MAYS v. STATE

entitled to an jury instruction on the defensive issue of "mistake of fact" when he did not "properly preserve" that issue by making a timely and adequate request or objection in the trial court. The purpose of the Posey rule is to prevent a party from "sandbagging" the trial judge by failing to apprise him, and the opposing party, of what defensive jury instructions the party wants and why he is entitled to them. Because appellant failed to tell the trial judge what specific fact he was mistaken about, he was not entitled to an instruction on this defensive issue.

He states that "a reasonable juror might conclude that Mays actually believed that a vast and brutal conspiracy of armed men, abusing their status [as] peace officers had killed his three brothers. There was a religious fervor in Mays' words and actions. Some of Mays' words [during the stand-off] did not seem to fit into the context in which they were uttered. The mental health experts thought Mays had a thought disorder." Appellant's Brief at 59.

The entirety of appellant's written objection at trial was as follows: "The Defendant objects to the Court's failure to instruct the jury on the law of mistake of fact." This objection is not sufficient to direct the trial judge's attention to the evidence upon which appellant would rely for entitlement of such an instruction. See Goodrich v. State, 156 S.W.3d 141, 147-48 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2005, pet. ref'd) ("When requesting an instruction on the defense of mistake of fact, the party must specify the fact alleged to have been mistaken."); Williams v. State, 930 S.W.2d 898, 903 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, pet. ref'd). Absent a proper request, the trial judge does not err by failing to instruct the jury on the defense of mistake of fact. Posey v. State, 966 S.W.2d 57, 62 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998).

966 S.W.2d 57 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998).

Id. at 62.

Id. at 63; see also Tolbert v. State, 306 S.W.3d 776, 780, n. 6 (Tex.Crim.App. 2010) ("Our decision in Posey was intended `to discourage parties from sandbagging or lying behind the log' and to discourage a defendant from retrying the case on appeal under a new defensive theory, effectively giving the defendant `two bites at the apple.'").

See Goodrich, 156 S.W.3d at 147-48.

Second, even if appellant had thought that the officers were out to harm or lynch him and his wife (rather than arrest him), that belief was not a reasonable one. The statutory mistake-of-fact defense explicitly requires that the defendant's mistaken belief about the existence of a fact is a "reasonable" one "that would be held by an ordinary and prudent man in the same circumstances as the actor." Although the "reasonableness" of a mistaken belief is generally a question for the jury, appellant cannot rely upon evidence of his paranoia and psychotic thinking to raise a "reasonable" mistaken belief concerning the officers' intentions. The law examines "reasonableness" from the perspective of an ordinary and prudent person, not from that of a paranoid psychotic who is, by psychiatric definition, "unreasonable" in his imagined suspicions, delusions, and fears. Mental disease is not an attribute of the reasonable, ordinary and prudent person. Thus, although the general rule is that the jury must determine the relative credibility of the evidence raising a "reasonable belief about a fact, reliance upon paranoid beliefs and delusions negates the type of reasonableness that an ordinary and prudent person would have under the circumstances.

TEX. PENAL CODE § 1.07(42); see Winkley v. State, 123 S.W.3d 707, 712 (Tex.App.-Austin 2003, no pet.) (citing Bang v. State, 815 S.W.2d 838, 841 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1991, no pet.)).

See Granger v. State, 3 S.W.3d 36, 38 (Tex. Crim.App. 1999) ("Whether appellant's mistaken belief was `reasonable,' so as to comport with the requirements of § 8.02, should have been left for the jury to decide as trier of fact").

See, e.g., King v. State, 919 S.W.2d 819, 821-22 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1996, no pet.) (defendant not entitled to instruction on mistake of fact when he testified that he thought his wife was dead at the time he choked her with an electrical cord because any such belief was manifestly unreasonable, as an ordinary and prudent person could and would have easily verified that fact first); See People v. Mejia-Lenares, 135 Cal.App.4th 1437, 1454, 38 Cal. Rptr.3d 404, 415 (Cal.Ct.App. 2006) (stating that a mistake-of-fact defense "cannot be predicated upon delusions which are the product of mental illness.").

Id.

Third, any mistake of fact that appellant might have made about the officers' intentions or their right to arrest him did not negate the kind of culpability required for the commission of capital murder. The culpable mental state in section 19.03(a)(1) applies to the intentional or knowing murder of a peace officer whom the actor knows is a peace officer. To prove either capital murder or aggravated assault of a peace officer, the State must show that the peace officer is "acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty", but the defendant need not know that specific fact. Thus, any mistake that appellant might have made about what the officers' intentions were, or whether they were acting in the lawful discharge of their official duty in arresting him, would not negate the required culpability for capital murder.

TEX. PENAL CODE § 19.03(a)(1) (murder of a peace officer requires proof that the defendant committed murder as defined in section 19.02(b)(1) and "the person murders a peace officer or fireman who is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the person knows is a peace officer or fireman").

See Salazar v. State, 643 S.W.2d 953, 956 (Tex.Crim.App. 1983) ("[A] conviction [for aggravated assault on a peace officer] does not depend on whether the arrest was legal, or the defendant's belief about its legality. . . . [W]hile the State must still prove the defendant knew or had been informed that he was assaulting a peace officer, proof that he also knew the officer was `lawfully discharging an official duty' is unnecessary"); see also Montoya v. State, 744 S.W.2d 15, 30 (Tex.Grim. App. 1987), overruled on other grounds, Cockrell v. State, 933 S.W.2d 73 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996) (evidence in a capital-murder trial that the police officer was making an unauthorized warrantless arrest did not disprove that the officer was in the lawful discharge of an official duty).

See id.

For all of these reasons, we overrule appellant's seventh point of error.

