Malcolm Jamar Strickland A/K/A Malcolm J. Strickland v. State ( 2012 )

COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH
NO. 02-10-00073-CR
MALCOLM JAMAR STRICKLAND APPELLANT
A/K/A MALCOLM J. STRICKLAND
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE
----------
FROM CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT NO. 2 OF TARRANT COUNTY
----------
MEMORANDUM OPINION1
----------
I. Introduction
In one issue, Appellant Malcolm Jamar Strickland a/k/a Malcolm J.
Strickland asserts that the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to
support his capital murder conviction. We affirm.
1
See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.
II. Procedural Background
The indictment alleged that Appellant intentionally killed Michael Myers by
shooting him with a firearm while in the course of committing robbery. See Tex.
Penal Code Ann. ' 19.03(a)(2) (West Supp. 2011). The State did not seek the
death penalty. Appellant pleaded not guilty to capital murder, but the jury found
him guilty of that offense. The trial court sentenced Appellant to life
imprisonment without parole. See id. ' 12.31 (West 2011).
III. Analysis
In his sole issue, Appellant asserts that the evidence fails to establish that
he had the requisite intent to murder Myers in the commission of a robbery.
Appellant contends that he intended to commit theft and that he shot Myers ―not
with the intent to murder [him], but out of fear because Myers was attacking him
with weapons.‖
A. Applicable Facts
In the early morning hours of April 21, 2008, fifty-nine-year-old Myers, the
night clerk at a Tarrant County Best Western motel, was found shot to death
behind the check-in counter. Hotel surveillance video cameras inside and
outside the motel captured the assailant’s actions before and after the offense.
News channels aired portions of the video, and the police received a crime
stoppers tip the next day. The police arrested Appellant two days after the
offense.
2
The video footage showed that two individuals (later identified as Appellant
and Jay Allen) entered the Best Western at approximately 1:39 a.m. They
approached the check-in counter and then immediately exited the motel.
Approximately two hours later, Appellant appeared back inside the motel alone
wearing sunglasses and different clothes, and he roamed the halls for several
minutes holding a silver handgun by his side. He then entered the front lobby
from an inside hallway and jumped over the check-in counter into the workspace
behind it. Less than thirty seconds later, Appellant jumped back into the lobby,
waited a few seconds, and then jumped back over the counter. Approximately
two minutes later, Appellant jumped over the counter, into the lobby, and exited
out the front door. The surveillance camera above the check-in counter that
could have captured Appellant’s actions, was not working at the time.
Appellant gave two statements to investigators. During his interview three
days after the offense, Appellant claimed that when he entered the lobby alone
the second time (after selling drugs to a motel guest), he did not see anyone
behind the counter, saw the open cash register, and decided to ―steal
something.‖ When he jumped over the counter, he saw a man lying on the
ground with a gunshot wound to his throat, still alive but ―dying slowly.‖ He
immediately left the scene and did not call 911 because he did not want to get
involved.
Approximately one month later, Appellant admitted to lead investigator
Detective Frank Serra that after he returned to the Best Western alone, jumped
3
the counter, and put the cash register money into his pocket, Myers ―rushed‖
toward him with a three-hole punch, ―pushed him,‖ and was about to ―whoop [his]
ass.‖ Appellant ―froze,‖ closed his eyes, and ―just shot and ran.‖ When asked
about the other two shots, Appellant stated, ―I think I hit him once, and I guess I
kept shooting.‖ Appellant also stated that he ―pulled the trigger‖ but that he did
not remember how many times. Appellant explained that Myers was ―just going
to beat me up or something and hold me until the police come.‖ Appellant stated,
―I told [Myers] I didn’t want to shoot him when he pushed me on the ground. I
know I tried to talk to the dude.‖ Appellant explained that he was ―on too many
pills‖ and that it ―just happened.‖ When asked about Myers’s missing wallet,
Appellant denied taking it. When confronted with evidence that he did, however,
he stated he did not remember taking it.
At trial, Appellant’s longtime friend Antonio Smith testified that Appellant
came to his apartment (at the Sun Ridge Apartments near the Best Western) the
morning of the offense. Appellant was panicky and pacing, had small blood
spots on his shirt, and had a gun in his back pocket. Appellant tossed a wallet on
the bed containing Myers’s identification, other ―cards,‖ and two dollars.
