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Jester v. State

A witness who is indicted for the same offense as the accused, but is promised immunity in exchange for testifying against the accused, is an accomplice witness as a matter of law; however, the fact that a witness was granted immunity, standing alone, does not render him an accomplice as a matter of law.

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OPINION

A jury convicted Chad Wayne Jester of murdering Raymond Howell. The jury assessed Jester’s punishment at fifty years’ confinement. On appeal Jester contends that the trial court erred by giving an improper instruction regarding accomplice witness testimony, by denying his motion for an instructed verdict, and by entering, without sufficient evidence, an affirmative finding on the use of a deadly weapon. For the reasons stated below, we overrule these contentions and affirm the judgment.

Jester first argues that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury that witness Wesley Bradford was an accomplice as a matter of law. The trial court instructed the jury that whether Bradford was an accomplice was a question of fact, and if they found him to be an accomplice, they must find that Bradford’s testimony was sufficiently corroborated before it could be considered. Jester objected and requested that the trial court instruct the jury that Bradford was an accomplice as a matter of law. The court overruled the objection. Because we find that the evidence does not clearly show that Bradford was an accomplice, the court did not err in failing to give the requested instruction.

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