Tena Hill and Rhonda Johnson were public school teachers who tried to break up a fight between two girls at school. One of the students hit both teachers and was convicted of the criminal offense of “retaliation” against a public servant. On appeal, the student’s lawyer focused on the word “retaliation.” The argument was that the teacher was not the target here. The student was not angry with the teacher and was not seeking to “retaliate” for something the teacher did as a teacher.
The court rejected that argument and upheld the girl’s conviction. The statute says that it is a criminal offense if a person “intentionally or knowingly harms or threatens to harm another by an unlawful act: (1) in retaliation for OR ON ACCOUNT OF the service or status of another as: (A) public servant, prospective witness, or informant.” Texas Penal Code 36.06(a)(1), emphasis added.
The appellate court emphasized “or on account of.” To hit a teacher “in retaliation” would require some proof of a deliberate desire to hurt the teacher in response to something the teacher did as a teacher. For example, the teacher gives the student a failing grade and the student “retaliates.” The court described this as a “retributory element” necessary to prove “retaliation.” There was no evidence of a “retributory element” here.
But the statute also makes it crime to harm a teacher “on account of” the teacher’s service. This does not require a specific retributory element, or any proof that the teacher was the person the student sought to harm. Instead, it only requires proof that the teacher was harmed “because of” being a teacher. Thus the court concluded:
In this case, a rational trier of fact could have found that [the student] struck the teachers on account of their service as public servants, i.e., because they were attempting to discharge their duties as public schoolteachers by keeping [the student] from harming another student.
The student’s conviction was thus upheld. And we hope the teacher has fully recovered. The case is In the Matter of M.W., decided by the Court of Appeals for Tyler on September 23, 2015. We found it at 2015 WL 5577993.
DAWG BONE: IT WOULD BE BETTER IF TEACHERS NEVER GOT ASSAULTED ON THE JOB, BUT AT LEAST WE KNOW THAT IT’S A CRIME TO DO SO.