## Facts

- Alfred E. Brown was indicted for murder under Texas Penal Code § 19.02 after Joseph Caraballo was shot and killed in an apartment-complex parking lot.
- About a week earlier, Brown had been beaten by individuals described as known to possess and discharge firearms in the area.
- On the night of the shooting, Brown had been drinking beer and socializing in the parking lot.
- After an altercation, Brown obtained a .25-caliber handgun, stating he did so to protect himself and his friends.
- Brown testified he had a debilitating right-hand injury and held the gun in his left hand.
- The State contended Brown intentionally fired the shot that killed Caraballo.
- Brown testified the shooting was accidental: as he raised the handgun, another person (Coleman) bumped him from behind and the gun discharged.
- Coleman testified that he bumped Brown and that the gun fired at that moment.
- A jury convicted Brown of murder, and the trial court assessed punishment at 12 years’ imprisonment.
- The court of appeals reversed, holding it was reversible error to deny Brown a requested jury instruction on voluntariness under Texas Penal Code § 6.01(a).
- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the State’s discretionary review limited to the voluntariness-instruction issue.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court erred by refusing a requested jury instruction on voluntariness under Texas Penal Code § 6.01(a) based on evidence that the gun discharged when Brown was bumped.
2. Whether “voluntariness” under § 6.01(a) operates as a defensive issue requiring an affirmative instruction whenever supported by some evidence, or is ordinarily subsumed within the State’s burden to prove the charged conduct.

## Decision

- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the court of appeals and affirmed the conviction.
- The court held the trial court did not err in refusing Brown’s requested voluntariness instruction.
- The court concluded the evidence did not raise a genuine issue that Brown’s relevant bodily movements were involuntary within the meaning of § 6.01(a).

## Legal Principles

- Texas Penal Code § 6.01(a) requires voluntary conduct; “voluntariness” refers to the defendant’s bodily movement being under conscious control, not to the defendant’s mental state or the intended result.
- Voluntariness is not a statutory “defense” or “affirmative defense”; it is part of the State’s burden to prove the proscribed conduct beyond a reasonable doubt.
- A special jury instruction on involuntary conduct is not required merely because the defendant characterizes the outcome as an “accident” or points to external interference (such as being bumped) unless the evidence shows involuntary bodily movement akin to reflex, convulsion, or unconscious conduct.
- Where the defendant voluntarily arms himself and voluntarily engages in the physical conduct of handling and raising a firearm, testimony that a bump coincided with discharge generally concerns intent or culpability for the result, not the voluntariness of the underlying conduct.

## Conclusion

The court held that Brown was not entitled to a separate jury instruction on voluntariness because the evidence showed he voluntarily obtained, held, and raised the handgun; the claimed bump-related discharge did not establish involuntary bodily movement under § 6.01(a), and the standard charge on the offense sufficiently covered the State’s burden to prove criminal conduct.


Brown v. State, 955 S.W.2d 276 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997)