2022-08-17 Fernandez Appeal - State

State's Brief

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

The grand jurors for Collingsworth County in the January term of 2020 in Cause Number 3062 indicted the Appellant that the Appellant on or about November 22, 2019, did then and there intentionally or knowingly cause the death of Frankie Lynn Cannon by shooting him with a firearm.

The grand jurors for Collingsworth County in the January term of 2020 indicted the Appellant in Cause Number 3063 under Count 1 that the Appellant on or about November 22, 2019, did then and there intentionally and knowingly or recklessly cause bodily injury to Frankie Lynn Cannon by striking his body and did use or exhibit a deadly weapon, a baseball bat during the assault.

The grand jurors for Collingsworth County in the January term of 2020 indicted the Appellant in Cause Number 3063 under Count 2 that the Appellant on or about November 22, 2019, did then and there intentionally and knowingly or recklessly cause bodily injury to Frankie Lynn Cannon by striking his body and did use or exhibit a deadly weapon, to wit, a knife during the assault.

The grand jurors for Collingsworth County in the January term of 2020 indicted the Appellant in Cause Number 3063 under Count 3 that the Appellant on or about November 22, 2019, did then and there intentionally and knowingly or recklessly cause bodily injury to Frankie Lynn Cannon by burning his body and did use or exhibit a deadly weapon, to wit, a blowtorch during the assault.

On October 12, 2021, the trial court granted the consolidation of Cause Number 3062 and Cause Number 3063 in Collingsworth County, Texas, and the Appellant pleaded not guilty in Cause Number 3062 and in Cause Number 3063 Counts 1, 2 and 3.

A jury trial ensued over a two-day period. See Entire Record. The trial court granted a directed verdict as to Count 2 of Cause Number 3063.

The jury found the Appellant guilty of the offense of murder in Cause Number 3062; guilty of the offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, to wit a baseball bat in Count 1 of Cause Number 3063; and guilty of the offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, to wit a blowtorch in Count 3 of Cause Number 3063.

The jury assessed punishment for the offense of murder at confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life; for the offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, to wit a baseball bat, at confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for twenty years; and for the offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, to wit a blowtorch, at confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for twenty years.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On November 22, 2019, the Appellant texted the victim, Frankie Cannon (“Cannon”), to ask Cannon to come to the Appellant’s residence. Benjamin Breckenridge (“Breckenridge”), Dakota Segura Page (“Segura”), Tony Arreola (“Arreola”, and Juliana Steen (“Steen”) were also at the Appellant’s house on November 22, 2019.

At the Appellant’s residence, the Appellant, Segura, Breckenridge and Arreola physically assaulted Cannon with their fists and also assaulted him with a baseball bat and burned him with a blowtorch.

After the assault of Cannon, the Appellant, Breckenridge, and Segura carried the victim wrapped in a bloody sheet to Breckenridge’s vehicle. The Appellant, Breckenridge, and Segura drove the victim to a rural location in Wellington, Texas. Segura testified that after they got Cannon out of the vehicle, Breckenridge shot Cannon in the back of the head four times.

The Appellant collected the duct tape from the victim, the sock from the victim’s mouth, the bullet casings, and the straps. The Appellant, Breckenridge, and Segura then drove to a park in Wellington to knock the mud off their boots and to wash the blood from their hands. Ranger Mike Smith testified that the Appellant, Segura, Arreola, and Breckenridge also gave similar corroborative statements regarding the assault and murder of Mr. Cannon.

The forensic pathologist, who performed the autopsy on the victim, testified that Cannon had four gunshot wounds in his head and neck as well as sharp-force injuries to his head and neck. The victim also had blunt-force injuries elsewhere on his body and a gunshot wound to his hand. The victim’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to his head.

Trooper Micah Goodrich testified that on November 23, 2019, he stopped a vehicle driven by Breckenridge and ended up seizing a firearm from the vehicle. The forensics firearms examiner testified that the bullet fragments recovered from the victim’s body were fired from the pistol seized from Breckenridge.