2011-07-18

#event/appeal #court/district/181st #Judge/Board #county/Potter #people/G/Granados/Juan #people/M/Mascorro/Jesus #people/G/Gonzalez/Timothy-Lee

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS AT AMARILLO PANEL E JULY 18, 2011

TIMOTHY LEE GONZALES, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

FROM THE 181ST DISTRICT COURT OF POTTER COUNTY; NO. 56,439-B; HONORABLE JOHN B. BOARD, PRESIDING

Before QUINN, C.J., CAMPBELL, J., and BOYD, S.J.1
Timothy Lee Gonzales was convicted of murder. He seeks to overturn that conviction by contending 1) the evidence is legally insufficient to show that he intentionally or knowingly caused a death, 2) the jury charge caused him egregious harm by failing to limit the culpable mental state to the result of his conduct, and 3) the self-defense jury instruction caused him egregious harm by allowing a finding of self- defense only if a reasonable person would not have retreated. We affirm the judgment

Background

On the night of August 28, 2007, appellant went riding in a car with his two friends Juan Granados and Jesus Mascorro. Appellant had recently purchased a gun and the three men discussed shooting it. Finding no place to do so, Granados and appellant eventually fired off some shots in the country. They then returned to town and were traveling on Amarillo Boulevard with Granados driving and appellant in the front
passenger seat.

As they drove, the three were passed by a blue pickup truck traveling at a high rate of speed. In response, Granados accelerated, passed the truck, and cut into its lane before stopping at a red light. The truck rapidly approached Granados’ vehicle from behind and stopped. Granados then put his car into reverse, moved backwards, and apparently made contact with the truck while the street light remained red.

Granados and the person driving the truck, Cuevas Mata, exited their respective vehicles and began to argue. During that confrontation, appellant rose through the sunroof of the car, pointed his gun at Mata, pulled the trigger of the allegedly unloaded weapon, and told Mata to leave them alone. Mata then lowered himself behind his truck’s door. Granados returned to his car, ran the red light, and sped down the street. Mata did the same and sped up to drive alongside the car. When the two vehicles were approximately side-by-side, appellant again appeared in the sunroof, pointed his handgun at the truck (though Granados said he pointed the weapon at Mata) and fired multiple shots. A number of bullets hit the truck and one or more struck Mata. The latter then swerved from his lane, crashed into a motel, exited the vehicle staggering, and died from gunshot wounds.