Bolyard v. State

198 S.W.3d 806, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 6038, 2006 WL 1914626
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 13, 2006
Docket11-05-00069-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 198 S.W.3d 806 (Bolyard 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
Bolyard v. State, 198 S.W.3d 806, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 6038, 2006 WL 1914626 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

JOHN G. HILL, Justice.

Ira Edward Bolyard, Jr. appeals his conviction by a jury of the offense of burglary of a habitation. The jury, finding an enhancement allegation true, assessed his punishment at twenty-two years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division and a fine of $2,500. In addition to allegations that Bolyard entered the complainant’s home without her consent, the indictment alleged that he committed the felony offense of criminal mischief by damaging and destroying her personal property:

[T]o-wit: a 2003 FORD PICKUP TRUCK AND A WATERBED by pouring paint on the 2003 Ford Pickup Truck, cutting the waterbed with an object or objects unknown and did thereby cause pecuniary loss in the amount of fifteen hundred dollars ($1500.00) or more but less than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00).

The evidence at trial showed that the damage to the pickup and waterbed was less than $1,500, but that the damage Bolyard did to other property as a result of his pouring paint on the pickup and cutting the waterbed exceeded $1,500, falling within the amount alleged. Alleging a variance between the indictment, the charge, and the proof, Bolyard presents six points on appeal, contending the following: (1) that the evidence was legally and factually in *808 sufficient to support his conviction; (2) that the trial court erred in submitting a charge that varied from the language of the indictment, thereby allowing the jury to convict based upon all of the damage caused by Bolyard, not just the damage to the pickup and waterbed; and (3) that the trial court erred by not including in its charge the lesser included offense of criminal mischief. We affirm.

We first consider Bolyard’s assertion in points one, two, three, and four that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient because of an alleged variance between the indictment and the proof. Generally, in reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, we must review all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). In this case, Bolyard makes no assertion that there is no evidence of the essential elements of the offense for which he was convicted, only that there is no evidence of the offense as it is alleged in the indictment. Since there was sufficient evidence by which a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of burglary of a habitation by Bolyard damaging property in the amount necessary to support conviction, the evidence is legally sufficient under the Jackson standard.

As noted, Bolyard contends that there is a variance between the indictment and the proof because damage to the pickup and waterbed mentioned in the indictment did not exceed $1,500. However, the evidence does show that damage to the garage resulting from Bolyard’s pouring paint on the pickup and damage to the master bedroom caused by his cutting the waterbed resulted in damage totaling more than $1,500. The indictment refers to damage to the complainant caused by Bol-yard’s pouring paint on the pickup and cutting the waterbed. The indictment does not limit such damage to the pickup and the waterbed themselves, and Bolyard presents no authority that it does. Consequently, we conclude that there is no variance.

In order to determine if the evidence is factually sufficient, we must review all of the evidence in a neutral light and determine whether the evidence supporting guilt is so weak that the verdict is clearly wrong and manifestly unjust or whether the evidence contrary to the verdict is so strong that the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt burden of proof could not have been met. Zuniga v. State, 144 S.W.3d 477, 484-85 (Tex.Crim.App.2004). Due deference must be given to the jury’s determination, particularly concerning the weight and credibility of the evidence. Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1, 9 (Tex.Crim.App.2000). This court has authority to disagree with the fact-finder’s determination “only when the record clearly indicates such a step is necessary to arrest the occurrence of a manifest injustice.” Id. The evidence supporting the elements .of the offense, considering only evidence of damage caused by Bolyard’s pouring paint on the pickup and cutting the waterbed in an amount over $1,500 and less than $20,000, is not weak. Bolyard does not refer us to any evidence that the damage that he caused by his alleged actions was less than $1,500, only to evidence showing that the total amount of damage to the pickup and waterbed themselves was less than $1,500. Therefore, there is no showing that the evidence supporting the verdict is so weak that the verdict is clearly wrong and manifestly unjust or that the evidence contrary to the verdict is so strong that the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt burden of proof could not have been met. Bolyard merely repeats his variance claim, *809 and we have held that there is no variance. We, therefore, hold that the evidence is factually sufficient to support Bolyard’s conviction. Bolyaxd’s authorities are all based upon the mistaken premise that there is a variance. We overrule Points of Error Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Bolyard insists in point five that the trial court erred by not including in the court’s charge the indictment’s language with respect to the pickup and the waterbed, thereby allowing the jury to consider damage done during the same burglary caused other than by his actions as alleged. Evidence was presented without objection showing that Bolyard caused damage to the complainant in addition to the damage caused by his pouring paint on the pickup or cutting the waterbed. In the charge to the jury, the trial court did not limit the jury’s consideration of damage exceeding $1,500 solely to the damage caused by Bolyard’s pouring paint on the pickup and cutting the waterbed.

We have noted that there is no variance between the allegations of the indictment and the proof presented in support of the indictment. However, there is a variance between the indictment and the court’s charge to the jury, which included damages not caused by Bolyard’s pouring paint on the pickup or cutting the waterbed. A hypothetically correct charge need not incorporate allegations that give rise to immaterial variances. Gollihar v. State, 46 S.W.3d 243, 256 (Tex.Crim.App.2001). In determining whether a variance is material, we must determine whether the indictment informed Bolyard of the charge against him sufficiently to allow him to prepare an adequate defense at trial and whether prosecution under the deficiently drafted indictment would subject him to the risk of being prosecuted later for the same crime. Id. at 257.

In variance law, the burden of demonstrating surprise or prejudice rests with the defendant. Santana v. State, 59 S.W.3d 187

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Bluebook (online)
198 S.W.3d 806, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 6038, 2006 WL 1914626, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bolyard-v-state-texapp-2006.