Reed v. State

COCHRAN, J.,

filed a concurring opinion in which WOMACK, J., joined.

Didn’t Richard III cry out, while he was at, on, or in Bosworth Field, “My kingdom for a proper preposition!” Well, perhaps it was a horse, but in this case the State’s prosecution fails for want of a proper preposition. And it must, given both the vagaries of the English language and the sense of the penal statute.

The issue is: Can you shoot “at” a house from inside of it?

First, let us set the whole scene. The pertinent portion of the deadly conduct statute, Section 22.05(b) of the Penal Code, states:

A person commits an…