Appellant repeatedly stated, ―I just shot somebody,‖ and ―The dude got up and it
went wrong.‖2
2
A maintenance man at the Sun Ridge Apartments found the wallet in the
trash can and turned it in to his manager, who turned it in to the authorities.
4
Shakitha Titus testified that Appellant was a friend and that she picked him
up at the Sun Ridge Apartments the morning of the offense. Titus drove
Appellant around that day and at one point asked him what happened at the
motel. Appellant explained that he had been ―high‖ at the time, not in his right
mind, and had gotten scared when the man, who was bigger than he was,
grabbed at him; Appellant thought the man was going to take the gun from him.
Appellant told Titus, ―It was an accident. It was self-defense,‖ and Titus testified
that Appellant was very remorseful.
Ashley Williams testified that she saw Appellant the evening after the
offense when she was standing outside her apartment talking to her friend Briana
Petite. Appellant walked up, talked to them, and stated he had killed the man in
the motel. Williams recounted Appellant’s statements that the man had come up
on him like he was going to punch him in the face and that Appellant had shot
him in the neck, head, and chest. Appellant also stated he had taken more than
one Xanax before the offense and had acted in self-defense.
Tim Franklin testified that he had been at Williams’s apartment that
evening and had overheard Appellant talking on a phone. Franklin heard
Appellant say that he killed ―the dude,‖ that he did not want to do it, that he
watched ―the dude die,‖ and that he had to ―get away‖ because he did not want
anyone to know what he had done.
Kim Simon, the mother of Appellant’s girlfriend Laquita Reaves (with whom
Appellant had a child), testified that she recognized Appellant from a recording of
5
the video on the nightly news. She stated that Appellant came to her home
within a day or two of the offense. When Appellant watched the video footage of
the offense, he cried and claimed he did not know what happened. Simon
advised Appellant to turn himself in to authorities but drove him to the Trinity
River so he could ―throw away a gun.‖ Simon assumed it was the gun he used at
the Best Western, and she saw Appellant throw the ―wrapped up‖ gun into the
water. Simon did not initially call the police but eventually showed them the area
where she believed Appellant had thrown the gun. The gun was never
recovered.
Tarrant County Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Lloyd White testified that
Myers’s autopsy revealed three gunshot wounds—one to the upper left front of
the neck and two to the right front chest. In Dr. White’s opinion, the cause of
death was ―penetrating handgun wounds of the chest‖ (each of which would have
been fatal), and the manner of death was homicide. Dr. White testified that he
could not determine whether the shooting occurred while Myers was standing,
kneeling, or sitting. Dr. White testified that the shots were fired from an
―indeterminant‖ range, meaning ―somewhere between contact and typically
around 18 inches or two feet or so,‖ specifically, ―beyond a foot or foot and a half,
particularly for the neck wound.‖ 3 Appellant’s expert estimated that Appellant
3
He explained that if the weapon had been available to test fire, an
evaluation concerning any powder residue on the clothing could have yielded a
more precise distance.
6
shot at Myers from a distance of one to three feet. The medical examiner’s
investigator, Michael Floyd, testified that the blood scene evidence indicated that
Myers had tried to get to the telephone before he died.
Appellant testified that at the time of the offense he was eighteen years old
and made money by selling small quantities of cocaine and marijuana to guests
staying at the Best Western and two other nearby motels. He explained that in
the hours before the incident, he had been smoking marijuana, drinking beer,
and had ingested eight to nine Xanax4 and that he ―wasn’t sober‖ and ―wasn’t in
[his] right mind.‖5 He testified that he had obtained the gun only a few hours
before the offense when a friend asked him to hold his pistol while he made a
drug sale. When the friend did not return, Appellant left the area with the gun,
which was already loaded.
Appellant explained that he and Jay Allen initially went into the Best
Western to get change for a hundred dollar bill and encountered Myers, who
immediately said he did not have change and closed the open cash drawer.
