Blount v. State

961 S.W.2d 282, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 2954, 1997 WL 297624
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 5, 1997
DocketNo. 01-96-00009-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 961 S.W.2d 282 (Blount v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blount v. State, 961 S.W.2d 282, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 2954, 1997 WL 297624 (Tex. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinions

OPINION

SCHNEIDER, Chief Justice.

David Lynn Blount, appellant, was charged by information with the misdemeanor offense of harassment. After a bench trial, appellant [283]*283was found guilty and sentenced by the court to 90 days confinement, probated for 18 months, and assessed a $700 fine. In two points of error, appellant asserts there was legally and factually insufficient evidence to support his conviction. We affirm.

Facts

William Cliett, the complainant, worked as a tow truck driver for appellant during a 12-month period of time. On August 14, 1995, complainant quit his job with appellant and took a job with another tow truck driver. According to Cliett, appellant then began calling and harassing Cliett about his decision to change jobs.

Just after Cliett left his job, someone vandalized appellant’s tow truck on two separate occasions while the truck was at a service station. The service station was just four doors down from Cliett’s new employer. The vandal slashed all six tires four times, and painted and scratched appellant’s name on the truck. The damage caused by the first act of vandalism cost about $2,200 to repair. Appellant reported the incident to the police and told them he suspected Cliett, who worked close to the station. About a week later, while the truck was at the same station, it was vandalized again. This time, the vandal broke the truck’s windshield with a big rock, and dented the roof and fenders with the same rock.

Appellant felt Cliett was responsible for a number of reasons. First, the vandalism to the truck was not just random: the paint and scratches were made only to his name on the sides of the truck. Second, Cliett worked four doors down from the service station. Third, because the area of the service station is commercial, not residential, random violence is less likely. Fourth, it was the first act of vandalism. Fifth, during the six years he had worked as a wrecker driver, appellant’s tow truck had never been vandalized. Last, appellant’s son was dating Cliett’s ex-wife from whom he was recently divorced.

On September 19, 1995, appellant phoned Cliett at home at about 11:00 p.m. Cliett testified he let his answering machine take the call because he thought it was appellant calling him again. The first call lasted only a few seconds; appellant cursed and hung up. The second call was longer; appellant accused Cliett of vandalizing his tow truck and called him profane names. At the end of the message, appellant said, “I want you to hit the street tomorrow because I’m going to be after you.”

Legal Sufficiency

In one point of error, appellant challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. Appellant argues that the evidence was legally insufficient to support a verdict of guilty. Appellant contends he did not have the intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass the complainant; that he did not call Cliett repeatedly; and that the telephone call appellant made to Cliett was not made in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another. We disagree for the following reasons.

When conducting a legal sufficiency review, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. Martinez v. State, 924 S.W.2d 693, 696 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). Under this standard of review, the issue is whether any rational trier of fact could find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 317-18, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2788, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Martinez, 924 S.W.2d at 696; Green v. State, 891 S.W.2d 289, 297 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1994, pet.ref'd). If there is evidence that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and if the trier of fact believes the evidence, we are not in a position to reverse the judgment on sufficiency of evidence grounds. Moreno v. State, 755 S.W.2d 866, 867 (Tex.Crim.App.1988); Reece v. State, 878 S.W.2d 320, 325 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1994, no pet.).

To support a conviction for telephone harassment under Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 42.07(a)(4)(Vemon 1994), the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt, (1) appellant had the intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass complainant when he (2) made repeated telephone communications (3) in a manner reasonably likely [284]*284to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 42.07(a)(4). The Penal Code provides that a person “intends” the result of his conduct if it is his conscious objective to cause the result. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 6.03(a)(Vemon 1994).

The act of making repeated telephone calls is not, by its nature, criminal, nor is it a criminal act merely because of the circumstances during which it is conducted. Ford v. State, 870 S.W.2d 155, 160 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1993, no pet.). The act of making repeated telephone calls is criminalized because the actor wants to cause the result of harassing or annoying his victim. Id, Thus, culpability is required as to the result of the conduct. Based on the statutory language of the offense, the legislature clearly intended for a defendant to be criminally responsible for the crime of telephone harassment only when he intended, that is, consciously desired, the result of his actions. Id. at 160-61. The intent of the accused may be inferred from circumstantial evidence. Wolfe v. State, 917 S.W.2d 270, 275 (Tex.Crim.App.1996); Wilkerson v. State, 927 S.W.2d 112, 115 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, no pet.). That is, the defendant’s intent may be determined from his words, actions, and conduct. Price v. State, 410 S.W.2d 778, 780 (Tex.Crim.App.1967); George v. State, 841 S.W.2d 544, 547 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, no pet.).

When viewing the evidence under the legal sufficiency standard, which requires us to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, we ignore the evidence favorable to the defendant. In such a review, we focus on the evidence that supports the judgment.

The first element challenged by legal sufficiency is whether the appellant made repeated telephone calls. Appellant made two calls on September 19th and at least two other calls sometime between August 14th and September 19th.

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Bluebook (online)
961 S.W.2d 282, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 2954, 1997 WL 297624, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blount-v-state-texapp-1997.