Thompson v. State

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: NANCY E. KENNEDY, JUSTICE
• Docket Number: 05-25-00071-CR
• Decision Date: 16 December 2025
• Citation: Thompson v. State, 05-25-00071-CR (Tex. App. Dec 16, 2025)
• Parties: EMMETT RASHAD THOMPSON, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

1

EMMETT RASHAD THOMPSON, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

No. 05-25-00071-CR

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fifth District, Dallas

December 16, 2025

Do Not Publish Tex.R.App.P. 47

On Appeal from the 204th Judicial District Court Dallas County Texas Trial Court Cause No. F24-00610

Before Justices Kennedy, Barbare, and Jackson

MEMORANDUM OPINION

NANCY E. KENNEDY, JUSTICE

A jury convicted appellant Emmett Rashad Thompson of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and assessed punishment at thirty years' confinement. On appeal, appellant raises eight issues asserting the indictment should have been dismissed on limitations and speedy trial grounds and challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, various evidentiary rulings, and the denial of his motion for mistrial. The State raises one cross-issue seeking modification of the judgment to reflect appellant pleaded "not true" to the first enhancement paragraph and to delete entries regarding a second enhancement paragraph. We affirm the trial court's judgment as modified herein. Because all issues are settled in law, we issue this memorandum opinion. Tex.R.App.P. 47.4.

Background

On October 8, 2022, appellant and Dameion Cofer were involved in an altercation outside of a recording studio operated by Darren Sklyer. During the altercation Cofer shot appellant three times. Detectives investigated and determined appellant was the offender.

Appellant was initially indicted on November 16, 2022 for the offense of aggravated robbery. On October 10, 2024, appellant was reindicted and charged with aggravated assault. A prior conviction for aggravated robbery was alleged for enhancement purposes. Appellant pleaded not guilty to the charged offense and not true to the enhancement allegation and exercised his right to a jury trial.

During the guilt-innocence phase of trial, the State's witnesses were, Dameion Cofer; Cofer's mother Casandra Ray Cofer's cousin Anthony Price, who was present during the altercation; Darren Skyler; the nurse practitioner who treated appellant at the hospital; and the officers who investigated the shooting. Appellant's witnesses were Rene Ruvalcava and Stacy Barton, individuals who were socializing with appellant shortly before the altercation.

Testimony of Dameion Cofer

On the evening of October 8, 2022, Cofer, his brother-in-law Rickey Phillips, who was deceased at the time of trial, Cofer's four-year-old nephew R.P., and Cofer's cousin Anthony Price drove to Pleasant Grove to record music at a studio operated by Darren Skyler. They arrived at the studio at approximately 8:00 p.m. Cofer considered the area where the studio was located to not be safe so he usually took a gun with him for protection. He did not take a gun with him that night, but he found a 9mm Glock that he had recently gifted to his mother in the car's glove compartment and he took it with him when he exited the vehicle.

Inside the studio, Cofer spent twenty-five to thirty minutes recording a song. The group then listened to the song. While they were doing so, the door to the studio swung open, and appellant walked into the room. Cofer did not know appellant. Appellant had a gun in his right hand. He looked at Phillips and Price and asked, "Which one of you n****** wanna die tonight?" Phillips and Price both stood up, said something to appellant and then Price shook appellant's hand. Appellant then said, "But no for real, if one of y'all n***** wanna die, come outside. We got choppers." A chopper is an AK-47. When appellant saw Cofer with his hand in his pocket on the gun, he asked him, "Fuck you clutching your gun for?" Cofer did not respond because he did not want to "put fuel on a flame." Appellant told Cofer, "I hope your shit got a switch on it," and flashed Cofer the back of his gun, which had a "switch," which allows the gun to rapid fire when squeezed one time. Appellant then said, "No, for real but y'all wanna die, come outside," and walked out the door.

Cofer stayed a while longer to try to finish recording his song. After trying unsuccessfully to get "back into the vibes of the music" in order to continue recording, Cofer decided to wrap up for the day.

