2015-09-15

A jury convicted appellant Dustin Ryan Rhodes of murder and assessed punishment, enhanced, at forty years’ confinement in prison.1 The trial court imposed sentence accordingly. Appellant challenges his conviction through four issues. Three seek rendition of a judgment of acquittal and the fourth, a new trial. We will affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Background

Around midnight on June 7, 2012, Deans Anderson was found shot to death just inside his Amarillo apartment. Another resident of the complex had called 911 after he heard a gunshot and watched a man and woman run to a red minivan. The man carried a “small black pistol.”

From Anderson’s cellphone a police detective obtained information that led officers, through an undercover investigation, to Cree-Anna Shamell Dawn, a participant in an escort service. Dawn had accompanied appellant to the door of Anderson’s apartment on the night of his death. She identified appellant as Anderson’s shooter.

Questioned by police, appellant gave a voluntary written statement. According to his statement, appellant had been acquainted with Dawn for a short time. On June 7, she called appellant to tell him a man attempted to rape her and took her money. She enlisted appellant’s help to recover the money. Using a minivan belonging to his girlfriend Kristie Ortiz, appellant drove Dawn to the apartment complex and followed her to Anderson’s apartment. Appellant held his .357 revolver in his hand. Anderson opened the apartment door after Dawn knocked. Anderson spoke to Dawn. Appellant then stepped up to the door, pointed the gun at Anderson and demanded he give Dawn the money and empty his pockets. The men exchanged words and Anderson stepped toward appellant.

The statement continued, “I twisted and pulled the trigger. I didn’t mean to. The shot hit the man in the face. I was sorry and wanted so bad to help him.”

Appellant and Dawn ran to the minivan and left the complex. A few days later, his statement said, appellant sold the gun to an unidentified man along a north Amarillo street.

Appellant was charged by indictment with Anderson’s murder. Appellant’s written statement was admitted into evidence at trial. Ortiz testified, telling the jury that a few days after the occurrence appellant told her he pulled the gun on Anderson to scare him and Dawn “pulled his arm away to quit, and then the gun went off.” Ortiz acknowledged she did not recount this version of the occurrence in a June 12 written statement to police.

A pathologist testified to his autopsy of Anderson’s body, and expressed the opinion the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head. Appellant did not testify. He was convicted and sentenced as noted.