D. Justification Instructions

In appellant's eighth point of error, he claims that the trial judge erred in refusing to instruct the jury on a variety of justification defenses, including necessity, "defense of home and property", and defense of another. As with point of error seven, appellant has forfeited any error on appeal because he failed to specify what facts or legal theory would support submission of any of these defenses. Merely submitting a multipage list of bare-bones objections to the failure to include various statutory defenses and affirmative defenses does not sufficiently direct the trial judge's attention to the specific facts or theory supporting submission of such a charge. As this Court noted almost one-hundred years ago, a defendant who files a laundry-list of written objections to the charge must also specify the legal or factual reasons why he believes himself entitled to such special instructions. Unexplained lists of objections and requests for instructions risk being considered "sandbagging" objections that fail to preserve any issue for review.

See Lankston v. State, 827 S.W.2d 907, 909 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992) ("As regards specificity [of an objection], all a party has to do to avoid the forfeiture of a complaint on appeal is to let the trial judge know what he wants, why he thinks himself entitled to it, and to do so clearly enough for the judge to understand him at a time when the trial court is in a proper position to do something about it."); Starks v. State, 127 S.W.3d 127, 133 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2003, pet. dism'd) (to preserve a complaint about the trial court's failure to instruct on self-defense, a defendant must make a timely objection that specifically states the legal basis for the objection); Williams v. State, 930 S.W.2d 898, 903 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, no pet.) (defendant's bare request for an instruction on mistake of fact was too general to preserve error because he failed to comply with art. 36.14 and "distinctly specify" what fact he was purportedly mistaken about).
Appellant's objections were as follows:

The Defendant objects to the Court's failure to instruct the jury on the law of defense of another.

The Defendant objects to the failure to instruct the jury on the law of defense of home and property.

The Defendant objects to the Court's failure to instruct the jury on the law of necessity.

Appellant filed an eight-page laundry list of bare-bones objections to the jury charge.

Wilson v. State, 80 Tex.Crim. 266, 189 S.W. 1071, 1072 (Tex.Crim.App. 1916) ("Appellant filed with the judge several grounds of objections to his charge. He also requested some 11 special charges, all of which were refused, except the one to disregard the second and third counts above mentioned, which was given. In neither requested charge, nor in any way connected therewith, did he give any reason or statement why it should be given. This is essential in even a felony case.").

See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 36.14 (stating that, before the court's charge is given to the jury, "the defendant or his counsel shall have a reasonable time to examine the same and he shall present his objections thereto in writing, distinctly specifying each ground of objection. Said objections may embody errors claimed to have been committed in the charge, as well as errors claimed to have been committed by omissions therefrom or in failing to charge upon issues arising from the facts."). This article requires the defendant to "distinctly specify" the ground — or basis — of his objection to the charge and the ground — or basis — for any requested instructions that arise from the facts in evidence. See Williams, 930 S.W.2d at 903.

Second, this point of error is multifarious because it raises more than one specific complaint and risks rejection on that basis alone. In this single point, appellant has raised a potpourri of complaints concerning the failure to give instructions on (1) necessity, (2) defense of another, (3) defense of "home and property."

See, e.g., Wood v. State, 18 S.W.3d 642, 649 n. 6 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000).

Third, appellant fails to acknowledge that each of these justification defenses requires that the defendant reasonably believe that his conduct is immediately necessary to avoid a greater harm. As with the statutory mistake-of-fact defense, a "reasonable belief is one that would be held by an ordinary and prudent person, not by a paranoid psychotic. Appellant's repeated claim that "his paranoid ideations and active psychosis" raise a "reasonable belief that his actions were justified is supported neither by law nor common sense.

See TEX. PENAL CODE § 9.22 (Necessity) ("Conduct is justified if the actor reasonably believes the conduct is immediately necessary to avoid imminent harm. . . ."); id. § 9.31 (Self-Defense) ("a person is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary. . . ."); id. § 9.32 (Deadly force in defense of a person) ("A person is justified in using deadly force against another . . . when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary. . . ."); id. § 9.33 (Defense of third person) ("A person is justified in using force or deadly force against another to protect a third person if, under the circumstances as the actor reasonably believes them to be. . . ."); id. § 9.41 (Protection of one's own property) ("A person in lawful possession of land or tangible, movable property is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary. . . .").

Texas law does not recognize the "ordinary and prudent" paranoid psychotic for purposes of Penal Code justification defenses. The only affirmative defense available under Texas law for those who commit crimes while suffering from an abnormal mental disease or defect is insanity under Section 8.01. Appellant did not assert an insanity defense at trial, and he cannot now claim entitlement to some other statutory defense based upon his mental disease or defect. Appellant argues that, even though the Penal Code "does not explicitly contain and carry forward all of the traditional common law doctrines regarding justification", we should expand upon the Penal Code to embody a free-standing "castle doctrine" that would permit property owners to kill police officers who come on their property in response to a 911 "domestic violence-gunshots" call. This we would decline to do even if we had the authority to create a nonstatutory justification defense.

TEX. PENAL CODE § 8.01 ("It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that, at the time of the conduct charged, the actor, as a result of severe mental disease or defect, did not know that his conduct was wrong.").

See Jackson v. State, 160 S.W.3d 568, 572 (Tex.Crim.App. 2005) ("Texas law does not recognize a lesser form of the insanity affirmative defense."). Appellant attempts to analogize his case to Darty v. State, 994 S.W.2d 215 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1999, no pet.). In that case, the defendant testified that, during a traffic stop, the policeman threw him on his neighbor's car, beat him with his flashlight, and placed him in a choke hold. Id. at 218. The defendant denied kicking the officer, but admitted that he used some force to escape the chokehold because he could not breathe. Id. An ordinary and prudent person in the same situation might have thought this use of force was reasonable. But there was no evidence in Darty that the defendant was psychotic or paranoid or otherwise acting under unreasonable delusions of persecution.
The present case is analogous to the situation in Zwack v. State, 757 S.W.2d 66 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1988, pet. ref'd), in which the court of appeals held that the defendant — who claimed that he had paranoia and delusions of persecution — was not entitled to an instruction on self-defense. In Zwack, the defendant was charged with attempted capital murder of a police officer for shooting the officer who had pulled his truck over. Zwack entered a plea of insanity but also requested a jury charge on "self defense based on an insane delusion." The court of appeals noted, "There was strong evidence that Appellant was suffering under a paranoid delusion that he was being `ambushed' by police officers who intended to kill him", rather than simply arrest him. Id. at 70. But, as the court noted, even if the circumstances as perceived by the defendant were true, he would not be entitled to a self-defense instruction because he had failed to offer any evidence that his use of force was justified, a "reasonable person" would not have retreated, and the deadly force was immediately necessary to protect the defendant from the other's use of unlawful deadly force. Id. The same is true here: appellant's use of force was not justified; a "reasonable person" would have retreated (or surrendered); and the officers did not initially use unlawful deadly force against him. See TEX. PENAL CODE § 9.31.