When they exited the studio, Phillips and R.P. headed towards the car while Cofer followed them. Cofer noticed appellant walking down the sidewalk towards them. Appellant had a gun in his hand and yelled at Cofer, "Bitch ass, n****, this my hood. You clutching guns on me and shit." Cofer kept repeating, "Hey, man you got it," and "You got it, man. We-we good. You-you got it" as appellant continued yelling. When appellant was halfway down the sidewalk toward Cofer, he squatted like he was going to put the gun down, and said, "I'll really put this gun down and beat your bitch ass." Sklyer was outside the studio by this time and he told appellant to "chill," but appellant pushed him away. Cofer tried to deescalate the situation by telling appellant, "We good, bro." Appellant then asked, "You good then? You good?" Cofer responded, "Yes" and then appellant said, "Give me your gun then," and pointed his gun at Cofer's head, making contact with Cofer's forehead. Appellant then reached for Cofer's gun but Cofer had a good grip on it and did not let appellant take it. Cofer was able to push appellant's gun away from his head, straight into the air and then pushed his body weight on appellant. Appellant fell to the ground on his back, and Cofer fell onto his knees on top of him. Cofer and appellant struggled over appellant's gun. Cofer held appellant's right hand, the hand holding the gun, with his left hand. Cofer had his gun in his right hand and when appellant tried to lean his wrist up to shoot, Cofer fired his own gun at appellant three times. Cofer thought appellant was dead.

Cofer, Phillips, and R.P. then drove around the corner to Price's grandmother's house. Price remained at the scene. Cofer called his mother and told her he thought he killed someone. Cofer's mother and father came to his location, and appellant turned himself into the police.

Testimony of Officer Benavidez

Officer Benavidez was dispatched to the scene after a shooting was reported. He observed appellant had been shot in the shoulder. He was conscious and an ambulance transported him to the hospital. The scene was a "little chaotic," and there were at least ten people standing outside. It was initially hard to piece together what had happened because no one present was forthcoming with information. After appellant was taken to the hospital, Officer Benavidez spoke to some of the witnesses. Cofer came back to the scene. He was cooperative. He was eventually handcuffed and transported to police headquarters.

Testimony of Detective Alec Lopez

Detectives Lopez and Zabriskie investigated the shooting. Detective Lopez responded to the scene of the shooting while Detective Zabriskie went to the hospital to speak to appellant. Detective Lopez spoke with Cofer's mother and Phillips. No shell casings were recovered from the scene, despite the fact that Cofer's gun had fired three times. Detective Lopez was unable to locate any physical evidence at the scene or any security video from any of the houses on the street. Appellant's gun was never located.

Testimony of Caitlin Ellis

Ellis is a nurse practitioner. At the time of the shooting, she worked at Baylor University Medical Center for Urgent Surgery Associates. On October 8, 2022, appellant came to the hospital with three gunshot wounds. One to the left upper chest near his shoulder, one to the left lateral neck, and one to the posterior neck about midline. The injuries were all soft tissue injuries. They did not involve any major blood vessels or organs. A toxicology screening performed after appellant arrived at the hospital detected the presence of alcohol, amphetamines, and cannabinoids in appellant's system.

Testimony of Detective Alexander Zabriskie

When Detective Zabriskie arrived at the hospital, appellant was out of surgery and able to speak. Appellant was not under arrest or even a suspect at that time. Detective Zabriskie asked appellant if he had a gun during the altercation. Appellant denied having a gun, accused Detective Zabriskie of trying to incriminate him, and refused to further talk to him. Appellant's demeanor was aggressive and hostile.

After leaving the hospital, Detective Zabriskie went to police headquarters and spoke with Price and Cofer. He read Cofer his rights, and Cofer agreed to speak with him. Cofer was very open with Detective Zabriskie and he thought Cofer spoke truthfully. After interviewing appellant, Cofer, and the other witnesses, Detectives Zabriskie and Lopez spoke with their sergeant and decided to arrest appellant and release Cofer from custody.

Testimony of Anthony Price

Price and appellant grew up in the same neighborhood. When appellant entered the studio on the evening of October 8, 2022, he had a gun in his pocket. Appellant said something along the lines of "Y'all ready to die today?" After the group left the studio, Price saw appellant put a gun to Cofer's head and try to take Cofer's gun. Cofer and appellant then ended up on the ground and shots went off. Price remained at the scene because everyone in the neighborhood knew him and he felt like his name would be the first one to come up. Appellant lived across the street from the studio. Appellant's family came outside after the shooting. Price did not see what happened to appellant's gun after the shooting. He did not see anyone pick it up. According to Price, appellant was concerned about where his gun was and kept asking him where it was.

Testimony of Darren Skyler

Appellant grew up in the house across the street from Skyler's...