Case Name: Jesse Castillo OROSCO, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. (two cases)
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Jurisdiction: Texas
Decision Date: 1979-03-21
Citations: 590 S.W.2d 121
Docket Number: Nos. 56876 thru 56878
Parties: Jesse Castillo OROSCO, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. (two cases).
Judges: Before ONION, P. J., and PHILLIPS and TOM G. DAVIS, JJ.
Reporter: South Western Reporter Second Series
Volume: 590
Pages: 121–129

Head Matter:
Jesse Castillo OROSCO, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. (two cases).
Nos. 56876 thru 56878.
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, Panel No. 1.
March 21, 1979.
Rehearings Denied Dec. 12, 1979.
Warren E. Hancock, Jr. and W. W. Kil-garlin, Houston, for appellant.
Carol S. Vance, Dist. Atty., Phyllis M. Bell and Frank Harmon, Asst. Dist. Attys., Houston and Robert Huttash, State’s Atty., Austin, for the State.
Before ONION, P. J., and PHILLIPS and TOM G. DAVIS, JJ.

Opinion:
OPINION
TOM G. DAVIS, Judge.
Appeals are taken from convictions for aggravated rape, aggravated robbery, and forgery. V.T.C.A. Penal Code Secs. 21.03, 29.03, and 32.21. Punishment was assessed at 40 years for the aggravated rape, 15 years for the aggravated robbery, and five years for the forgery.
All three offenses were tried together, and are all related to a single incident involving the prosecutrix.
The prosecutrix testified that on the day of the alleged rape and robbery she had taken one of her children to school, stopped at a convenience store to use a pay phone, and finally returned home. She testified that she used her car as transportation to and from each of the above places.
Later that morning at about 10:30 a.m., she answered a knock at her door. She went to the door and saw the appellant standing outside. The doorway was secured only by a locked screen at the time of the incident. She testified that the appellant asked to come in, but she refused.
According to the prosecutrix, the appellant then took a knife from his pocket and exposed the blade, again requesting entry. She unlocked the door, and the appellant entered, putting the knife away. The knife was not seen by the prosecutrix again.
The appellant requested a glass of water, which the prosecutrix got for him. He then grabbed her and told her he wanted to make love. The prosecutrix testified that she nudged away but did not escape his grip. He told her to go upstairs.
The prosecutrix testified that once upstairs the appellant told her to take her clothes off, and to lie down on the bed. He then took his clothes off and had intercourse with the prosecutrix.
After they dressed the appellant asked if she had any money, to which she replied no. They then went downstairs, and the appellant said he was "going to take something." He unplugged her television and told her to go upstairs. When she returned downstairs, the appellant was gone, as was her television and checkbook.
The prosecutrix then drove to her husband's place of employment. Co-workers of her husband called the police, and she was taken to the hospital and examined. She testified that the examination revealed semen in her vagina. The prosecutrix further testified that she was not the appellant's wife, did not consent to the intercourse, and submitted because she was afraid.
On cross-examination, she stated that she was separated from her husband at the time of the offense and was in the process of getting a divorce. She also related that some three months before the incident she had overdosed on sleeping pills.
An employee of a Houston supermarket testified that on the day following the above events she cashed a check drawn on the prosecutrix's account for fifty dollars. Although this employee was unable to remember who had cashed the check, the witness did identify the check as the one cashed by her.
The signature on the check purported to be the prosecutrix's. The prosecutrix, however, testified that she had not signed the check. The check was endorsed in the name of the appellant.
A handwriting expert for the Houston Police Department testified that he compared samples of handwriting taken from the appellant with the endorsement on the check. The officer found that both the endorsement and the handwriting samples had been made by the same person.
The appellant took the stand in his own behalf. He testified that he first saw the prosecutrix at the convenience store and she asked him for a ride downtown. He stated that when he replied that he had no car the prosecutrix then asked him to come to her house. He went to her house and while there, according to his testimony, engaged in a consensual act of intercourse.
Appellant further testified that the pros-ecutrix gave him the television set and a blank check and invited him to come back some other time. Appellant specifically denied threatening the prosecutrix or even possessing a knife on the day in question.
