Williams v. State, 72128

• Decision Date: 18 December 1996
• Docket Number: No. 72128,72128
• Citation: 937 S.W.2d 479
• Parties: Jeffrey Lynn WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. STATE of Texas.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 479

937 S.W.2d 479

Jeffrey Lynn WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. STATE of Texas.

No. 72128.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

Dec. 18, 1996.

Rehearing Overruled Jan. 29, 1997.

Floyd W. Freed, III, Houston, for appellant.

Alan Curry, Asst. Dist. Atty., Houston, Matthew Paul, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.

OPINION

KELLER, Justice.

At a trial beginning in April of 1995, a jury convicted appellant of committing, on or about October 26, 1994, the capital murder of Barbara Jackson Pullins. ¹ The jury answered the punishment issues in the State's favor, and appellant was sentenced to death. Direct appeal to this Court is automatic under Article 37.071 § 2(h). ² Appellant raises twenty-four points of error on appeal. We will affirm.

1. Sufficiency of the evidence

a. Underlying offense

In point of error six, appellant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict of acquittal. In support of this contention, he argues that the evidence was legally insufficient to show that the murder was committed "during the course of a robbery." We disagree.

We treat a point of error complaining about a trial court's failure to grant a motion for directed verdict as a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Cook v. State, 858 S.W.2d 467, 470 (Tex.Crim.App.1993). Evidence is legally sufficient when, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, a rational jury could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). This court's duty is not to reweigh the evidence from reading a cold record but to "position itself as a final, due process safeguard ensuring only the rationality of the factfinder." Matamoros v. State, 901 S.W.2d 470, 474 (Tex.Crim.App.1995); Moreno v. State, 755 S.W.2d 866, 867 (Tex.Crim.App.1988).

Appellant makes three allegations in support of his argument that the murder was not committed during the course of a robbery. He first alleges that the evidence is insufficient to show that he formed the intent to commit robbery before he committed the murder. In a capital murder prosecution for murder during the course of robbery, the State must prove that the defendant formed the intent to rob prior to or concurrent with the murder. Robertson v. State, 871 S.W.2d 701, 705 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 853, 115 S.Ct. 155, 130 L.Ed.2d 94 (1994). In the present case, Sergeant John Belk testified that appellant confessed to him that his motive for going to the victim's apartment was to steal. This testimony constituted sufficient evidence from which a rational jury could infer that appellant formed the intent to steal from the victim before committing the murder.

Appellant's second contention is that the state failed to prove that a robbery occurred because it failed to show that the victim did not consent to appellant's taking of the property. The victim's daughter testified that she saw appellant take a cordless telephone, a VCR, a .25 caliber pistol and clip, a jacket, and a television set. Such items would be a highly unusual combination to lend or give to another person. Given the nature and combination of items taken, a rational jury could have inferred that such items were taken without the victim's consent. Moreover, appellant's admitted motive to steal and the fact that he murdered the victim also rationally support the conclusion that the items were in fact stolen, rather than taken with consent.

Appellant's third contention is that the state failed to prove a robbery because the items allegedly taken, except for the jacket, "were not so singular in nature as to be exclusively" the victim's property. But, appellant concedes that the jacket was of such a "singular nature." He notes that the jacket is not contained in the exhibits forwarded to this Court but does not allege any error in connection with the failure to forward the jacket. ³ Moreover, the victim's daughter testified that appellant took several items, and she identified the items at trial. A rational jury could have found that appellant stole the items, and hence, committed a robbery. Point of error six is overruled.

b. Future dangerousness

In point of error five, appellant contends that the evidence is legally insufficient to support a "yes" finding to the future dangerousness special issue. ⁴ He claims that the evidence is insufficient because the crime involved little planning, he was intoxicated at the time of the murder, his record of convictions involves auto theft rather than assaultative offenses against persons, and he has not exhibited violence in prison.