Appellant's Brief at 64-68.

See Giesberg v. State, 984 S.W.2d 245, 250 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998) ("[B]ecause the authority to establish what constitutes a defense rests solely with the Legislature, this Court concludes a defense which is not recognized by the Legislature as either a defense or as an affirmative defense does not warrant a separate instruction."); Willis v. State, 790 S.W.2d 307, 314 (Tex.Crim.App. 1990).

For all of the above reasons, we overrule appellant's eighth point of error.

E. Lesser-Included Offenses Raised by Mental-Health Evidence

In his tenth point of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred by refusing to submit charges on manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide because a reasonable juror might draw various inferences that could support the notion that Appellant acted recklessly or negligently, rather than intentionally or knowingly. Appellant notes that if any evidence, regardless of its strength or credibility, raises the issue that the defendant was guilty only of the lesser offense, then the charge must be given. He posits that a reasonable juror "might deem Appellant's act of shooting Officer Ogburn a reckless one, rather than the result of a conscious decision to commit an unlawful killing" because of appellant's psychotic paranoia. Alternatively, he argues that "the testimony of Dr. Vail, who diagnosed an active psychosis, Dr. Kessner, who found paranoid ideations and a thought disorder, combined with Officer Valentine's testimony describing how a strange look suddenly came over Mr. Mays' face combine to raise the issue of a failure to perceive risk."

See Saunders v. State, 840 S.W.2d 390, 391 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992).

Appellant's Brief at 80.

Id. at 82.

The culpable mental state for capital murder, however, refers to the result of the conduct — a person's death — not to the nature of that conduct. That is, there must be some affirmative evidence, from some source, that at the moment appellant shot Deputy Ogburn in the head with his deer rifle, he did not intend his death or know that it was reasonably certain to occur. Appellant fails to point to any evidence in the trial record that affirmatively shows that he was either reckless or negligent about the likelihood that a death would occur at the moment he shot Deputy Ogburn. Indeed, appellant's very first words immediately after shooting the deputy were: "Where's the other one? I'll take him out, where is he?" At most, appellant's evidence of a mental illness or impairment might demonstrate some confusion about the circumstances surrounding his overall conduct during the standoff, but none of that evidence affirmatively shows that appellant did not intend to kill when he shot Deputy Ogburn. Appellant's tenth point of error is overruled.

See Cook v. State, 884 S.W.2d 485, 490 (Tex.Crim.App. 1994).

See Hampton v. State, 109 S.W.3d 437, 441 (Tex.Crim.App. 2003) (before one is entitled to an instruction on a lesser-included offense, there must be "affirmative" evidence "directly germane" to the existence of the lesser-included offense).

See Burnett v. State, 865 S.W.2d 223, 229 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1993, pet. ref'd). In Burnett, the court of appeals explained,

for a defendant to be entitled to a jury charge on involuntary manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide, the record must contain "some" evidence that the defendant did not intend the resulting death or know that it was reasonably certain to occur. If such evidence is present, the record must then be examined to see if it indicates whether the defendant was aware or unaware of the risk that his conduct could result in the unintentional killing of the deceased.

Id.

Other Guilt-Stage Jury-Instruction Claims

A. Sudden Passion and Provocation Instruction

In his ninth point of error, appellant contends that the trial judge erred in failing to instruct the jury on the "traditional" defenses of sudden passion and provocation. He asserts that "[s]udden passion and provocation have always reduced the degree of criminal culpability in Texas." Thus, the Legislature did not have the authority to eliminate the issues of "sudden passion" and "provocation" during the guilt phase of a capital-murder trial. He relies upon an 1895 case, Larson v. State, and a 1903 case, Vann v. State, for the proposition that those cases placed "little, if any, reliance on any statutory or constitutional provision" in stating that the defendants were entitled to jury instructions on manslaughter. In both of those cases, however, this Court did rely upon extant statutory law, explicitly in Larson and implicitly in Vann.

Appellant's Brief at 75.

In the 1994 Penal Code revisions, the Texas Legislature repealed the former voluntary manslaughter statute and made sudden passion an issue to be considered at the punishment stage of a murder trial. See Moore v. State, 969 S.W.2d 4, 8 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998). But evidence of "sudden passion" or provocation is admissible and relevant to the mitigation issue. See Wesbrook v. State, 29 S.W.3d 103, 113 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000) ("The Legislature, through its broad power to classify crimes and those who stand accused of crimes, chose not to permit the defense of "sudden passion" in the context of capital murder"; stating that "the issue of `sudden passion' could be considered only as a mitigating circumstance for the jury when deciding the second punishment issue.").

29 S.W. 782 (Tex.Crim.App. 1895).

45 Tex.Crim. 434, 77 S.W. 813 (Tex.Crim. App. 1903).

Appellant's Brief at 75.

