When does the State get 3 shots?
Many defendants are surprised to learn about the law of parties. The law of parties assigns guilt if you don't directly participate in the offense. Basically, if you do something to aid, encourage or assist the commission of the offense you are guilty. The classic example is the getaway driver in a bank robbery - even though they don't go inside, they are still guilty.
The law of parties is usually fairly straightforward. Of course, any time more than one person is involved there is a potential for problems. The Court of Appeals in El Paso recently addressed one of the problems in State v. Andrew James Cotto and Robertor Corral. The two defendants had been charged along with Joseph Jones with manslaughter. The evidence was that Mr. Corral and Mr. Cotto held the victim down, while Jones strangled him. Mr. Jones went to trial first, and was found not quilty. Although the medical examiner initially testified the death was caused by strangulation, he also testified that asthma or some other respitory condition could not be ruled out as a cause of death.
As you would expect, Mr. Cotto and Mr. Corral were probably pretty happy. They filed a motion to dismiss the charges against them. The legal basis was that the cause of death had already been decided against the State, and therefore the docrtine of "colleteral estoppel" prevented the State from re-litigating the question. Sounds pretty good - and makes sense.
The problem is that the Texas Penal Code - section 7.03 - addresses the issue, at least in part. The state says that the acquittal of the person for whom you are criminally responsible is not a defense. In other words, the fact that the bank robber is acquitted doesn't mean you can't be prosecuted.
I won't go into the legal basis of the decision, because it involves fairly complex (and boring) aspects of colleteral estoppel law. The bottom line is that the State can get 3 chances in this case. They didn't get the person who actually choked the victim - now the get to go after the person who held him down. Maybe they will get at least one out of the three.