The appellant admitted to cashing the check at the supermarket, and that he signed both his name and the prosecutrix's name on the check. He maintained that the prosecutrix had given him the check as he left her house and had not signed it because she had no pen. On cross-examination, the appellant admitted that he knew the check was forged.
The appellant's employer testified to his good reputation for truth and veracity.
Each of appellant's seven grounds of error is in effect a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. The record reveals another issue, however, which requires consideration' in the interest of justice. Art. 40.09, Sec. 13, V.A.C.C.P. We must determine whether the convictions for aggravated rape and aggravated robbery of a single victim arising out of the same facts and occurring in the same transaction are in violation of the double jeopardy clauses of the state and federal constitutions.
In Tatum v. State, 534 S.W.2d 678, this Court was faced with a situation almost identical with the present one. The defendant had pled guilty to the offenses of aggravated sexual abuse, aggravated rape, and aggravated robbery. The record in Tatum revealed that all three offenses were committed against the same person in the same transaction. The Court held that the convictions for all three offenses violated the double jeopardy clauses of both the state and federal constitutions, and reversed two of the three convictions.
In Hawkins v. State, 535 S.W.2d 359, this Court reviewed numerous cases concerning double jeopardy and carving. The Court found that double jeopardy attached when multiple offenses had arisen from "an uninterrupted and continuous sequence of events or assaultive acts directed toward a single victim." 535 S.W.2d at 362. See, Uribe v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 573 S.W.2d 819.
In the present case, the initial display of the knife, coupled with the appellant's continued possession of the knife, must provide the aggravating circumstances in both the rape and the robbery. The appellant's initial assault with the knife continued throughout the episode. His acts were an uninterrupted and continuous assaultive act against a single victim. Conviction for both the rape and the robbery is violative of the double jeopardy clauses of both the state and federal constitutions.
Appellant was indicted in Cause No. 245,097 for the aggravated rape (Our Cause No. 56,876). The indictment for aggravated robbery shows it is Cause No. 245,179 (Our Cause No. 56,877). The record does not reflect which judgment was entered first,. therefore we will apply the rule in Ex parte Calderon, Tex.Cr.App., 508 S.W.2d 360. We assume that the judgment in the lowest cause number was entered first. Thus, appellant's subsequent conviction in Cause No. 245,179 for aggravated robbery is reversed.
Appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for aggravated rape. He maintains that the evidence was insufficient to prove the aggravating circumstances and to show a lack of consent by the prosecutrix.
In Rogers v. State, 575 S.W.2d 555, this Court was faced with a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a finding of aggravating circumstances in a rape case. This Court observed that when a gun or knife was used to compel submission the evidence is sufficient to prove the aggravating circumstances under Sec. 21.03, supra.
In the present case, the prosecutrix testified that the appellant displayed a knife to gain entry after her initial refusal. Even after this weapon was out of sight, the threat of its use continued. We find the evidence sufficient to support the finding of a threat of death or serious bodily injury.
Further, the prosecutrix's testimony is sufficient to support a finding that the sexual intercourse was without her consent and that she submitted because of force and threats. Twomey v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 520 S.W.2d 784.
Finally, appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the forgery conviction. Appellant maintains that, although the prosecutrix testified that she did not sign the check, there is no evidence that she did not authorize the appellant to sign the check.
The appellant is correct in his assertion that the prosecutrix never testified that she did not authorize someone else to sign the check. She did testify, however, that the checkbook was taken without her permission and that she did not sign the check. This testimony, coupled with the appellant's admission that he signed the prosecutrix's name to the check and knew it was forged, is sufficient to support a finding that the prosecutrix did not authorize the signature on the check. See and cf. Payne v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 567 S.W.2d 4; Reed v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 533 S.W.2d 35.
We hold that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions for aggravated rape and forgery.
The judgment in Cause No. 245,179 (aggravated robbery) is reversed and the prosecution ordered dismissed. The judgments in Cause No. 245,097 (aggravated rape) and Cause No. 245,187 (forgery) are affirmed.
Before the court En Banc.
. See Duckett v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 454 S.W.2d 755.