See Larson, 29 S.W. at 783 (holding that "it has been held by this court that the adequate causes laid down in the statutes to create such passion . . .") (emphasis added); Vann, 77 S.W. at 816 ("Appellant contends, and we think correctly, that he had the right to have a charge on manslaughter, unfettered by a charge on provocation with the apparent intention to kill; and also that, under the law and the facts, he was entitled to a clear and unequivocal charge on self-defense, unlimited by the law in regard to provoking a difficulty.") (emphasis added).

There is no free-floating, non-statutory, common-law right to an instruction on sudden passion and provocation in a capital-murder trial. We have previously rejected appellant's contention, and his present arguments fail to persuade us that the Texas Legislature did not have authority to eliminate the former statutory offense of "sudden passion" manslaughter from consideration in the capital-murder context. We overrule point of error nine.

See Wesbrook, 29 S.W.3d at 112-13 ("The Legislature is vested with the lawmaking power of the people in that it alone `may define crimes and prescribe penalties.' . . . The Legislature, through its broad power to classify crimes and those who stand accused of crimes, chose not to permit the defense of "sudden passion" in the context of capital murder.").

B. Constitutionality of "Lawful Discharge of an Official Duty"

In his eleventh point of error, appellant claims that the aggravating element of capital murder — the intentional killing of a peace officer "who is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty" — is unconstitutionally vague. At trial, appellant moved for a directed verdict claiming that the evidence was insufficient to prove that the officers were discharging an official duty, and he objected to the trial court's failure to define the phrase "acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty." He does not cite to any portion of the trial record where he asserted that the phrase was "unconstitutionally vague." Appellant did not make this constitutional vagueness argument in the trial court; therefore, his complaint is not preserved for review.

See TEX.R.APP. P. 33.1(a)(1); see also Curry v. State, 910 S.W.2d 490, 496 (Tex.Crim.App. 1995) (appellant waived his challenge to statute as vague as applied because he did not specifically object at trial).

At any rate, the term is not unconstitutionally vague. As we have previously stated in Montoya v. State, another capital-murder case,

744 S.W.2d 15 (Tex.Crim.App. 1987), overruled on other grounds, Cockrell v. State, 933 S.W.2d 73 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996).

Whether [the deceased police officer] was making a lawful arrest is not relevant to determining if [he] was acting in the lawful discharge of his official duties. A police officer is still acting within the lawful discharge of his official duties when he makes an unlawful arrest, so long as he is acting within his capacity as a peace officer.

More recently, we have repeated that "as long as the officer was acting within his capacity as a peace officer, he was acting within the lawful discharge of his official duties." It is undisputed in this case that all of the officers involved, beginning with Deputies Valentine, Sanders, Ward, Ogburn, and Habelt, were acting in the lawful discharge of their duties as police officers. Appellant may have felt that the officers shouldn't have responded to the 911 call or shouldn't have tried to arrest him, but he never suggested that these men were not police officers or that they were not acting within their capacity as police officers during the stand-off.

Hall v. State, 158 S.W.3d 470, 474 (Tex. Crim.App. 2005).

Furthermore, the phrase "lawful discharge of an official duty" is not statutorily defined, but it does have an ordinary meaning that jurors can apply using their own common sense: The person killed was a police officer who was, at the time of his death, lawfully acting as a police officer. We overrule appellant's eleventh point of error.

See Daniels v. State, 754 S.W.2d 214, 219 (Tex.Crim.App. 1988) (noting that, when words are not defined, they are ordinarily given their plain meaning unless the statute clearly shows that they were used in some other sense); Ely v. State, 582 S.W.2d 416, 419 (Tex.Crim.App. 1979) (stating that, in the absence of special definitions, statutory language under attack as vague can be measured by common understanding and practices or construed in the sense generally understood).

C. The Trial Court's Instruction on Reasonable Doubt

In his sixth point of error, appellant complains that the trial judge "diluted" the reasonable-doubt standard in his instructions to the jury. At trial, he objected that the trial court failed to explain to the jurors that the reasonable-doubt standard is a "high burden of proof that may be set by each individual juror at any degree of certainty less than absolute certainty." He also objected that the jury instructions failed to instruct the jury on "preponderance of the evidence" and "clear and convincing evidence" and explain how those standards differ from proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

The trial judge instructed the jury as follows:

It is not required that the prosecution prove guilt beyond all possible doubt. It is required that the prosecution's proof excludes all "reasonable doubt" concerning the defendant's guilt.

In Woods v. State, we held that giving this same instruction to the jury in a capital-murder trial was not an abuse of discretion. Appellant cites Woods, but argues that we failed to include any discussion of Victor v. Nebraska in that case. In Victor, the Supreme Court held that the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt" is a due-process requirement in a criminal case, but that the Constitution neither prohibits trial judges from defining reasonable doubt nor requires them to do so. Appellant fails to explain how Victor affects our reasoning in Woods. Both cases state that courts may or may not define the term "reasonable doubt." In Texas, we have said that it is "the better practice" not to define that term, and Victor does not suggest otherwise. We overrule appellant's sixth point of error.

152 S.W.3d 105, 115 (Tex.Crim.App. 2004); see also Ochoa v. State, 119 S.W.3d 825, 828-29 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2003, no pet.) (collecting Texas cases holding that giving an instruction regarding "all possible doubt" is not error).

511 U.S. 1, 114 S.Ct. 1239, 127 L.Ed.2d 583 (1994).

Id. at 5, 114 S.Ct. 1239.

See Paulson v. State, 28 S.W.3d 570, 573 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000) (citing Victor and noting that "the better practice is to give no definition of reasonable doubt at all to the jury").

Issues Relating to the Punishment Stage

A. Sufficiency of the Evidence to support the Finding of Future Dangerousness

In his fourteenth point of error, appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury's finding on the future-dangerousness issue. Appellant states that "[t]he crime facts in this case are not enough to sweep away the good in Mays'[s] life history" and that "[w]ith the tools and facilities at the disposal of Texas correctional personnel, it would be a rare prisoner indeed who could present much of a threat that would `continue' over time." These arguments were presented to, but rejected by, the jury at the punishment stage.

