Christensen v. State

240 S.W.3d 25, 2007 WL 1953894
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 5, 2007
Docket01-04-00713-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by90 cases

This text of 240 S.W.3d 25 (Christensen 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
Christensen v. State, 240 S.W.3d 25, 2007 WL 1953894 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION ON REHEARING

ELSA ALCALA, Justice.

On November 16, 2006, a panel of this Court reversed on appeal the conviction of appellant, Edward Christensen, and remanded the cause to the trial court for further proceedings. The State filed motions for rehearing and en banc reconsideration. At the request of this Court, appellant timely filed a response to the State’s motion. We grant the State’s motion for rehearing, withdraw our previous opinion, and substitute this opinion in its stead.1

Appellant appeals from a conviction for state jail felony theft of property valued between $1,500 and $20,000. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 31.03(e)(4) (Vernon Supp. 2006). Appellant pleaded not guilty.2 The jury found appellant guilty of theft, and the trial court assessed punishment at confinement for two years in a state jail facility, suspended for four years of community supervision, and a fine of $1,000. We sustain appellant’s first issue that asserts that the evidence is legally insufficient to establish his guilt, and reverse and render judgment that he is not guilty of the offense.3

Background

Appellant was a deputy with the Harris County Sheriffs Office. In March 1997, appellant became president of the Harris County Deputies’ Organization (the Organization), a union that is a not-for-profit organization composed of approximately 3,000 deputies. The Organization was formed to provide services for the benefit of its members, such as the improvement of employment benefits, the improvement of working conditions, assistance to injured deputies, and assistance to the families of deputies injured or killed in the line of duty. The Organization maintained an office run by four officers — president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer — and eight board members. The Organization raised funds for its expenses and activities from fees it received from its members through payroll deductions.

The Organization also raised funds through telemarketing. One of the telemarketers used by the Organization was Ron Kowalsky. Kowalsky began working for the Organization in January 1998 under a written agreement that was negotiated by William Tabor, then the Organiza[28]*28tion’s vice-president, and that was ratified by the Organization’s board of directors. The agreement provided that Kowalsky would receive contingency fees that allowed him to keep 75% to 80% of the money raised from the “sale of advertising.” Although appellant did not participate in the formation of the agreement, he was a primary contact for Kowalsky when Kowalsky began telemarketing for the Organization. Kowalsky’s telemarketing that began as “the sale of advertising” later included the solicitation of funds for the Organization over the telephone by mentioning the Organization’s support for different programs, such as drug awareness and Toys for Tots. The Organization never had official permission, authorization, or recognition to solicit donations for Toys for Tots, which is a program trademarked by the United States Marine Corps. It did, however, donate toys to the program.

Consistent with his general practice for obtaining approval of a telemarketing campaign for the Organization, Kowalsky “briefly” discussed Toys for Tots with appellant, although Kowalsky could not recall the specifics of the conversation. Kowal-sky then drafted the correspondence that mentioned Toys for Tots. Kowalsky sent the draft to appellant for approval. Appellant signed the draft letter, which, according to Kowalsky, permitted the telemarketing for Toys for Tots. Appellant later signed another letter mentioning Toys for Tots. The two letters signed by appellant regarding Toys for Tots were virtually identical, except that the names of the officers and board members shown on the stationery were different, which Kowalsky explained was consistent with his general practice to obtain new letters when the members of the board changed.

The Toys for Tots letter stated as follows:

Dear Friend,
On behalf of the Harris County Deputies’ Organization, please let me Personally thank you for your generous support.
Every year at this time the Harris County Deputies’ Organization lends A helping hand of support to the “TOYS FOR TOTS” program. This Program provides toys for children of families who cannot afford to do So, and to those children who have no family. Just knowing that there Is a light at the end of the tunnel gives hope to these children year after Year. Let us all as a community give what we can in order to bring Some Joy and Laughter into the lives of those who are less fortunate Than others.
Once Again I would like to thank you for your generous support and Cooperation. It is only through such assistance that we can carry on.
Sincerely,
[Signature]
Ed Christensen, President
Harris County Deputies’ Organization

(Emphasis, punctuation, and capitalization in original).

Although Kowalsky initially conducted the telemarketing through his own business, he soon hired subcontractors. One of the subcontractors was John Merritt, who had a telemarketing business consisting of approximately 15 employees seated at rows of tables with telephones. Merritt solicited funds for Toys for Tots on behalf of the Organization in 1999 and 2000. Merritt worked independently, deciding on his own the programs for which he would solicit. Kowalsky’s sole involvement with Merritt’s telemarketing consisted of tendering, in September 1999, the Toys for Tots letter that was signed by appellant, in addition to letters for other programs that were approved by appellant. Merritt used [29]*29the correspondence that he received from Kowalsky to prepare a script for his employees to read during their telephone solicitations. Merritt also gave copies of that correspondence to approximately 10% of prospective contributors who requested written verification before making a contribution. Merritt did not contact appellant or anyone at the Organization regarding the Toys for Tots solicitation.

Merritt tendered the funds received from contributors to Kowalsky about once a week, but no attempt was made to segregate the funds to determine which programs the contributors intended to support. Kowalsky took the commingled funds that he received from Merritt to the clerical staff at the Organization, who would deposit all the funds into a bank account that belonged to the Organization. About two days later, Kowalsky would receive a check from the Organization for 75% to 80% of the funds that he had delivered to the Organization. Appellant and another officer usually signed the check for Kowalsky’s payment. Kowalsky kept 10% of the payment, but tendered the rest to Merritt.

The clerks at the Organization who accepted the funds from Kowalsky reported to the treasurer. The treasurer then reported the information to the board at regularly scheduled meetings. Kowalsky went to a couple of board meetings to discuss fundraising, but he did not recall discussing the Toys for Tots program with the board.

In mid-November 2000, after Terry Padilla had taken over as treasurer for the Organization, she noticed that some of the checks received from Kowalsky had Toys for Tots written on the memo line of the checks.

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Bluebook (online)
240 S.W.3d 25, 2007 WL 1953894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/christensen-v-state-texapp-2007.