On January 16, 2004, a rainy night, Evelyn Johnson, along with her sister and other relatives went, to a nightclub in Texas City. At that time, Ms. Johnson and appellant were married, but had been separated for some time. Shortly before the nightclub closed at 2 a.m., appellant arrived outside the nightclub. Soon thereafter, Annette Woodard, Ms. Johnson’s sister, exited the club and crossed the street to the club’s parking lot, which was brightly illuminated by a street light. Ms. Woodard got into her car to wait for her sister, who had ridden with her that evening. Appellant tapped on the window of Ms. Woodard=s car and after a brief exchange, Ms. Woodard thought appellant left. Moments later, Ms. Johnson walked out of the club with three other people, all walking under a single umbrella. In addition, because the club had closed, a large number of additional people were exiting the club in close proximity to Ms. Johnson=s party. While walking toward the parking lot, Ms. Johnson=s party stopped while Ms. Johnson talked to a man in a truck that had pulled up near her.
Once the truck left, appellant appeared a short distance from Ms. Johnson, called for her to come over to him and when she refused, appellant approached her. Ms. Johnson attempted to flee, but appellant caught her within a few feet and began striking her. Appellant then pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed Ms. Johnson. Ms. Woodard left her car and attempted to stop the attack by pushing appellant away, but each time she did so, appellant re-approached Ms. Johnson and continued to stab her. Appellant finally stopped his attack on his own, went to his car, and left the scene. Ms. Woodard then drove her mortally wounded sister to the hospital, where she died a short time later. Less than an hour after the attack, appellant was apprehended by Texas City Police following a chase which ended only when appellant wrecked his car.
Following his arrest, appellant gave a statement to the police in which appellant claimed he snapped after seeing Ms. Johnson talking with another man outside the club.[1] Appellant stated he did not remember anything from that point until sometime later when he heard his sister-in-law saying AMoe, Moe.@ According to appellant, he then walked to his car and drove off, without noticing what had happened to his estranged wife, Ms. Johnson.
Appellant retained a psychologist as an expert witness to testify during the punishment phase of the trial regarding why a person may not remember an emotional and tragic event. The State moved to exclude the expert=s testimony as appellant had not timely notified the State of the expert as required by a discovery order entered by the trial court. The trial court granted the State=s motion and prohibited appellant=s expert from testifying.
Appellant was charged with murder in a two paragraph indictment alleging murder under sections 19.02(b)(1) and (2) of the Texas Penal Code.[2] During closing argument, one of the State=s prosecutors argued, without objection by appellant=s counsel, that the jury need not reach a unanimous verdict as to which of the two application paragraphs in the indictment was a proper basis for reaching a verdict of guilty. The actual jury charge instructed the jury that a unanimous verdict was required to find appellant guilty under either paragraph one or paragraph two of the indictment.
Appellant was found guilty of the offense of murder and the jury sentenced him to forty-five years= confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
TCFV.org - Texas Council on Family Violence - Honoring TX Victims - 2004 Honoring TX Victims
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