In this point of error, appellant devotes much of his discussion to purported constitutional deficiencies in the future-dangerousness special issue. To the extent that appellant raises matters other than the legal sufficiency of the evidence to support the first special issue, we find this point of error multifarious and decline to address those matters. See Wood v. State, 18 S.W.3d 642, 649 n. 6 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000). Further, arguments similar to those made by appellant were recently rejected in Russeau v. State, 291 S.W.3d 426, 433-34 (Tex. Crim.App. 2009).

The evidence at trial showed that appellant, without warning, suddenly turned from a calm, cool, and polite gentleman discussing matters with an inquiring deputy into a violent sharpshooter who intentionally killed two police officers and seriously wounded a third during an hour-long stand-off involving more than a dozen officers. The violence began when Deputy Valentine told appellant that he was under arrest; appellant refused to obey, listen to, or reason with an authority figure. His reaction to the exercise of authority by a law enforcement officer was violent. Appellant justified his murderous conduct by stating that he had been "mistreated" by the officers. The jury convicted appellant of capital murder, and its only two punishment choices were prison or death. Prison is a part of "society", and the future-dangerousness issue includes consideration of appellant's likely future behavior while in prison for life. The prison system is run by law enforcement and correctional officials, and any person sentenced to prison must obey those authority figures, regardless of whether they feel they are being "mistreated."

A jury is permitted to consider a variety of factors when determining whether a defendant will pose a continuing threat to society. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, the circumstances of this offense, including the evidence that he deliberately killed two police officers, as well as the evidence of appellant's prior confrontations with authority figures, support a finding that there is a probability that appellant would commit future acts of violence (quite possibly against authority figures) in prison. We overrule appellant's fourteenth point of error.

See Keeton v. State, 724 S.W.2d 58, 61 (Tex.Crim.App. 1987). Among those factors are: (1) the circumstances of the capital offense, including the defendant's state of mind and whether he was working alone or with other parties; (2) the calculated nature of the defendant's acts; (3) the forethought and deliberateness exhibited by the crime's execution; (4) the existence of a prior criminal record, and the severity of the prior crimes; (5) the defendant's age and personal circumstances at the time of the offense; (6) whether the defendant was acting under duress or the domination of another at the time of the offense; (7) psychiatric evidence; and (8) character evidence. Id. It is frequently said that "the circumstances of the offense itself `can be among the most revealing evidence of future dangerousness and alone may be sufficient to support an affirmative answer to that special issue.'" Druery v. State, 225 S.W.3d 491, 507 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007).

See, e.g., Williams v. State, 270 S.W.3d 112, 138 (Tex.Crim.App. 2008) (a jury could reasonably reject the defendant's claim that the commission of capital offense was merely a temporary departure from his usual "benign" crimes and find that he was incorrigible).

B. Victim-Impact Evidence.

In his twelfth point of error, appellant raises six sub-issues: four relate to no the trial judge's refusal to give requested victim-impact instructions and two relate to the trial judge's admission of victim-impact and victim-character evidence.

Regarding his instruction-based complaints, appellant argues that the trial judge violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments in refusing to explicitly limit the jury's consideration of victim-impact evidence. Appellant claims entitlement to these instructions based on Mosley v. State, a case in which we urged trial courts "to place appropriate limits upon the amount, kind, and source of victim impact and character evidence." The trial judge did not err in refusing the requested instructions.

Appellant's requested instructions were as follows:

(1) "That its consideration of victim impact evidence should not be conducted in connection with the future dangerousness issue";

(2) "That its consideration of victim impact evidence did not relieve the state of its burden to prove the `future dangerousness' special issue beyond a reasonable doubt";

(3) "To disregard victim impact evidence that was not shown to be within the knowledge or reasonable expectation of the defendant";

(4) "Not to make a comparative worth analysis of the value of the victims to their families and community compared to the defendant or other members of society."

983 S.W.2d 249 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998).

Id. at 263.

First, appellant overstates the holding in Mosley. What was encouraged in Mosley was the use of Texas Rule of Evidence 403 to limit the introduction of victim-impact and character evidence in the first place, rather than the use of instructions to limit consideration of evidence that had already been admitted.

Id. at 262.

Second, nearly identical claims were rejected in Saldano v. State. There, the defendant had requested some twenty-five non-statutory punishment charges, including versions of the four instructions requested in this case, none of which were given by the trial court. We stated,

232 S.W.3d 77, 106 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007).

Id.

We believe it sufficient to dispose of these points by recognizing that the trial court submitted a charge consistent with applicable state statutes, which have withstood numerous constitutional challenges. These state statutory provisions meet federal constitutional requirements by narrowing the class of "death-eligible defendants" and they arguably provide more than required by the federal constitution by providing a jury a vehicle to "fully" consider mitigating evidence "in every conceivable manner in which the evidence might be relevant."

The same is true in this case: The trial judge submitted a charge consistent with applicable state statutes.

We now turn to appellant's admission-based complaints. Appellant failed to preserve this issue for review because he did not object to the admission of the victim-impact or character evidence at trial. Nevertheless, his claim is without merit. First, appellant asserts that the trial court let in far too much victim-impact evidence, exceeding the "quick glimpse" permitted by the Eighth Amendment. We review a trial court's admission of victim-impact and character evidence for an abuse of discretion. The State called four witnesses to give victim-impact and character testimony: Deputy Ogburn's wife of thirty-six years, Pat Ogburn; his son, Tony Ogburn Jr.; Deputy Harris; and Deputy Valentine.

See TEX.R. EVID. 105; see Guevara v. State, 97 S.W.3d 579, 583 (Tex.Crim.App. 2003) (defendant failed to preserve any error regarding admission of victim-impact evidence because his objection at trial did not comport with complaint raised on appeal); James v. State, 772 S.W.2d 84, 101 (Tex.Crim.App. 1989), vacated on other grounds, 493 U.S. 885, 110 S.Ct. 225, 107 L.Ed.2d 178 (1989) (failure to object to victim-impact evidence waived review on appeal); Barletta v. State, 994 S.W.2d 708, 715 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 1999, pet. ref'd) (defendant's claim of erroneous admission of victim-impact testimony was not preserved for appellate review).

