Court Opinion

ID: 9729210
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:29:18.87142+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:56.092551
License: Public Domain

COCHRAN, J.,
filed a concurring opinion in which HOLCOMB, J., joined.
I join the majority opinion. I add these comments only to emphasize that this is a case in which the State was required to prove that appellant specifically intended to kill both Antwonyia Smith and her four-to-six-week-old embryo.
The indictment in this case alleged that appellant did
unlawfully then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual, to-wit: Antwonyia Smith, by shooting [Smith] with a firearm, a deadly weapon, and during the same criminal transaction [appellant] did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of another individual, to-wit: an unborn child of [Smith], by shooting [Smith], while said unborn child was in gestation of said [Smith],
(emphasis added). Because the State offered sufficient evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that appellant both 1) knew that Antwonyia was carrying an unborn child and 2) intended to kill that unborn child, the Court properly rejects appellant’s “void for vagueness” and “due process” claims.