Devine v. State

In Devine v. State, 786 S.W.2d 268, 270 (Tex.Cr.App. 1989), the victim's ex-wife continually threatened death or injury to him unless he gave her money. Devine v. State, supra at 269. The victim gave her money for a time; but when she demanded $ 2,500, he refused and went to the police. Id. After police wired him with a microphone, the victim met the defendant in a restaurant, where she was arrested after he gave her some marked money. Id. The defendant told the victim at the restaurant that she had almost had him killed the day before but that she had canceled the plan when he agreed to show up with the money. Id. The court held that threatening to kill the victim at some time in the future if he had refused to hand over the money was not sufficient to show a threat of bodily injury or death to be inflicted imminently. Id. at 270-71. In Devine, the evidence reflected that the victim was giving the money to the defendant because of her prior threats of future harm and in order to make a criminal case against her, not because of any words or conduct on her part at their meeting constituting a threat of imminent bodily injury.