Mosley, 983 S.W.2d at 262.

Mrs. Ogburn testified that her husband's death was "devastating." She explained that she has had medical issues since having a stroke in 1996, and her husband was her "sole source . . . of everything." Because of his death, she had to move closer to her siblings so that they could take care of her. She said her husband was a man of faith who wanted nothing more than to "help the public." He "truly believed in being a police officer. That was his life." Mrs. Ogburn's testimony took up slightly more than four pages of the record.

The next witness was Ogburn's son, Tony Jr. He testified that he was very close to his dad, that they would talk every day, and that now he does not know who he "can call to talk to." Tony Jr.'s main concern was that his dad was no longer there for his mom. He also expressed sorrow that his seven children lost their grandfather. Tony Jr. testified that his dad "liked talking to young people about the rights and wrongs of life, and just to try to help, you know, the younger generation." His testimony took up three pages of the record.

Deputy Harris then testified. He also described Deputy Ogburn's death as "devastating." The deceased was his "go-to-guy" when his father had a terminal illness. He said the two of them would talk every morning — a part of his day he knew he could enjoy. He described Deputy Ogburn as wise and willing to share that wisdom. Deputy Harris's testimony took up slightly more than six pages of the record, but more than half of that concerned the impact of the injury he himself sustained when appellant shot him.

Similarly, Deputy Valentine described Deputy Ogburn as a confidant and role model. Since his death, "There's times I don't want to even come to work anymore." Deputy Valentine described Deputy Ogburn as supportive, friendly, calming, and dedicated to his wife. Deputy Valentine's testimony took up six pages of the reporter's record — some of which concerned the impact of appellant's conduct of threatening him with a deer rifle.

Appellant notes that he did not know the Ogburn family or that Deputies Harris and Valentine were good friends of Deputy Ogburn's. Regardless, all of this testimony was admissible: This was evidence concerning the impact of the death of the victim named in the indictment (Tony Ogburn) on others, i.e., Ogburn's close family and friends. It was admissible to rebut appellant's mitigation case, regardless of whether "the defendant was ignorant of the specific facts regarding the victim's character or relationships."

Haley v. State, 173 S.W.3d 510, 517 (Tex. Crim.App. 2005).

Williams, 273 S.W.3d at 220.

The victim-related evidence took up only a brief portion of the roughly 320-page punishment record. "Sheer volume" was not a factor in this case. The four witnesses testified succinctly and without objection. The trial judge acted within his discretion in admitting these short bits of victim-impact and victim-character testimony.

Salazar v. State, 90 S.W.3d 330, 336 (Tex. Crim.App. 2002).

Finally, appellant argues that the trial judge violated his constitutional and statutory rights by admitting "victim impact" evidence relating to those not named in the indictment, specifically Deputy Harris and Deputy Valentine. Appellant notes that Deputies "Harris and Valentine each testified in great details about their injuries, their losses, the changes in their lives, the changes in their family's lives as a result of this shooting incident." Appellant relies on Cantu v. State, in which we held that admission of victim-impact and character evidence is proper only as to the "victim" for whose death the defendant is being tried, not a second victim killed in the same transaction.

939 S.W.2d 627, 637 (Tex.Crim.App. 1997).

Id.

Deputies Harris and Valentine did provide classic victim-impact testimony (relating to the impact Ogburn's death had on them), but the testimony about their own injuries and losses was admissible as same-transaction testimony. None of that testimony falls into a class of evidence this court has traditionally disfavored: third-party testimony about the impact of an extraneous offense (even one occurring during the same transaction) involving a victim not named in the indictment. No third person testified about the impact of Deputy Harris's or Deputy Valentine's injuries upon that third person. Because the trial judge acted well within his discretion regarding the admission of victim-impact and character evidence and did not err in refusing the requested charges, we overrule point of error twelve.

Ford v. State, 919 S.W.2d 107, 116 (Tex. Crim.App. 1996); Garcia v. State, 126 S.W.3d 921, 929 (Tex.Crim.App. 2004) (medical records of injured bystander admissible over `victim impact' objection; "While the records might have been irrelevant or inadmissible for other reasons, they were not irrelevant or inadmissible because they were victim impact evidence, as appellant claims").

See Roberts v. State, 220 S.W.3d 521, 531 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007) ("`Victim impact' evidence is evidence of the effect of an offense on people other than the victim"; stating that "evidence of the effect of a different offense on the victim " is admissible); compare Haley, 173 S.W.3d at 518 (trial court erred in admitting victim-impact evidence relating to the extraneous offense of murder in the punishment phase of cocaine possession trial.).

C. Jury Argument

In his second point of error, appellant complains that the prosecutors made "a series of egregiously improper remarks" during the closing arguments at the punishment stage. He asserts that the prosecutors "pitched a death sentence" based on appellant's mental illness, thus using it as a "two-edged sword" of aggravation instead of mitigation. Appellant argues that mental illness and its effects upon one's conduct are, as a matter of law, mitigating and can never be considered as rendering a person more likely to commit acts of violence. That is not the law. Mental illness, like childhood abuse, is not mandatorily mitigating, although it is evidence that the jury must be able to consider and give effect to as it deems appropriate. However, we will not review the propriety of the prosecutor's arguments, as appellant failed to object to those arguments at trial. He has failed to preserve any issue for appeal. We overrule point of error two.

The prosecutor argued, inter alia,

And this defendant, we know, gets violent under these circumstances. The Defense's own experts told you that they had concerns about this defendant because of the conditions they believe he's suffering from.