The Jackson standard of review applies to a legal sufficiency challenge to the evidence supporting a finding of future dangerousness: we determine, in the light most favorable to the verdict, whether any rational jury could answer the future dangerousness issue "yes." Matamoros, 901 S.W.2d at 474. While intoxication at the time of the offense and good behavior in prison are factors to consider, neither precludes a finding of future dangerousness. See Banda v. State, 890 S.W.2d 42, 50-51 (Tex.Crim.App.1994), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 2253, 132 L.Ed.2d 260 (1995) (intoxication); Emery v. State, 881 S.W.2d 702, 707 (Tex.Crim.App.1994), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 1257, 131 L.Ed.2d 137 (1995) (lack of violent behavior in prison). Moreover, the circumstances surrounding the offense, if severe enough, may alone be sufficient to support an affirmative answer to the future dangerousness special issue. Sonnier v. State, 913 S.W.2d 511, 516-17 (Tex.Crim.App.1995).

In the light most favorable to the verdict, the circumstances of the offense were as follows: Appellant entered Barbara Pullins' apartment and strangled her with an electrical cord. He tied her feet together with a telephone cord, and after she was dead, he burned her body with various objects, including a clothes iron, a cigarette, and paper towels. Appellant then entered the room of the victim's nine-year old daughter, who was sleeping at the time, and awakened her. After she awoke, appellant forcibly raped her. He hit her in the mouth when she resisted him, and after the sexual assault, he threatened to kill her if she told anyone what had occurred. We think the circumstances surrounding the offense are severe enough by themselves to support the jury's finding of future dangerousness.

Even so, there is other evidence. Between 1985 and 1991, appellant committed at least nine offenses relating to the theft of automobiles. During one of these auto theft offenses, committed on June 12, 1989, a witness, Volchev, saw two cars drive into a ditch near his yard. Several persons exited the vehicles and refused offers of assistance. The engines in the cars were left running, and Volchev noticed that one of the cars had no keys in the ignition. In his car, Volchev followed these persons. When Volchev caught up with them, appellant asked Volchev if he were a member of a secret police and pointed a gun at him. After appellant pointed the gun, Volchev immediately pressed his accelerator and began driving away. Appellant then shot at Volchev and the bullet hit one of the tires on Volchev's car. On the basis of this activity, appellant was subsequently convicted of aggravated assault. A prior violent felony conviction is also persuasive evidence of future dangerousness. Boyle v. State, 820 S.W.2d 122, 139 (Tex.Crim.App.1989), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 921, 112 S.Ct. 1297, 117 L.Ed.2d 520 (1992). Moreover, appellant's extensive history of auto theft offenses combined with the current offense shows that appellant will likely commit more crimes involving the stealing of property and that he is willing to use violence to effectuate such crimes. Both instances of violence involved the use of deadly force, and the present instance of violence can be interpreted as an escalation in the intensity of violence committed. Rational jurors could infer a probability that appellant would escalate his acts of violence even further in the future. We find the evidence to be sufficient to support the jury's answer to the future dangerousness special issue. Point of error five is overruled.

2. Motion to quash indictment

In point of error thirteen, appellant claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash the indictment. He argues that the indictment failed to allege an element of capital murder because it alleged that appellant did intentionally "cause the death" of Pullins rather than alleging that appellant intentionally "murdered" her. We have previously decided this issue against appellant. Ellis v. State, 726 S.W.2d 39, 45 (Tex.Crim.App.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 926, 107 S.Ct. 1388, 94 L.Ed.2d 702 (1987); Hogue v. State, 711 S.W.2d 9, 15 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 922, 107 S.Ct. 329, 93 L.Ed.2d 301 (1986). Point of error thirteen is overruled.

3. Guilt/innocence

a. Motion to suppress confession

In point of error one, appellant complains about the trial court's failure to issue written findings of fact and conclusions of law concerning his Motion to Suppress Custodial Statement. On October 9, 1996, we abated this appeal and remanded this cause to the trial court to make such findings and conclusions. In compliance with our order, the trial court made written findings of fact and conclusions of law. Because appellant has obtained the relief requested, point of error one is moot.

b. Jury selection

In points of error two through four, appellant claims that the State's exercise of peremptory challenges against prospective jurors Randall, Cox, and Baldwin violated his equal protection rights set forth in Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). In connection with each of the prospective jurors, appellant contends the following: (1) that the prospective juror was perfunctorily examined by the State, (2)...