Cavazos, Abraham
2012 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1387
| Tex. Crim. App. | 2012Background
- Appellant Abraham Cavazos was convicted of murder under Tex. Penal Code §19.02(b)(2) and sentenced to 28 years plus a $5,000 fine.
- The court of appeals held manslaughter was not a lesser-included offense of the charged murder and found no evidence that Cavazos was guilty only of manslaughter.
- Cavazos sought discretionary review arguing the court of appeals erred in treating manslaughter as non-lesser-included and in denying the jury instruction on manslaughter.
- The Texas Court, applying the Aguilar/Rousseau framework, held that manslaughter is a lesser-included offense under Article 37.09(3) but affirmed because there was no evidence that Cavazos could be guilty only of manslaughter.
- The majority concluded the indictment and evidence do not present a rational basis for convicting Cavazos only of manslaughter; accordingly, the trial court’s denial of the manslaughter instruction was not error.
- The concurrence disputes the majority’s view on whether manslaughter is a lesser-included offense and emphasizes the difference between mental states and the condemned outcome
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is manslaughter a lesser-included offense of the charged murder under §19.02(b)(2)? | Cavazos contends manslaughter lies within the same offense as murder under Article 37.09(3). | State argues manslaughter differs by requiring recklessness and thus is not a lesser-included offense. | Yes; manslaughter is a lesser-included offense. |
| If so, did the evidence warrant a jury instruction on manslaughter? | There was evidence Cavazos did not intend to kill, supporting a lesser offense instruction. | There was insufficient evidence of recklessness to support manslaughter as a rational alternative. | No; no evidence supported a rational finding of guilt only of manslaughter. |
Key Cases Cited
- Hall v. State, 225 S.W.3d 524 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) ( Aguilar/Rousseau framework; threshold and second-step analysis described)
- McKinney v. State, 207 S.W.3d 366 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (cognate-pleadings approach; lesser-included offense analysis)
- Rousseau v. State, 855 S.W.2d 666 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993) (establishes Aguilar/Rousseau test for lesser-included offenses)
- Ex parte Watson, 306 S.W.3d 259 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009) (describes cognate-pleadings approach to lesser-included offenses)
- McKithan v. State, 324 S.W.3d 582 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (explains functional-equivalence concept in lesser-included analysis)
- Farrakhan v. State, 247 S.W.3d 720 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) (cites functional-equivalence methodology)
- Forest v. State, 989 S.W.2d 365 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999) (illustrates requirement for rational alternative under Aguilar/Rousseau)
- Saunders v. State, 840 S.W.2d 390 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) (two paths to entitlement to lesser-included instruction)
- Godsey v. State, 719 S.W.2d 578 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986) (inferential basis for intent from deadly weapon use)
- Flanagan v. State, 675 S.W.2d 734 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984) (intent may be inferred from use of deadly weapon)
- Bell v. State, 501 S.W.2d 137 (Tex. Crim. App. 1973) (prior authority on inferences about intent)
- Lugo-Lugo v. State, 650 S.W.2d 72 (Tex. Crim. App. 1983) (case on focus of mental-state analysis in statute)
- Schroeder v. State, 123 S.W.3d 398 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003) (relevant to recklessness definition in result-focused offenses)
- Ervin v. State, 991 S.W.2d 804 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999) (relation of manslaughter to death focus)
- Cook v. State, 884 S.W.2d 485 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994) (general principles on culpable mental states)