If you believe he's paranoid and he believes that the guards are out to get him or the police officers are out to get him or just that people are out to get him, then, clearly, there's a risk of violence. There's a risk that he is going to act on those impulses. . . .

See Clark v. State, 881 S.W.2d 682, 699 (Tex.Crim.App. 1994) (rejecting defendant's claim that evidence of childhood abuse was "`mandatorily mitigating.' Rather than mandating that certain evidence be considered mitigating, the sentencer must simply be allowed to fully consider and give effect to the evidence.").

Tex.R.App. P. 33.1; see Cockrell v. State, 933 S.W.2d 73, 89 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996) ("a defendant's failure to object to a jury argument or a defendant's failure to pursue to an adverse ruling his objection to a jury argument forfeits his right to complain about the argument on appeal. Any prior cases to the contrary such as Montoya and Romo [v. State, 631 S.W.2d 504 (Tex.Crim.App. 1982)] are expressly overruled."); see also Threadgill v. State, 146 S.W.3d 654, 670 (Tex.Crim.App. 2004) (reaffirming the Cockrell rule).

D. Punishment-Phase Instructions to the Jury

1. Failure to include the statutory non-unanimity instruction

In his fourth point of error, appellant complains that the trial court omitted statutorily required language from the mitigation-issue instructions. He is correct. The trial judge erred by failing to instruct the jurors that they need not agree on what particular evidence supports a finding on the mitigation special issue. However, appellant failed to notice or object to this omission, and thus he may obtain a reversal of his sentence only if he shows that this error caused "egregious harm" with respect to sentencing, that is, that the defendant was deprived of a fair sentencing trial.

Appellant argues that one or more of his written objections to the charge should have alerted the trial judge to this omission, but nowhere in his laundry list of objections did appellant object to the omission of the language mandated by Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 37.071, § 2(f)(3) (the trial judge shall instruct the jurors that, in answering the mitigation question, they "need not agree on what particular evidence supports an affirmative finding on that issue"). And none of his objections were likely to put the trial court on notice of his actual complaint. His objections included: "The Defendant objects to the punishment charge as a whole because it fails to provide a vehicle for full and fair consideration of mitigating circumstances, rather than just some consideration", as well as general objections to the constitutionality of article 37.071 and the failure to instruct the jury that a single "holdout" juror could ensure a life sentence.

We have recently found that the omission of the statutory non-unanimity instruction was harmless error under Almanza's "egregious harm" standard. In Young v. State, we stated that this instruction is not constitutionally required for purposes of the Texas special issues. In addressing the issue of harm, the Court explained that every single juror had to agree that there were no mitigating facts or circumstances that called for a life sentence rather than a death sentence. Thus, if even one juror believed that there was some mitigating fact — any mitigating fact — that called for a life sentence, that juror could not join in a verdict in which the jury unanimously found that there was no mitigating circumstance.

Almanza v. State, 686 S.W.2d 157 (Tex. Crim.App. 1985).

283 S.W.3d 854 (Tex.Crim.App. 2009).

Id. at 879.

Id. at 879.

See id. at 882 (Cochran, J., concurring) ("[I]t would be illogical to speculate that perhaps one or more of those jurors did find a mitigating circumstance but was so confused about the unanimity requirement that he thought that unless every juror agreed upon the same mitigating fact, his vote did not count. So he changed his vote. Such reasoning assumes that jurors would violate their oaths. We must, however, `presume[] that jurors, conscious of the gravity of their tasks, attend closely the particular language of the trial court's instructions in criminal cases and strive to understand, make sense of, and follow the instructions given them.'") (footnote omitted).

Appellant attempts to distinguish Young from the present case by contending that the prosecutor in this case "repeatedly suggested that the defense was required to submit a single mitigation theory." In the record excerpts that appellant cites, the prosecutor simply pointed out the inconsistencies in the evidence presented by the defense: appellant was a calm, friendly, likeable neighbor versus he was a paranoid psychotic. But the prosecutor never suggested or implied that the jury had to unanimously decide which defensive theory, if either, it chose to believe. Any individual juror could believe or disbelieve either theory; the prosecutor's thrust was that a juror could not simultaneously believe both because they were inconsistent. In this case, as in Young, the appellant has failed to show that he suffered "egregious harm" from the omission of the statutory non-unanimity instruction. We overrule his fourth point of error.

Appellant's Brief at 47. Appellant set out the prosecutor's offending argument as follows:

Remember the testimony of [four of appellant's character witnesses]? That he's a nice guy. He's good with kids. He's good with animals. He's apparently the friendliest, most trusting guy they've ever met.

And yet on the other hand, the Defense wants you to believe that he's some sort of paranoid psychotic. They can't have it both ways. You can't just throw all the defenses against the wall and see what sticks. There has to be — there has to be a theory here.

If you're going to find that there's a mitigating circumstance to justify that the defendant doesn't receive the just punishment that he deserves, then, surely, the evidence should all show you that.

You consider all the evidence. You don't just pick out the half of the evidence that you want.

Appellant points to other portions of the closing argument in which the prosecutor listed different mitigation theories that the defense had presented and stated, "All of those things are issues that he's just throwing up there, hoping that one of those, you're going to grasp a hold of and determine that's some sort of mitigating evidence."

Of course, as the defense implied, they are not necessarily inconsistent. Witness Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Young, 283 S.W.3d at 878-79.

2. Other punishment-stage jury-instruction claims

In points of error fifteen through twenty-one, appellant raises various other claims concerning the punishment-phase jury instructions.

In point of error fifteen, he claims that the trial judge erred in failing to submit issues on deliberation and provocation as those special issues previously existed in Texas statutes. In 1991, when the Legislature added the mitigation special issue, it deleted those dealing with deliberation and provocation because those matters were subsumed by the mitigation issue. Any evidence that might show a lack of deliberateness on the part of the defendant or provocation by the murder victim can be fully considered as a mitigating circumstance under the current second special issue. And if the evidence does show careful deliberation or the lack of provocation, that evidence may be considered under the future-dangerousness issue.

