NUMBER 13-18-00030-CR COURT OF APPEALS THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG MONICA MELISSA PATTERSON, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee. On appeal from the 370th District Court of Hidalgo County, Texas. OPINION Before Justices Benavides, Perkes, and Tijerina Opinion by Justice Perkes Appellant Monica Melissa Patterson appeals her convictions of capital murder, a first-degree felony, see TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.03(a)(3), aggregate theft of $100,000 or more but less than $200,000 from a non-profit organization, a first-degree felony, see id. § 31.03(b)(1), misapplication of fiduciary property valued at $20,000 or more but less than $100,000, a third-degree felony, see id. § 32.45, and attempted theft of $200,000 or more, a second-degree felony, see id. §§ 15.01(a), 31.03(b)(1). Patterson received an automatic life sentence for her capital murder conviction. See id. § 12.31(a). For the remaining counts, the jury assessed punishment at seventy-five years’ imprisonment, see id. §§ 12.32, 31.03(f)(3)(B), four years’ imprisonment, see id. § 12.34, and fifteen years’ imprisonment, see id. § 12.33, respectively. By nine issues, which have been reordered below, Patterson argues (1) the evidence is legally insufficient to support a conviction for counts one, two, and four; (2) double jeopardy bars a conviction for count three; (3) the trial court issued an erroneous charge on the law of parties and failed to instruct on the accomplice-witness rule; and (4) the trial court erroneously allowed hearsay evidence and expert witness testimony. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND Martin Knell (Martin) died in his McAllen home on January 28, 2015, at ninety-six years old. His reported cause of death was cardiac arrest. One month later, Martin’s former live-in housekeeper, Celestina Mascorro, contacted the Texas Rangers claiming she had witnessed his murder. Mascorro named two individuals responsible for Martin’s death: Patterson and a man named “Mario,” later identified as Angel Mario Garza. Following an investigation, Patterson was arrested on August 26, 2015. Thereafter, investigators were approached by Patterson’s former employers at Comfort House Services Inc. (Comfort), a local non-profit organization, with allegations that Patterson had misapplied the organization’s funds. Patterson was subsequently indicted on the same four counts that would later be sent to the jury.1 1Patterson was charged with (1) acting as a party to Martin’s murder for renumeration, (2) unlawful appropriation over Comfort property in the aggregate value of $100,000 or more, (3) misapplication of Comfort fiduciary property in the aggregate value of $100,000 or more, and (4) attempted theft of Martin’s 2 A. Martin’s Murder and Attempted Estate Theft 1. September 2014 In September 2014, Martin’s wife of over seventy years, Thelma Mae Knell (Penny), was hospitalized. Penny was ninety-three years old. Prior to Penny’s discharge, Martin appointed Greater Valley Hospice (GVH) to administer Penny’s hospice care at the couple’s home. Kathy Redfern, GVH Director of Nursing, testified that she ordered medical equipment to be delivered to the couple’s home, and she spoke with Martin to confirm the at-home arrangement. Redfern testified that Martin provided no indication that he was ill-equipped to handle Penny ...
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