4
Forensic toxicology consultant Dwayne Fuller testified on Appellant’s
behalf. He explained that Xanax is an anti-anxiety medication that is sometimes
used to treat depression and that it can cause loss of memory; the higher the
dose, the stronger the effects. Fuller testified that the person would have ―trouble
storing the memories . . . of the events . . . taking place . . . at the time [he or she
was] under the influence of this drug.‖
5
When the prosecutor stated on cross-examination, ―You look mighty agile
for somebody who’s that drunk,‖ Appellant responded, ―I have a high tolerance
for the pills. I been popping pills for a long amount of time and they don’t—they
don’t just do me like they’ll do somebody the first time who pop them.‖
7
Appellant testified that a couple of hours later he went back to the Best Western
alone. The following dialogue occurred:
Q. [Defense Counsel]: What was your purpose of going
[to the Best Western]?
A. [Appellant]: To make a drug sale. Then I – I – I – I –
I was fixing to go down the hallway because I remembered
that cash register being open. I popped all those pills and I
was thinking I got to go in there and go in the cash register
and take all the money out.
....
Q. When you went around that corner, did you see Mr.
Myers there?
A. No, sir.
Q. So when you did not see him, what was your plan?
A. Jump the counter and get that register open.
....
Q. When is the first he confronted you or you
confronted him?
A. I jumped over the register deal like I thought I was
going to do. . . . I was going through – I had my hand on it and
going through it and I was putting [money] in my pocket.
....
And I put it in my pocket and I heard somebody yell,
What the hell are you doing? And before I looked back, he hit
– hit me and he had some – and I don’t know – I – I told them
it was a three-ring hole punch, but that was just all I seen was
something black. I don’t know.
....
8
Q. [What] [w]as he saying to you?
A. Yeah. First he was like ―What the hell are you
doing?‖ He probably wasn’t going to kill me, but he said he
was . . . .
Q. What exact words?
A. ―What the hell are you doing?‖ And he hit me with
the thing and he kept asking ―What are you doing?‖ He said,
―I’m going to kill your ass.‖ And he kept asking ―What are you
doing? When he – when he caught me, I just froze. And
when he hit me and stuff, I didn’t know what to do. But he
kept attacking me so I had to – I had to do that.
Q. When you shot, where was the gun? Where was
the gun? Do you know?
A. It was on my waist. He didn’t see the gun.
Otherwise I don’t think he would have done — if I had the gun
out, if I would have robbed him – I could have robbed him from
the other side of the [counter].
....
Q. When you finally got the gun out, what did you do,
[Appellant]?
A. I got it out, he pushed me. He – I fell back – back
against the – I didn’t fall back against him, but I felt someone –
when he was coming, I dodged. I – I thought he was going to
hit me and I dodged. I just shot in his vicinity where he was.
. . . I thought I shot him once.
[Emphasis added.]
The trial court’s charge instructed the jury to determine, in turn, whether
Appellant was guilty of capital murder, felony murder, simple murder, or not
guilty. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. '' 19.02(b)(1)–(3) (West 2011), 19.03(a)(2).
9
Appellant’s theory of defense in his testimony and his counsel’s closing argument
was that he did not possess the requisite intent to murder Myers and that he was,
at most, guilty of the lesser-included offense of felony murder. The jury found
Appellant guilty of capital murder. The charge instructed the jury that voluntary
intoxication does not constitute a defense to the commission of a crime. See id.
' 8.04 (West 2011).
B. Applicable Law
As relevant in this case, a person commits capital murder if he intentionally
commits murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit robbery. 6
See id. ' 19.03(a)(2). A person commits robbery if, in the course of committing
theft, he intentionally or knowingly causes bodily injury to another. See id. '
29.02(a) (West 2011). The State must prove a nexus between the murder and
the theft, i.e., that the murder was committed to facilitate the taking of the
property. Cooper v. State, 67 S.W.3d 221, 223 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002); Ibanez v.
State, 749 S.W.2d 804, 807 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986).