See generally Powell v. State, 897 S.W.2d 307, 314 (Tex.Crim.App. 1994) (discussing 1991 legislative changes to art. 37.071).

TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC art. 37.071, § 2(e)(1).

TEX. CODE CRIM PROC. art. 37.071, § 2(b)(1); see Sonnier v. Quarterman, 476 F.3d 349, 367 (5th Cir. 2007) ("Though the `deliberateness' special issue has been removed, the imposition of the death penalty under the amended article is not arbitrary, erratic, wanton, or freakish."); Joiner v. State, 825 S.W.2d 701, 704 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992) (in answering the "future dangerousness" special issue, the jury may consider, inter alia, "the calculated nature of the defendant's acts", "the forethought and deliberateness exhibited by the crime's execution", and "whether the defendant was acting under duress or the domination of another at the time of the offense").

In point of error sixteen, appellant argues that the trial judge erred by instructing the jury, as required by statute, that the definition of "mitigating evidence" limits the concept of mitigation to "evidence that a juror might regard as reducing the defendant's moral blameworthiness." We have repeatedly rejected appellant's argument, and he fails to persuade us that these prior decisions were incorrect.

TEX. CODE CRIM PROC. art. 37.071, § 2(f)(4).

See Cantu v. State, 939 S.W.2d 627, 649 (Tex.Crim.App. 1997) ("Because the consideration and weighing of mitigating evidence is an open-ended, subjective determination engaged in by each individual juror, we conclude that Article 37.071 § 2(f)(4) does not unconstitutionally narrow the jury's discretion to factors concerning only moral blame-worthiness"); see also Prystash v. State, 3 S.W.3d 522, 534 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999); Jackson v. State, 992 S.W.2d 469, 481 (Tex.Crim. App. 1999).

In his seventeenth point of error, appellant contends that the trial judge erred in failing to define various terms and phrases — including "probability" and "continuing threat to society" — in the first special issue. Appellant acknowledges that we have repeatedly rejected this contention in prior cases, and we are not persuaded by his arguments that those cases were incorrectly decided.

See, e.g., Ladd v. State, 3 S.W.3d 547, 572-73 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999) (trial court need not further define the terms in the "future dangerousness" issue because the jury is presumed to understand them); see also Russeau v. State, 291 S.W.3d 426, 434 (Tex.Crim.App. 2009); Renteria v. State, 206 S.W.3d 689, 706 (Tex. Crim.App. 2006).

In his eighteenth point of error, appellant complains that the trial judge failed to instruct the jurors that they could return a life sentence even if they concluded that their honest answers to the two special issues would require the trial judge to sentence the defendant to death. He argues that the Eighth Amendment "require[s] the trial court to empower the jury with a vehicle capable of giving effect" to the evidence. Appellant cites no precedent for his proposition that the jury must have "unfettered sentencing discretion" to impose a life sentence even though the law and the facts, as viewed by each and every juror, would require a sentence of death. The Supreme Court has held that such unbridled discretion is not required by the constitution. Furthermore, appellant has not shown any theory for obtaining a life sentence that is outside the scope of the special issues. And he failed to raise this specific claim in the trial court, thus his sentence could be reversed only if he established error and that error caused egregious harm. He has failed to show either error or egregious harm.

Smith v. Texas, 543 U.S. 37, 45, 125 S.Ct. 400, 160 L.Ed.2d 303 (2004).

Johnson v. Texas, 509 U.S. 350, 362-63, 113 S.Ct. 2658, 125 L.Ed.2d 290 (1993).

On appeal, he points to his charge objections 16 and 17, which deal with the trial court's failure to define certain terms; they do not deal with the specific issue that he presents on appeal.

Almanza, 686 S.W.2d at 171.

In his nineteenth point of error, appellant claims that the "10-12 Rule" violates the rights of "lone, minority, and dissenting jurors" who would effectively lose their voting rights. He argues that jurors must be told of their right to "veto death" by refusing to return any verdict during the sentencing stage. We have previously held that the "10-12 Rule" is constitutional and that no Supreme Court precedent requires the trial judge to inform the jurors of the effect of a "holdout" juror. On appeal, appellant couches his complaint in terms of the constitutional right of jurors, rather than the rights of the defendant. He never brought that argument to the trial judge's attention; thus, we decline to address that aspect of his claim.

See, e.g., Russeau v. State, 171 S.W.3d 871, 886 (Tex.Crim.App. 2005); Shannon v. State, 942 S.W.2d 591, 600-01 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996).

In his twentieth point of error, appellant claims that the trial judge's instruction that the jurors shall "consider all evidence . . . that militates for or mitigates against the imposition of the death penalty" unconstitutionally permits "vague and overbroad aggravators and other irrational procedures to impose capital punishment." We have previously rejected these arguments, and appellant fails to persuade us that we were incorrect in doing so.

Appellant's Brief at 128.

See Luna v. State, 268 S.W.3d 594, 609-10 (Tex.Crim.App. 2008), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 72, 175 L.Ed.2d 51 (2009); Scheanette v. State, 144 S.W.3d 503, 507-08 (Tex.Crim.App. 2004).

In his twenty-first and final point of error, appellant claims that the trial court erred in refusing to assign a burden of proof to the State in the mitigation-issue instructions. This Court has consistently held that, under Texas statute, the State does not bear any burden of proof in the mitigation issue and that the statute setting out that issue and instructions is constitutional. We decline appellant's invitation to overrule established law.

Whitaker v. State, 286 S.W.3d 355, 370 (Tex.Crim.App. 2009); Busby v. State, 253 S.W.3d 661, 667 (Tex.Crim.App. 2008).

We overrule points of error fifteen through twenty-one.

Having reviewed all of appellant's claims, we find that none of them require reversal of the jury's verdict, and we therefore affirm the trial court's judgment and sentence.