No. 05-06-00534-CR
Opinion Filed March 13, 2007. DO NOT PUBLISH. Tex. R. App. P. 47.
On Appeal from the 283rd Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas, Trial Court Cause No. F05-01470-KT. Affirmed.
Before Justices O'NEILL, LANG-MIERS, and MAZZANT.
Opinion By Justice, ELIZABETH LANG-MIERS.
A jury convicted Ralph Joseph Mitchell of murder, found two enhancement paragraphs true, and assessed punishment at life imprisonment. In a single point of error, appellant contends the evidence is factually insufficient to support the conviction. We affirm.
Background
On Wednesday, April 13, 2005, appellant was arrested for the murder of Darlene Walker. Stanley Richardson, Walker's father, testified he last saw his daughter alive on Wednesday, April 6, 2005. Richardson went to Walker's apartment and asked if she wanted to see her children, who lived with Richardson, and spend the weekend at his home. Appellant was also there with Walker. Walker's family members were close to her and talked to her often. Richardson testified Walker told him she would come visit the children on Friday. Richardson became concerned when Walker did not come to see her children on Friday or Saturday. On Sunday, April 10, 2005, Richardson went to Walker's apartment and knocked on both doors, but no one responded. Richardson also went to Walker's apartment for the next two days, but no one answered the door. On Tuesday, April 12, 2005, Walker's brothers and a sister went to her apartment around 11:00 p.m. When they realized all the doors and windows were locked, one of the brothers broke a window near the front door to gain entry. They walked in the front door and found Walker lying on the floor. Walker was dead. Patricia Fields-Lee lived two apartments down from Walker. Fields-Lee testified she saw appellant going in and out of Walker's apartment on Monday, April 11, 2005. Each apartment's patio is surrounded and separated by chain-link fencing. Fields-Lee testified she returned home around noon and saw appellant standing in the back doorway of Walker's apartment. As Fields-Lee got out of her vehicle and walked to her back door, she saw appellant holding a broom or mop in his hand "[l]ike he was cleaning." Fields-Lee saw appellant go in and come out of Walker's apartment at least twice. At one point, appellant waved to Fields-Lee and she waved back. On Wednesday, April 13, 2005, Fields-Lee heard a news report on television that said Walker had been found dead in her apartment. Later that day, Fields-Lee told the police she saw appellant going in and out of Walker's apartment two days earlier. Dr. Jill Urban, a forensic pathologist at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences (SWIFS), performed an autopsy on Walker the same day Walker was found. Urban concluded Walker had been dead for several days before she was found, and had died as a result of homicidal violence, including strangulation and blunt force injuries. Walker's neck had an "abraded" indentation around it, and there were fractures to Walker's larynx, thyroid cartilage, and hyoid bone. Walker also had petechial hemorrhages within the whites of her eyes and the lining of her eyelids, "scrapes" on her body, and a broken rib. Urban testified the "furrows" around Walker's neck were made by some object like a rope or cord. Toxicology tests showed Walker had alcohol and cocaine in her system. Urban testified that when a person is being strangled, she loses consciousness in less than one minute. Death results after five minutes of oxygen deprivation to the body and brain. Tara Johnson, also at SWIFS, performed DNA analysis on fingernail clippings taken from Walker. Johnson testified blood from Walker's right-hand clippings matched appellant's DNA, and blood from Walker's left-hand clippings matched appellant's DNA and an unknown individual's DNA. Johnson testified there were some genetic markers found in the left-fingernail clippings that did not match either Walker's or appellant's DNA, but that could be attributed to "handler DNA," meaning the DNA of any person with whom Walker may have had physical contact. Johnson also testified the statistical probability of finding another person other than appellant with DNA that matched the DNA found in Walker's clippings was one in 661 billion. Detective Randy Loboda was at the crime scene in the early morning hours on Wednesday, April 13, 2005. Loboda testified that when he saw Walker's body lying on the floor, he noticed marks on her neck and "busted blood vessels in her eyes," which usually indicates strangulation. There was an electrical or cable cord near Walker's body that could have made the marks on her neck. Loboda testified the cord was not collected for analysis. Loboda interviewed appellant at the police station later that day. Appellant said he last saw Walker about "two weeks" earlier. Loboda questioned appellant about marks he saw on appellant's neck. Appellant said he was scratched during a basketball game. After questioning appellant, Loboda wrote out appellant's statement and had appellant make any changes he wanted to make before signing it. Appellant made one change and signed the statement. Appellant's written statement was read to the jury. On the first page of the statement, appellant said Walker "passed away on Tuesday or Wednesday." Appellant said he and Walker were sitting on the couch watching television. Walker was "pumped up on crack cocaine." Walker attacked appellant because he refused to give her money for more drugs. When appellant pushed Walker away, she fell and hit her head on the floor, causing a cut above her left eye. Appellant tried to clean Walker's cut with a piece of gauze, but she would not let him help her. "[S]ometime during this time, she passed away. I got scared and left," and never went back. On the second page of the statement, appellant said he wanted to be "totally truthful about how we struggled." Appellant said he held Walker's throat with his hands while "[s]he was on the floor striking up at me. When she went unconscious, I got up and left her on the floor." Appellant testified he did not kill Walker because she was alive when he left her apartment on Wednesday, April 6, 2005. Appellant was at Walker's apartment when her father came to see her. Walker's father brought her the business card of a police detective regarding an assault that had happened to Walker a few days earlier. After Walker's father left, appellant and Walker drank beer, played dominoes, and "hung out." Appellant said Walker also smoked crack cocaine, but