Zhigang Wang v. State


In The Court of Appeals Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont __________________ NO. 09-17-00462-CR __________________ ZHIGANG WANG, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee __________________________________________________________________ On Appeal from the County Court of Law No. 5 Montgomery County, Texas Trial Cause No. 16-316220 __________________________________________________________________ MEMORANDUM OPINION Zhigang Wang appeals his conviction for assault-family violence, a class A misdemeanor. Tex. Penal Code. Ann. § 22.01(a)(1), (b) (West 2019); Tex. Fam. Code Ann. §§ 71.0021(b), 71.003–.005 (West 2019). In thirteen issues, Wang challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his conviction, the sufficiency of the evidence to support a finding of family violence, the trial court’s rulings during jury selection on a Batson challenge and a challenge for cause, the trial court’s 1 decision to allow an undisclosed witness to testify, the trial court’s decision to admit a recording of a previous argument between Wang and the victim, the trial court’s decisions regarding translations of recordings admitted during trial, the trial court’s decision to deny Wang’s motion for new trial, and the terms of his community supervision. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. I. Background The victim, G.W. 1 testified at trial that she is married to Wang and they have an eight-year-old daughter, S.W. On August 10, 2016, the family returned to their residence from a beach vacation. According to G.W., following their return, Wang told S.W. to “go . . . study.” When S.W. did not immediately do so, Wang threatened to put her in the “black room” as punishment. G.W. explained that the “black room . . . is a closet inside our bedroom . . . [with] no window.” G.W. stated Wang yelled at S.W., and she intervened and told Wang not speak to their daughter in that manner. This exchange erupted into an argument between G.W. and Wang. G.W. testified that she was seated on the couch when they began arguing, and Wang stood on the other side of the couch. G.W. testified that Wang insulted her family and she in turn 1 We refer to the victim and her family members by their initials to conceal their identity. See Tex. Const. art. I, § 30(a)(1) (granting crime victims “the right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process[.]”). 2 spoke about his family, prompting Wang to throw his cell phone at her, hitting her in the face. The cell phone hit her nose and eyebrow. Wang then charged at G.W. and began hitting her with his fists on her head, face, and wrist. G.W testified that S.W. witnessed the attack and that Wang only stopped hitting her “[b]ecause my daughter was screaming and crying.” As a result of Wang’s attack, G.W.’s nose was cut, bleeding, and she had bruising around her eye and on her arms. G.W. said she felt pain because of the attack. Wang left the residence, and G.W. called the police to report the attack. ...

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