Demetrius Dewayne Thompson v. the State of Texas ( 2023 )


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  • Modified and Affirmed and Opinion Filed December 7, 2023
    In The
    Court of Appeals
    Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
    No. 05-22-00879-CR
    DEMETRIUS DEWAYNE THOMPSON, Appellant
    V.
    THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
    On Appeal from the 194th Judicial District Court
    Dallas County, Texas
    Trial Court Cause No. F19-75626
    MEMORANDUM OPINION
    Before Justices Carlyle, Goldstein, and Breedlove
    Opinion by Justice Breedlove
    Appellant Demetrius Dewayne Thompson was convicted of capital murder
    after a bench trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant appeals,
    complaining that the evidence was legally insufficient to support the verdict. We
    affirm the trial court’s judgment as modified.
    I.     BACKGROUND
    On Saturday, May 27, 2018, Dominique Torres-Williams was sitting in a car
    on her street when she heard glass shatter and saw flames shooting out of the duplex
    located at 4934 Berridge Lane. The fire department was called at 12:08 a.m. on
    Sunday, May 28, 2018, and Torres-Williams called 911 at 12:12 a.m. At trial she
    testified that she did not know the owner of the house and did not see anyone exiting
    the house. Dallas Fire and Rescue was dispatched to the house and discovered the
    body of the resident, Eric Moore, inside. Moore’s neighbor, Jose Nava, testified that
    he lived in the same duplex building as Moore sharing an interior wall, and that on
    the night of Moore’s death, he heard a “loud commotion” from Moore’s house at
    approximately 11:00 p.m.
    Although the body was badly burned, the medical examiner, Dr. Stephen
    Lenfest, determined that the cause of death was homicide after finding two gunshot
    wounds which traveled through Moore’s neck and into his spinal cord. Lenfest also
    noted that because no soot was found in Moore’s airway, Moore could not have been
    breathing at the time the house caught fire. Arson investigators located a shell casing
    in the room where Moore’s body was found as well as an additional shell casing
    approximately 15 to 20 feet away. Investigators could not determine the cause of
    the fire, but they could not rule out the possibility of arson. Investigators determined
    that the room the body was found in was the fire’s point of origin.
    Moore’s neighbor, Kitzia Garza, had a camera mounted on her front door
    which faced the alleyway behind the houses; surveillance footage from the camera
    provided investigators with key information regarding Moore’s movement prior to
    the fire. Jeffrey Loeb, a Dallas Police Department homicide detective, found that
    the surveillance footage showed that Moore’s vehicle, a silver Chevy Impala,
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    traveled northbound on Berridge Lane towards his home at 8:28 p.m., and that the
    door to Moore’s home was unlocked at 8:33 p.m. Video also showed Moore’s car
    traveling along Berridge Lane at 10:05 p.m., 11:53 p.m., 12:01 a.m., 12:03 a.m., and
    finally at 12:07 a.m. Moore’s vehicle disappeared after the fire started and was never
    recovered, and the theft of Moore’s car turned the murder investigation into a capital
    murder investigation.
    Moore’s phone records showed that on the night he died, his last call was
    made at 11:12 p.m. to a number belonging to appellant. Appellant’s phone pinged
    a tower near Moore’s home around 11:13 p.m. that night. Appellant’s cell records
    also showed that just hours after Moore’s death, appellant had traveled from
    Arlington to Dallas, then arrived in Louisiana at 4:33 a.m. on May 28, 2018.
    Appellant did not own a car at that time.
    Approximately a year after Moore’s death, police located appellant in
    Louisiana, and he voluntarily agreed to an interview. At that time, appellant stated
    that he barely knew Moore and had sold him marijuana on occasion. He told police
    Moore was a gay man who had made sexual advances which appellant had rebuffed
    and that Moore had a jealous boyfriend. Loeb learned during the course of his
    investigation that Moore was attracted to straight men and would attempt to get them
    to engage in homosexual activity with him. Appellant met with Moore on May 27,
    2018 at a McDonald’s to sell him marijuana but was unable to tell police which
    McDonald’s location. He told police that Moore had dropped him back off at
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    McDonald’s and that he had called a ride, but appellant’s phone records did not
    reflect such a call was ever made. Appellant then told police he used Moore’s phone,
    but that phone also did not have record of any such call.
    When asked where he was living at the time of the murder, appellant stated
    that he “can’t really remember,” but that he was staying in Arlington with his
    girlfriend, Keisha. When asked, appellant could not give police Keisha’s last name
    or any details regarding her appearance, which left Loeb with the impression that
    appellant was withholding information. Appellant initially told police he had never
    been to Moore’s home but later told police that he had “been near it,” and then
    eventually he admitted that he had been inside Moore’s home once, on the day of
    the murder. He told police that he had seen Moore’s boyfriend come down the stairs
    that night while he was at Moore’s house. Appellant also told police that he arrived
    in Louisiana in June of 2018 but could not provide police with any details about how
    he arrived there. Appellant had lived in Dallas for nine years before the night of the
    murder.
    Appellant also told police that he had never driven Moore’s vehicle but later
    in the same interview told police that he could not be sure but that he would not be
    shocked if another person had seen him driving the vehicle. Once appellant was
    arrested, police conducted a second interview with him. Appellant told police at that
    time that a girl gave him a ride from Dallas to Louisiana, but he could not remember
    her name. According to appellant, he and Moore drank and smoked marijuana the
