(Download) "Joseph Earl Thomas v. State Texas" by Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas No. 57333 ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Joseph Earl Thomas v. State Texas
- Author : Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas No. 57333
- Release Date : January 19, 1979
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 61 KB
Description
The appellant was indicted for criminal attempt to commit murder. The victim testified that she awoke to find a man kneeling beside her bed; the man put his hands around her neck and choked her. The victim's grandson came into the room and fought with the man, whom he identified as the appellant. The man dove out a window; the appellant's fingerprint was on the sill. A jury found that the appellant was guilty of criminal attempt to commit murder. The jury also found that the appellant had once before been convicted of a felony, and it assessed his punishment at confinement for life. The grounds set out in this appeal comprise claims of fundamental error in the charge to the jury. The appellant has no quarrel with the parts of the charge that define the law of criminal attempt to commit murder, or with the part that applies that law to the facts. The first part of the charge with which he finds fault is the part that read, Unless you so find beyond a reasonable doubt, or if you have a reasonable doubt thereof, you will acquit the defendant of the offense of murder. Of course, the end of the sentence should have read, offense of criminal attempt to commit murder. The appellant made no objection to the charge. This evidently inadvertent mistake could not so have misled the jury as to constitute fundamental error. Compare Ellis v. State, 22 S.W. 678 (Tex.Cr.App.1893).