Court Opinion

ID: 9779386
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 21:48:59.729379+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:26.004023
License: Public Domain

ONION, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
I joined in the dissenting opinion by Judge W.C. Davis, but I write to point out additionally facts to support his conclusions.
The majority writes:
“The appellant admits an intentional killing and an intentional taking of the deceased’s vehicle; however he makes clear that he acted out of anger and fear, and that the taking of the car was incidental.”
This was no naive 17-year-old boy who was seduced by a 38-year-old male homosexual. In his confession appellant admitted he skipped school and had been drinking all day. He went to the Apartment Bar about 7:30 p.m. on the night in question, a place he knew homosexuals frequented. He played pool with the bartender and left because he “ran out of money” and wanted to get some more, hopefully from friends. He returned shortly thereafter to the bar without money and was there when the deceased and another man came in. The deceased gave appellant money for the juke box and began to buy the appellant drinks for appellant was without money. They danced together and the deceased kissed and hugged the appellant. The deceased told appellant he had once been “married” to a man, and that appellant was going to be his husband “tomorrow.” According to the appellant’s confession, the deceased invited him to go with him to the Diamond Bar so the deceased could cash a check. Appellant knew the Diamond Bar was “for gay people.” They drove there in appellant’s stationwagon. At the Diamond Bar appellant saw a “gay” friend of his and other homosexuals. While there and *810while drinking, the deceased asked the appellant if he wanted to go to the deceased’s apartment so the appellant could make love to the deceased, and the appellant agreed. They left about midnight and drove again in the stationwagon to the deceased’s apartment. They drank another drink, undressed, and the deceased tried to “suck” appellant, but appellant related he was drunk and couldn’t get an erection. Appellant fell asleep, and after two or three hours the deceased awakened him and wanted appellant to “suck” him (the deceased). Appellant stated he “got angry at what he told me and ... And like he told me that I was going to be the man and he was going to be the woman.” When asked by the officer during the taping of the confession “And, did he force you?” the appellant replied, “No, but....” Later he related the deceased grabbed his head and he said, “No, we had an agreement.” Appellant got up and out of bed. The deceased grabbed his arm “and wanted to” and appellant got “angry.” Appellant then began to strangle the deceased with a shirt, and the deceased “didn’t try to defend himself.”1 Appellant continued to tighten the shirt, and then turned the deceased face down and covered the deceased with a blanket. Appellant dressed and got the car keys from the deceased’s pants pockets, and when he did, the checkbook fell out. Appellant denied he wanted “that,” but the checkbook was never found.
Appellant admitted that he took the sta-tionwagon, but did he use it just to get away from the dead man or just to get home? No, he drove the stationwagon across the international border to Juarez, and after awhile he picked up a friend, Marcos, and then they drove around Juarez. Appellant, who had no money of his own the night before and denied taking money from the deceased, bought meat at a market to eat. Later in the afternoon appellant stated he abandoned the station-wagon in Juarez, leaving the keys in the ashtray, and returned to his home in El Paso. Interestingly enough, he related in his confession that his uncle had come to get him, several days later, to “go to the Judicial in Juarez” because he had been accused of driving a vehicle and running over a person in Juarez. It is true that the confession and record do not show when this occurred, but the “Judicial in Juarez” was looking for appellant three days after he had been driving the deceased’s station-wagon in Juarez. Appellant may have other reasons for abandoning the stationwag-on other than to prevent his connection with the murder, which is reason enough.
Here the “broke” appellant goes to a bar he knows is frequented by homosexuals. He meets the deceased who buys him drinks, dances, kisses and hugs the appellant. He willingly goes with the deceased to another homosexual bar so deceased can cash a check. Then appellant willingly goes to the deceased’s apartment in the stationwagon. The agreed purpose is for appellant to make “love” to the deceased. Their first effort is a failure because appellant is drunk. When awakened several hours later, appellant is “angry” because the deceased asked him to change roles. Appellant gets out of bed and strangles the deceased with a shirt while the deceased does not try to defend himself. After the deceased is turned upside down, the appellant goes through the deceased’s pants pockets and takes the car keys. He takes the stationwagon. Does he do it in fear in his attempt to escape from a dead man and get home, or does he take it to appropriate it to his own use? His actions speak louder than words. He takes the vehicle, not home but, across the international border and drives it for the larger part of the day before abandoning the vehicle.
In light of the confession and the other evidence in the record, any rational trier of the facts could have found that the State proved the element of the offense alleged beyond a reasonable doubt. We still view the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, don’t we?
I dissent.

. It is not logical that a 38-year-old man who had just asked appellant to engage in a sexual act, would allow himself to be strangled without "defending himself," unless he was too drunk to resist or already unconscious.