrieve some clean clothes for Sorrell and her children. As in the first incident, appellant held a shotgun to Sorrell's head with his arm around her neck and told Mingo to leave or he would "blow her brains out."

Gary Harris testified that he was a student at American Careers at the time Mingo and Sorrell attended classes there. He had ridden the bus with Mingo and the deceased the morning of the offense. As they approached the front entrance to the school, appellant confronted Sorrell and appeared "a little angry." Harris then continued into the school, but was "called back" by Mingo and told to call the police. Harris went inside and called the police.

Officers Alberto Chevera, Tommy Martin, Ralph Looney, and Felipe Santos, of the San Antonio Police Department, each testified to essentially the same facts. The officers were on duty the morning of June 19, 1986, and were called to the scene of the shooting. They observed the deceased, shot and bleeding, being held by Mingo. The officers caught up with appellant on the east bank of the river. He was standing in some bushes with the gun held to his head and they observed him pull the trigger several times. Appellant would "take the gun down, open it up, appearing to repair it or something, and put it back together and still try and to (sic) fire it some more".

Upon being confronted by the officers, appellant came out of the bushes with his hands up and was advised by the officers to lie down. Appellant complied and was handcuffed and searched. Chevera related that at this time, appellant appeared disturbed and asked, "[w]here's my baby?", repeating the question over and over. Appellant was advised of his rights and taken to the police homocide office.

At the police station, Martin passed the appellant in the hallway and noted that appellant appeared to be crying. Approximately 15 to 20 minutes after appellant's arrest, Officer Looney also saw appellant at the homicide office. Looney stated that appellant was "emotionally upset, crying" and asked the officer "I hope she's not dead. Is she all right?"

Officer T.J. Jagge of the San Antonio Police Department testified that he is responsible for the collection and preservation of physical evidence of crime scenes. He was also called to the scene of the shooting. Jagee secured the crime scene, made diagrams and had the investigator take photographs. Jagge testified as to the location of the deceased's body based on his diagrams of the scene. He testified further as to the location on the river bank where the appellant was apprehended and the .22 calibre revolver was discovered. Two spent .22 cartridges and one live cartridge were found inside the gun.

Willard E. Miller testified that on the morning of the offense he was at work as a security guard at Heritage Plaza. His duty was to guard the parking lots and the building. His post was a guardshack located in one of the parking lots near the building. From his post that morning, Miller saw the appellant walk around the corner with the deceased in a headlock position. The girl had her hands up slightly over her head. On his way down to call the police, Miller saw the appellant shoot the deceased. He testified, "I was walking and watching him, and he was holding her, and I heard two shots, that's when I speeded up down to call the police, and I just called an ambulance while I was there. When I came back, the ambulance and the police was (sic) both there. They had the girl laying (sic) over the sidewalk next to Dwyer Street...." Miller said the gunshot was "almost point blank. It was right at her face." Immediately after the shooting, appellant pointed the gun at onlookers, "waving the gun around," as if he were trying to get the onlookers to back away from him.

Steve Tillotson, an architect, testified that he was at work in his office in Heritage Plaza on the morning of the shooting. He noticed a couple walking...