Page 20 - TPA Journal March - April 2018

Joe C. Tooley, Legal Digest Editor
Joe C. Tooley, Attorneys & Counselors, Rockwall, Texas
www.TooleyLaw.com 972-722-1058

TEXAS POLICE ASSOCIATION

LEGAL DIGEST

March/April 2018

AUTHOR’S NOTE: It is the goal of this submission to extract those portions of relevant appellate
opinions or the syllabus of the legal reporter which bear directly upon law enforcement methods
and provide guidance for officers on an operational level. Much of the information pertaining to
these cases is lifted verbatim from the court opinion or syllabus with independent analysis inserted
as appropriate. Due to clarity for training purposes, the distinction between quotes from the
opinions and inserted analysis is not always identified and legal citations within the opinion are
often omitted. Emphasis is placed upon reported decisions from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT – SELF DEFENSE ly lewd movie line. Thinking that the comment
was directed toward his girlfriend, Rodriguez,
Appellant, Cesar Alejandro Gamino, was convict- Appellant confronted Khan. Khan testified that he
ed of the offense of aggravated assault with a told Appellant that they were not talking to
deadly weapon. The Second Court of Appeals Appellant or his girlfriend. According to Khan,
reversed Appellants conviction and remanded his Appellant then uttered the words, I got something
case for a new trial, holding that the trial court for you, walked to the driver s side of his truck,
erred by refusing Appellants request for a jury pulled out a gun, and pointed it at the three men.
Charge on self defense. We agree that Appellant Two off-duty police officers were working securi-
was entitled to a self defense charge. We affirm the ty nearby. They testified that they heard Appellant
judgment of the court of appeals. shout I got something for you, and they saw him
with a gun. Appellant was arrested and charged
According to the States evidence presented at with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Appellants trial, around 1:30 a.m. on August 11, Khan was arrested for public intoxication.
2013, as the bars were closing in downtown Fort
Worth, Appellant and his girlfriend, Valerie Rodriguez testified for the defense. She said that
Rodriguez, were walking to his truck. They passed she had known Appellant for eight years. After
by a group of three men sitting on a street corner, coming back from overseas, Appellant had two
and Appellant overheard one of them, Mohammed back surgeries. She said that he had knee problems
Khan, quote what was purported to be an extreme- and shoulder problems. Rodriguez testified that

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