Garrett v. State
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
573 S.W.2d 543 (1978)

- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
David Lee Garrett (defendant) went to a store to buy film. He got into an argument with the store clerk at the cash register and pulled out a gun to scare the clerk. Garrett claimed that the gun fired immediately after he pulled it out of his pocket and that he did not intend to shoot the clerk. The clerk died, and Garrett turned himself in to police. He was charged and convicted of felony murder. The state took the position that the underlying felony was an aggravated assault stemming from Garrett’s threatening the clerk with a gun. Garrett appealed, arguing that the assault was inherent in the homicide and could not serve as the separate felony required under Texas’s felony-murder rule.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Odom, J.)
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