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    night of the murder, but the toxicology report showed no alcohol or drugs in Moore’s
    system. Loeb testified that appellant “went back and forth a few times” with his
    version of events.
    Appellant was tried before the court on August 30, 2022. The charge of
    capital murder was presented to the court. The court found appellant guilty of capital
    murder as charged in the indictment. Appellant moved for a new trial on September
    2, 2022, which was denied by operation of law. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art.
    45.038(b). This appeal followed. In one issue, appellant complains that the evidence
    was legally insufficient to support the verdict.
    II.    STANDARD OF REVIEW
    In determining whether the evidence is sufficient to support a criminal
    conviction, we apply well-established standards. See Jackson v. Virginia, 
    443 U.S. 307
    , 316 (1979). We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict
    and determine whether a rational factfinder could have found all the elements of the
    offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson, 
    443 U.S. at 313
    ; Brooks v. State, 
    323 S.W.3d 893
    , 899 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010). In a bench trial, the trial judge, as the fact
    finder, is the sole judge of the witnesses’ credibility and the weight to be given their
    testimony. Joseph v. State, 
    897 S.W.2d 374
    , 376 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995). When
    there is conflicting evidence, we presume the fact-finder resolved those conflicts in
    favor of the verdict and defer to that resolution so long as it is supported by the
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    evidence. Jackson, 
    443 U.S. at 326
    ; Clayton v. State, 
    235 S.W.3d 772
    , 778 (Tex.
    Crim. App. 2007).
    We also defer to the trier of fact’s determinations of witness credibility and
    the weight to be given their testimony. Jackson, 
    443 U.S. at 319
    ; Brooks, 
    323 S.W.3d at 899
    . Our role as an intermediate appellate court is restricted to guarding
    against the “rare occurrence when a factfinder does not act rationally.” Isassi v.
    State, 
    330 S.W.3d 633
    , 638 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (quoting Laster v. State, 
    275 S.W.3d 512
    , 518 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009)).
    III.   DISCUSSION
    A person commits the offense of capital murder if he intentionally or
    knowingly causes the death of an individual and he commits the murder in the course
    of committing or attempting to commit a robbery or arson. See TEX. PENAL CODE
    ANN. §§ 19.02(b)(1), 19.03(a)(2).       A person commits theft “if he unlawfully
    appropriates property with intent to deprive the owner of property.” Id. § 31.03(a).
    A person commits robbery if, in the course of committing theft and with the intent
    to obtain or maintain control of the property, he intentionally, knowingly, or
    recklessly causes bodily injury to another. Id. § 29.02(a). The phrase “in the course
    of committing” has the same meaning under both the robbery and capital murder
    statutes: conduct occurring in an attempt to commit, during the commission of, or in
    immediate flight after the attempt or commission of, the underlying offense. Id.
    § 29.01(1); Riles v. State, 
    595 S.W.2d 858
    , 862 (Tex. Crim. App. 1980).
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    A person commits arson if “he starts a fire, regardless of whether the fire
    continues after ignition, or causes an explosion with intent to destroy or damage any
    building or habitation, while “knowing that it is within the limits of an incorporated
    city or town,” or “knowing that it is located on property belonging to another,” or
    “when the person is reckless about whether the burning or explosion will endanger
    the life of some individual or the safety of the property of another.”                
    Id.
    § 28.02(a)(2)(A), (D)-(F).
    “A person acts intentionally, or with intent, with respect to the nature of his
    conduct or to a result of his conduct when it is his conscious objective or desire to
    engage in the conduct or cause the result.” TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 6.03(a). “A
    person acts knowingly, or with knowledge, with respect to the nature of his conduct
    or to circumstances surrounding his conduct when he is aware of the nature of his
    conduct or that the circumstances exist.        A person acts knowingly, or with
    knowledge, with respect to a result of his conduct when he is aware that his conduct
    is reasonably certain to cause the result.” Id. at § 6.03(b). “A person acts recklessly,
    or is reckless, with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of
    his conduct when he is aware of but consciously disregards a substantial and
    unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur.” Id. at
    § 6.03(c).
    In his brief, appellant argues that the evidence is legally insufficient to support
    the verdict because, in summation, there was no direct evidence of appellant’s guilt.
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    However, circumstantial evidence alone can support a judgment, so long as the
    cumulative force of all the incriminating circumstances is sufficient to support the
    conviction. Zuniga v. State, 
    551 S.W.3d 729
    , 732 (Tex. Crim. App. 2018).
    The evidence shows that appellant was with Moore shortly before Moore’s
    death, that appellant was near Moore’s duplex around 11:00 p.m., the time when
    Moore’s neighbor heard a loud disturbance and shortly before Moore’s death, and
    that appellant left the Dallas area, where he had been living for nine years, shortly
    after Moore died and went to Louisiana, where he remained until his arrest. The
    evidence also showed that Moore’s car disappeared at approximately the same time
    appellant left for Louisiana, appellant did not own a car, and he could not provide
    details on how he traveled to Louisiana. Unexplained flight from a crime scene has
    long been deemed indicative of consciousness of guilt. Santos v. State, 
    961 S.W.2d 304
    , 305 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1997, pet. ref’d) (citing Cawley v. State,
    