―A person acts intentionally . . . with respect . . . to a result of his conduct
when it is his conscious objective or desire to . . . cause the result.‖ Tex. Penal
6
Capital murder requires an intent to kill. See id. ' 19.03(a)(2). In
comparison, ―felony murder‖ is an unintentional murder committed in the course
of committing a felony. Id. ' 19.02(b)(3); Fuentes v. State, 991 S.W.2d 267, 272
(Tex. Crim. App., cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1026 (1999). Noncapital murder
includes intentionally or knowingly causing an individual’s death or intending to
cause serious bodily injury and committing an act clearly dangerous to human life
that causes an individual’s death. Tex. Penal Code Ann. ' 19.02(b)(1), (2).
10
Code Ann. ' 6.03 (West 2011). Intent is a fact question for the jury, and it is
almost always proven by circumstantial evidence. See Hart v. State, 89 S.W.3d
61, 64 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002); see also Gardner v. State, 306 S.W.3d 274, 285
(Tex. Crim. App. 2009), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 103 (2010). A jury may infer
intent from any facts that prove its existence, including acts, words, and conduct
of the accused; method of committing the crime; and the nature of wounds
inflicted on victims. See Hart, 89 S.W.3d at 64; Conner v. State, 67 S.W.3d 192,
197 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001); Sholars v. State, 312 S.W.3d 694, 703 (Tex. App.—
Houston [1st Dist.] 2009, pet. ref’d), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 156 (2010). A jury
may infer intent to kill from the use of a deadly weapon in a deadly manner. See
Brown v. State, 122 S.W.3d 794, 800 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003), cert. denied, 541
U.S. 938 (2004); see also Ex parte Thompson, 179 S.W.3d 549, 556 n.18 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2005) (―It is both a common-sense inference and an appellate
presumption that a person intends the natural consequences of his acts, and that
the act of pointing a loaded gun at someone and shooting it toward that person at
close range demonstrates an intent to kill.‖ (internal citations omitted)). In the
case of a capital murder committed in the course of a robbery, there is no
requirement that the intent to cause death be premeditated or formulated prior to
the commission of the robbery. See Rousseau v. State, 855 S.W.2d 666, 674
(Tex. Crim. App.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 919 (1993). Rather, the intent to cause
death must only have been formulated when the actor commits the murder. See
id.
11
C. Standard of Review
In our due-process review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a
conviction, we view all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to
determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential
elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. 7 Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S.
307, 319, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 2789 (1979); see Adames v. State, 353 S.W.3d 854,
859 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011), cert. denied, 80 U.S.L.W. 3462 (U.S. Mar. 19, 2012)
(No. 11-944).____S. Ct. ____ (2012). We defer to the jury’s determinations of
credibility and may not substitute our judgment for that of the factfinder. See
Williams v. State, 235 S.W.3d 742, 750 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007). We ―determine
whether the necessary inferences are reasonable based upon the combined and
cumulative force of all the evidence when viewed in the light most favorable to
the verdict.‖ Hooper v. State, 214 S.W.3d 9, 16–17 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007).
When the record supports conflicting inferences, we presume that the factfinder
resolved the conflicts in favor of the prosecution and therefore defer to that
determination. Clayton v. State, 235 S.W.3d 772, 778 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007).
D. Analysis
Appellant contends that his intent was to commit theft and that he shot
Myers ―not with the intent to murder [him], but out of fear because Myers was
7
Because the court of criminal appeals has eliminated the factual
sufficiency standard of review from this state’s criminal jurisprudence, Brooks v.
State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 912 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010), we determine only whether
the evidence is sufficient to support the jury’s verdict.
12
attacking him with weapons.‖ In support, he points to his own testimony and
statements and some of the physical evidence.8
Even if Appellant’s main objective was to steal money, such an objective
does not foreclose a finding that he later formed the intent to kill Myers. See
Robertson v. State, 871 S.W.2d 701, 706–07 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993), cert.
denied, 513 U.S. 853 (1994) (holding that appellant’s claim that he returned to
house solely to steal drugs did not constitute evidence that he could not have
formulated an intent to kill between returning to the house and shooting the
victim); Rousseau, 855 S.W.2d at 674; see also Threadgill v. State, 146 S.W.3d
654, 664–65 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004) (noting that, although the defendant’s main
objective was to steal the car, this did not foreclose a finding that he intentionally
killed the victim when he shot at him at close range in the back of the car);
Gonzalez v. State, 296 S.W.3d 620, 626–27 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2009, pet.
ref’d) (―While the [video]tape may show a possibility at some point during the
robbery that A.C. did not intend to kill Potts, it does not amount to evidence that
A.C. did not intend to cause his death at the time of the shooting.‖).
