2010-02-18
Before QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and HANCOCK, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant, Gary Ray Ince, appeals his conviction for the offense of murder and
sentence, enhanced by a prior felony conviction, of 15 years incarceration in the
Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. We affirm.
Background
On August 16, 2007, appellant and Wayne Harvel Talbert were alone together in
appellant’s garage residence. During the evening, Talbert was shot in the head and died. Appellant’s and the State’s theories of the events leading to Talbert’s death vary
greatly and will be addressed in analysis of appellant’s appellate issues.
In the present case, it is undisputed that, when Talbert was shot, only appellant
and Talbert were present. Further, there was testimony presented that appellant
suspected that Talbert had previously stolen some of appellant’s property. The people
that discovered Talbert after he had been shot testified that it appeared that he had
been “beat up,” which leads to a reasonable inference that appellant and Talbert had
been in a physical altercation prior to Talbert being shot. Blood splatter evidence
suggested that Talbert was sitting on appellant’s bed at the time that he was shot and
evidence of the trajectory of the bullet suggests that the gun was being fired by
someone in a standing position. Additionally, evidence of where the gun was found and
the fact that there were no fingerprints on the gun allow a reasonable inference that
appellant took the time to clean and conceal the gun after Talbert was shot. After
considering all of the evidence presented in the light most favorable to the verdict, we
cannot say that the jury acted irrationally in finding beyond a reasonable doubt that
appellant intentionally or knowingly caused the death of Talbert. As such, we overrule
appellant’s first and third issues.