    310 S.W.2d 340
    , 342 (Tex. Crim. App. 1957)). The trial court could have rationally
    concluded that appellant fled Dallas because he murdered Moore and was conscious
    of his guilt of murder, arson, and robbery. See 
    id.
    Loeb also testified to the multiple inconsistencies and gaps in appellant’s story
    during his two police interviews. The finder of fact may infer the requisite intent
    from a defendant’s motive, his attempts to conceal evidence, his implausible
    explanations to the police, and the extent of the victim’s injuries. Nisbett v. State,
    
    552 S.W.3d 244
    , 267 (Tex. Crim. App. 2018). This remains true even when the
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    element of appropriation takes place after the murder. Russo v. State, 
    228 S.W.3d 779
    , 793 (Tex. App.—Austin 2017, pet. ref’d) (citing Zimmerman v. State, 
    860 S.W.2d 89
    , 93 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010)) (holding that the State presented sufficient
    evidence that the murder occurred in the course of committing robbery because the
    evidence showed that money and jewelry were taken from the victim’s home
    immediately after the victim was attacked). The judge, rather than appellant, is the
    determiner of the credibility of the witnesses and their testimony, and the court was
    entitled to believe the testimony of Detective Loeb over the conflicting and
    contradictory testimony of appellant. See Clayton v. State, 
    235 S.W.3d 772
    , 778
    (Tex. Crim. App. 2008). Based on the evidence in the record, any rational trier of
    fact could have found all the essential elements of the offense were proven beyond
    a reasonable doubt. See Braughton v. State, 
    569 S.W.3d 592
    , 609 (Tex. Crim. App.
    2018). We overrule appellant’s sole issue.
    IV.    MODIFICATION OF JUDGMENT
    The State argues in its sole cross-point that the judgment should be modified
    to reflect that the trial court sentenced appellant to life without parole.
    Appellate courts may modify a trial court's judgment and affirm it as modified.
    See TEX. R. APP. P. 43.2(b); Bigley v. State, 
    865 S.W.2d 26
    , 27–28 (Tex. Crim. App.
    1993). This Court “has the power to correct and reform the judgment of the court
    below to make the record speak the truth when it has the necessary data and
    information to do so.” Asberry v. State, 
    813 S.W.2d 526
    , 529 (Tex. App.—Dallas
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    1991, writ ref’d). Appellate courts may reform trial court judgments where “the
    evidence necessary to correct the judgment appears in the record.” 
    Id.
     Here, the
    judgment reflects the trial court sentenced appellant only to life in prison. In a capital
    murder where the State does not seek the death penalty, the only two punishments
    possible are life or life without parole; life is required when the defendant was
    younger than eighteen years of age when he committed the offense, and life without
    parole is required when the defendant was eighteen years of age or older when he
    committed the offense. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 12.31(a)(1)-(2). The record
    reflects appellant was thirty-four years of age at the time he committed the offense.
    Therefore, the judgment should be modified to reflect appellant’s sentence as life
    without parole.
    V.     CONCLUSION
    We modify the judgment to reflect that appellant was sentenced to life without
    parole and affirm the trial court’s judgment as modified.
    /Maricela Breedlove/
    220879f.u05                                  MARICELA BREEDLOVE
    Do Not Publish                               JUSTICE
    TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b)
    –10–
    Court of Appeals
    Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
    JUDGMENT
    DEMETRIUS DEWAYNE                            On Appeal from the 194th Judicial
    THOMPSON, Appellant                          District Court, Dallas County, Texas
    Trial Court Cause No. F19-75626.
    No. 05-22-00879-CR          V.               Opinion delivered by Justice
    Breedlove. Justices Carlyle and
    THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee                 Goldstein participating.
    Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, the judgment of the trial court is
    MODIFIED as follows:
    Remove "Life" and insert "Life without Parole"
    As MODIFIED, the judgment is AFFIRMED.
    Judgment entered this 7th day of December, 2023.
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Document Info

Docket Number: 05-22-00879-CR

Filed Date: 12/7/2023

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 12/13/2023