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Dotson v. State9/2/2004
e doubt. See Zuniga, 2004 WL 840786, at *7; Zuliani, 97 S.W.2d at 595. A guilty finding is an implicit rejection of the defense. Zuliani, 97 S.W.3d at 594.
Under Texas law, a person commits the offense of manslaughter "if he recklessly causes the death of an individual." Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 19.04(a) (Vernon 2003). "A person acts recklessly, or is reckless, with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he is aware of but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur." Id. § 6.03(c). Culpable mental state is generally proven through circumstantial evidence. See Dillon v. State, 574 S.W.2d 92, 94 (Tex. Crim. App. [Panel Op.] 1978).
Nonetheless, it is a defense to prosecution if the conduct in question is justified based on necessity. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. §§ 9.02, 9.22. Conduct is justified under the defense of necessity if (1) the defendant reasonably believed his or her conduct was immediately necessary to avoid imminent harm; (2) the desirability and urgency of avoiding the harm clearly outweighed, according to ordinary standards of reasonableness, the harm sought to be prevented by the law proscribing the conduct; and (3) a legislative purpose to exclude the justification claimed for the conduct does not otherwise plainly appear. Id. § 9.22. The rationale of this defense is that "even though he has done the act the crime requires and has the mental state which the crime requires, his conduct which violates the literal language of the criminal law is justified because he has thereby avoided a harm of greater magnitude." Arnwine v. State, 20 S.W.3d 155, 159 (Tex. App.--Texarkana 2000, no pet.) (quoting Alford v. State, 866 S.W.2d 619, 624 n.9 (Tex. Crim. App.1993)).
Self-defense also serves as a justification excluding criminal responsibility for otherwise criminal behavior. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 9.31. Texas law provides that
person is justified in using deadly force against another:
(1) if he would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31 [i.e., when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful force];
(2) if a reasonable person in the actor's situation would not have retreated; and
(3) when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:
(A) to protect himself against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or
(B) to prevent the other's imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.
Id. § 9.32(a); see also id. § 9.31.
B. Legally and Factually Sufficient Evidence Exists to Support Jury's Rejection of Dotson's Defensive Theories and to Sustain His Conviction for Manslaughter
The evidence reflects that Dotson and Sitko knew each other because both individuals frequented the "Riverside area" of Fort Worth. Dotson lived out of his RV, while Sitko slept on the street with other homeless individuals. Because Dotson suffered from a debilitating foot condition, he often used crutches to get around. He also only wore one lens in his eyeglasses because he had a cloudy eye.
A short time before Sitko's death, Dotson became angry with Sitko over money and told several acquaintances that he was going to kill Sitko. On the evening of November 22, 2001, both Dotson and Sitko went to the Vaquero Orlando bar. According to Leonard Cullop, another homeless individual at the b
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