8
For instance, Appellant elicited from Detective Serra that the physical
evidence was consistent with Appellant’s story that Myers was not near the cash
register when Appellant first jumped over the counter and that Myers came at
him with a three-hole punch. He also relies on Detective Serra’s ―admissions‖ on
cross-examination that it was logical to assume that no one was standing behind
the counter when Appellant jumped over it, that Myers was much larger than
Appellant, that Appellant shot him because he was ―mad‖ and going to ―whoop‖
him, and that Appellant claimed his eyes were closed when he fired.
13
The evidence demonstrated that Appellant entered the motel with a loaded
gun and that he pulled the trigger three times, fatally shooting Myers twice in the
chest. Additionally, Appellant admitted to Detective Serra during his second
interview, ―I think I hit him once, and I guess I kept shooting,‖ and ―I pulled the
trigger; I don’t remember how many times.‖ Indeed, Appellant made several
admissions that belie his claims that he did not have the intent to kill Myers,
including that he ―tried to talk‖ to Myers, that he told Myers he did not want to
shoot him, and that he ―had to do that‖ because Myers kept attacking him. 9
Appellant also stated that he thought Myers was going to beat him up and call
the police; there was also evidence that Myers was trying to reach the telephone
when Appellant shot him, which the jury could have reasonably inferred that
Appellant’s actions were intentional and not merely done as a reflex or in fear.
Appellant then fled the scene and did not call 911. The jury could have rationally
determined beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant intentionally caused
Myers’s death. See Ex parte Thompson, 179 S.W.3d at 556; see also Gonzalez,
296 S.W.3d at 626–27 (―The fact that A.C. shot Potts in the chest with a .22 and
fled the scene with Appellant reinforces the notion that there was intent to kill.‖);
9
In addition to these incriminating admissions, the jury could have
considered that Appellant gave several differing explanations for his actions,
including that he found Myers already shot and dying, that he shot Myers by
accident, that he shot Myers because he ―got up,‖ that he shot Myers in self-
defense, and that he shot in the vicinity of Myers with his eyes closed. See
generally Guevara v. State, 235 S.W.3d 45, 50 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004) (holding
that inconsistent statements and implausible explanations are also probative of
wrongful conduct and are circumstances of guilt).
14
Motilla v. State, 78 S.W.3d 352, 359 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002) (indicating that
decision to fire more than once is evidence of intent to kill).10
Appellant refers us to two cases. See Robertson, 871 S.W.2d at 705;
Ibanez, 749 S.W.2d at 807. In both Robertson and Ibanez, the defendants
admitted intentionally killing their victims but maintained they were not guilty of
capital murder because the property they stole was an afterthought. Here,
Appellant maintains he did not intentionally kill Myers but admits he intended to
steal money. Indeed, there is evidence that Appellant formed the intent to obtain
or maintain control of the victim’s property either before or during the commission
of the murder. See Conner, 67 S.W.3d at 197 (―If there is evidence . . . from
which the jury could rationally conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the
defendant formed the intent to obtain or maintain control of the victim’s property
either before or during the commission of the murder, then the State has proven
that the murder occurred in the course of the robbery.‖).
Applying the Jackson criteria to the facts of this case, we hold that a
rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant
committed capital murder.
10
See also Goad v. State, 354 S.W.3d 443, 455 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011) (―If
a record contains only circumstantial evidence of deliberate conduct, such as
evidence that a victim was shot repeatedly, the State may properly rely on that
evidence to establish that the defendant’s acts were intentional.‖) (Alcala, J.,
concurring).
15
IV. Conclusion
Having overruled Appellant’s sole issue, we affirm the trial court’s
judgment.
ANNE GARDNER
JUSTICE
PANEL: LIVINGSTON, C.J.; GARDNER and GABRIEL, JJ.
DO NOT PUBLISH
Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)
DELIVERED: March 22, 2012
16