Court Opinion

ID: 9777008
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:51:40.011405+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:14:14.143153
License: Public Domain

CUMMINGS, Justice,
dissenting.
Because I do not believe that Teer released Christina voluntarily in a safe place, I respectfully dissent. The majority apparently assumed Christina was “released” when Teer took' her to her mother’s home because its entire discussion is focused on whether the “release” was voluntary.
I believe our analysis should first consider whether Christina was released when Teer took her to her mother’s home. If we should determine that she was released at that time, then we should consider whether the release was voluntary and if it was in a safe place. *853Because, after considering the unusual circumstances at her mother’s home, I do not believe she was released when Teer took her there. Therefore, we would not reach whether the release was voluntary or in a safe place.
The legislature did not define “release” as that term is used in the aggravated kidnapping statute. We will, therefore, use its ordinary meaning which includes any of the following: “liberation, discharge, or setting free from restraint or confinement.” Black’s Law DICTIONARY (5th Ed.1979). The record reveals that Christina had married Teer when she was only sixteen years old and that she had tried to separate from Teer on several occasions, each time going to her mother’s home. On each of those occasions, Teer would effect a reconciliation at her mother’s home. Prior to her abduction from Shooter’s billiard hall, Christina had separated from Teer and moved to the Family Abuse Center in Waco, apparently hoping that Teer would not be able to find her. Even so, in less than a month, Teer found her and armed with a shotgun, forcibly took her against her will from her place of employment. During the flight from the billiard hall to Teer’s car, he pointed the gun at her and told her “get up, you bitch, or I will shoot you.” She fell on the way to the car and he pointed the gun at her face again. He did not verbally threaten her at that time, but she stated “I really was scared, I thought he was going to kill me that time.” She further stated that she begged him not to shoot her, stating “please don’t shoot me, I will do anything, just don’t shoot me.” After the abduction, they spent the next three days at various motels along the 1-45 corridor toward Houston, during which time Christina had opportunities to escape when Teer would leave the motel room to get provisions. She did not attempt to escape, however, and a “rational jury” could have reasoned from the evidence that since Teer had always found her before when she attempted to leave him, that an escape would have been futile. It seems appropriate that any judgment or finding regarding “voluntary release in a safe place” must be viewed, weighed and determined solely from the conduct of the accused and not as to possibilities within speculated grasps of the victim. Wiley v. State, 820 S.W.2d 401, 409 (Tex.App.-Beaumont 1991, no pet.).
On the third day after the abduction, Christina and Teer saw on television that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Teer became upset and directed Christina to call her mother and request her to call the police and drop the charges. He further would not leave the motel until Christina had called her mother again to confirm that charges had been dropped, after which, he took Christina to her mother’s home. The evidence reveals that prior to the abduction Teer had been living at Christina’s mother’s home and that her mother was quite fond of Teer. In determining whether Christina was released at her mother’s home, it is crucial to consider that Teer did not leave her there. He stayed there and continued to direct her to make calls to the police to try to get the warrant dismissed and to the Family Abuse Center to advise them that she was safe at her mother’s. During these calls Teer was listening, but due to the skills of the social workers at the Family Abuse Center, they recognized that Christina was still a hostage and needed to be rescued. It was due to their efforts that Christina was finally liberated from Teer at her mother’s home simultaneous with Teer’s arrest. It was then that she was taken to the place she called “home”, the Family Abuse Center.
From these circumstances, I believe that a rational jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Christina was not released from her hostage situation while at her mother’s home until she was taken from there by the police. Having so found, it would not be necessary to determine “volun-tariness” or whether the home was a “safe place.” Subject to a decision on the point of error concerning improper jury argument which the majority did not reach, I would affirm the judgment.