Court Opinion

ID: 9682958
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:20:10.627046+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:43.555529
License: Public Domain

SEARS, Justice,
concurring.
I concur with the opinion by Justice Draughn; however, I would also sustain point of error number two. There is no doubt that appellant is guilty of the murder of Raymundo Miranda. There is no doubt as to whether the murder occurred during the course of the robbery of the deceased.
There is no dispute that nothing was taken from the deceased except a partial pack of cigarettes. Also, there is no dispute that the deceased’s wallet was still intact when his skeletal remains were discovered. I believe this undisputed evidence would require the court to also charge appellant with the lesser-included offense of murder. See Cantu v. State, cited in the foregoing opinion. Murder is a lesser-included offense to capital murder. The evidence of a lesser-included charge was raised, the accused requested the charge, and the jury was entitled to weigh the evidence and determine whether the appellant was guilty of murder or capital murder.
The jury asked a question regarding whether they could find the accused guilty of anything less than capital murder. Although the question has been lost and is not a part of this record on appeal, the court held a hearing to reconstruct, for purposes of a record on appeal, the question from the jury as well as other matters. The court then filed “findings of fact” which include the following:
In another question, the jury asked whether they could convict the defendant of any offense other than capital murder. The trial court responded by instructing the jury they are referred to and bound by the court’s charge.
*341It is clear from the question raised by the jury that they were having trouble with the charge. Because the court refused to charge the jury on the lesser-included offense of murder, the jury was forced to choose between finding appellant guilty of “capital” murder, or finding him not guilty of any crime. Since the appellant was obviously guilty of the “murder” of the deceased, they had no choice but to find him guilty of capital murder. The harm is obvious. Point of error number two should also be sustained.