Jason Charles Savoy v. State, 14-15-00637-CR

Background

Appellant Jason Charles Savoy stabbed the complainant once in the chest with a switchblade; the knife penetrated through the heart and the complainant died.
Incident was captured on gas-station surveillance video showing a drug sale dispute: complainant attempted to leave (apparently without paying) after receiving cocaine; Savoy blocked him and then stabbed him.
Police interviewed Savoy hours later; he initially denied involvement, then confessed after learning the victim died and video existed, claiming self-defense because he believed the backseat passenger was armed and would shoot him.
Savoy was indicted for murder under two theories: intentional/knowing killing and intent to cause serious bodily injury via an act clearly dangerous to human life.
At trial Savoy requested jury instructions on aggravated assault and manslaughter (lesser-included offenses) and raised complaints about the self-defense instruction. The trial court denied the lesser-included instructions but gave the self-defense instruction as written.
On appeal the Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirmed, holding no charge error on the three contested issues.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Savoy)	Held
Whether aggravated assault is a required lesser-included instruction	Aggravated assault is a lesser-included offense of murder but no evidence supports convicting only of aggravated assault	Savoy pointed to his testimony denying intent to kill as evidence supporting aggravated assault instruction	Denied — no evidence rebutted proof of intent/act clearly dangerous to human life; testimony alone insufficient
Whether manslaughter is a required lesser-included instruction	Manslaughter (reckless killing) can be lesser-included but must have evidence of recklessness	Savoy argued his claim of sudden passion/adequate cause or lack of intent supported manslaughter	Denied — no affirmative evidence of recklessness or lack of intent to cause serious bodily injury; sudden passion is not an element under current manslaughter statute
Whether charge failed to state that State must disprove self-defense beyond reasonable doubt	Charge should explicitly tell jury State must disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt	Savoy argued the charge lacked a clear burden-of-proof statement on self-defense	Denied — when read as a whole other instructions (presumption of innocence; burden rests on State) placed burden on State
Whether self-defense instruction had to be incorporated into murder application paragraph	Self-defense should be part of the murder application paragraph to avoid confusion	Savoy argued separate self-defense application paragraph was confusing and required incorporation	Denied — Court of Criminal Appeals precedent allows separate self-defense instruction; the charge must be read as a whole

Key Cases Cited

Ngo v. State, 175 S.W.3d 738 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (two-step framework for reviewing jury-charge error)
Segundo v. State, 270 S.W.3d 79 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) (two-part test for lesser-included-offense instructions)
Cavazos v. State, 382 S.W.3d 377 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012) (requirement of affirmative evidence that rebuts element of greater offense to justify lesser-included instruction)
Cardenas v. State, 30 S.W.3d 384 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000) (aggravated assault and manslaughter are possible lesser-included offenses of murder)
Zuliani v. State, 97 S.W.3d 589 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003) (relative burdens: defendant must produce some evidence of self-defense; State must then disprove beyond a reasonable doubt)
Luck v. State, 588 S.W.2d 371 (Tex. Crim. App. 1979) (charge viewed as a whole can place burden on State to disprove defense)
Hernandez v. State, 375 S.W.2d 285 (Tex. Crim. App. 1963) (self-defense need not be incorporated into application paragraph of the charged offense)
Ekern v. State, 200 S.W.2d 412 (Tex. Crim. App. 1947) (court may give the law in separate paragraphs; jury reads charge as a whole)