he did not. When appellant refused to give Walker money for more drugs, Walker slapped appellant in the face "two or three times." Appellant pushed Walker and she fell, sustaining a cut over her left eye. Appellant testified he helped Walker clean the cut and calm down, then Walker left the apartment and returned forty-five minutes later with beer and more drugs. They continued drinking beer. After Walker used up the drugs a second time, she again demanded money from appellant. Appellant said he was going to leave, but Walker asked him to stay because she was afraid a man named "Deonis" who "jumped on her" two days earlier might come back and she did not want to be alone. Appellant decided to stay and drink more beer. Walker again demanded appellant give her money for more drugs. Appellant testified Walker hit, kicked, and scratched him. Appellant "restrained" Walker by placing his hands "on her neck." They struggled for three or four minutes, then Walker "passed out." Appellant testified they were on the couch and not on the floor. Appellant got up, left the apartment through the front door, and never went back to Walker's apartment. Appellant testified he agreed to talk to the police and consented to give a DNA sample because he did not do anything wrong. Appellant testified Loboda wrote his statement incorrectly because he was never on the floor with Walker and he never said Walker "passed away" during their struggle. Appellant testified he held Walker by the neck while sitting on the couch to keep her from hitting him. After about four minutes, Walker quit fighting and "leaned back against the couch." Appellant denied he was in Walker's apartment on April 11, 2005 or that anyone saw him going in and out of Walker's apartment on that date. Appellant testified he found out Walker had died when Loboda told him during questioning. Appellant further testified he had prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance, delivery of a controlled substance, and burglary of a vehicle, and a misdemeanor conviction for assault on a female. Applicable Law
In reviewing the factual sufficiency of the evidence, we view all of the evidence in a neutral light to determine whether the jury was rationally justified in finding guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Watson v. State, 204 S.W.3d 404, 415 (Tex.Crim.App. 2006); see also Marshall v. State, 210 S.W.3d 618, 625 (Tex.Crim.App. 2006). Unless the record clearly reveals a different result is appropriate, we must defer to the fact-finder's determination concerning what weight to be given to contradictory testimony. Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1, 8 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000). To obtain a conviction for murder, the State was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant (1) knowingly or intentionally caused the death of Darlene Walker by strangling her with appellant's hand, a rope, an electrical cord, or a ligature, a deadly weapon, or (2) intended to cause serious bodily injury to Darlene Walker and committed an act clearly dangerous to human life, i.e. strangling her with appellant's hand, a rope, an electrical cord, or a ligature, that caused her death. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 19.02(b) (Vernon 2003). The jury was instructed it could find appellant guilty of murder or guilty of manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide, as included in the indictment. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. §§ 19.04, 19.05 (Vernon 2003). Discussion
Appellant argues the evidence is factually insufficient because (1) someone who assaulted Walker prior to her murder committed the offense, (2) appellant's testimony showed his written statement was incorrectly transcribed by the police; (3) Walker's drug use, prostitution, and residence location put her at great risk from many possible perpetrators, and (3) the police failed to investigate obvious leads or collect the alleged murder weapon for analysis. The State responds that the evidence is factually sufficient to support appellant's conviction for murder. There was conflicting evidence presented. Appellant admitted he was with Walker on April 6, 2005, the same day Richardson had last seen his daughter alive, and admitted he put his hands around Walker's neck. Appellant testified he only held Walker by the neck to prevent her from hitting him. Appellant testified Walker was unconscious but alive when he left her apartment sometime after midnight, and that he never went back to her apartment. However, Fields-Lee testified she saw appellant going in and out of Walker's apartment on April 11, 2005. Appellant testified he and Walker were sitting on the couch when they struggled, and she was still on the couch when he left her apartment. Appellant's statement to the police said he held Walker by the throat while she was on the floor "striking up at me." Appellant's statement to the police also said Walker "passed away" during their struggle, but appellant testified he did not know Walker had died until Loboda told him during questioning. DNA analysis showed there was blood matching appellant's DNA in Walker's nail clippings, and that the odds of someone other than appellant matching the DNA found in Walker's clippings was one in 661 billion. Appellant told Loboda during questioning that scratches on his neck were from playing a basketball game. However, appellant testified Walker scratched him while he "restrained" her on the couch by placing his hands on her neck. It was the jury's function to resolve any conflicts in the evidence. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 38.04 (Vernon 1979); Johnson, 23 S.W.3d at 9. The jury was free to accept or reject any and all of the evidence presented by either side. See Wesbrook v. State, 29 S.W.3d 103, 111 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000). We may not substitute our own determination for that of the jury. See Marshall, 210 S.W.3d at 625; see also Scott v. State, 934 S.W.2d 396, 399 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1996, no pet.). We conclude the sum total of the evidence is sufficient to support a rational jury's finding beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant knowingly or intentionally caused the death of Darlene Walker by strangling her, and is factually sufficient to support the jury's verdict. See Watson, 204 S.W.3d at 415; Johnson, 23 S.W.3d at 8. We overrule appellant's point of error. We affirm the trial court's judgment.