Torres v. State
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
585 S.W.2d 746 (1979)

- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
One evening, Helen Torres (defendant) and Robert Miranda broke into Margaret Garcia’s home and threatened to kill her if she did not comply with their demands. Torres had a knife, and Miranda had a gun. Torres and Miranda forced Garcia to collect valuables from around her home and load them into her car. The next morning, they told Garcia to drive to a nearby bank to withdraw money. Garcia went inside the bank and told police she was being robbed. Police officers went outside to investigate. Miranda ran but was caught after exchanging gunfire with police. Torres was found sleeping in Garcia’s car in the parking lot. Torres and Miranda were charged with aggravated robbery. Miranda was convicted and testified at Torres’s trial. He said that on the evening of the robbery, he and Torres had been out drinking. Torres repeatedly asked him why he didn’t have a job, and Miranda wanted her to stop complaining, so he fixed her a drink of water and mixed in four or five tablets of a drug used to treat mental illness that also had a sedative effect in large doses. Miranda did not tell Torres that he drugged her beverage. Garcia testified at trial that Miranda appeared to be guiding Torres through the robbery, that both Miranda and Torres acted like they were on drugs, and that Torres was falling asleep on the way to the bank. Torres asked the trial court for a jury instruction on the defense of involuntary intoxication. The judge refused, and Torres was convicted. She appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Davis, J.)
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