Daniel Miley Smith v. State

421 S.W.3d 161, 2013 WL 5989498, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 13860
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided November 13, 2013·No. 04-12-00856-CR·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

Opinion by:

PATRICIA 0. ALVAREZ, Justice.

Appellant Daniel Miley Smith was convicted of aggravated robbery and credit card abuse and sentenced to confinement for a period of forty years and eight years, respectively, in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Smith contends the evidence is legally insufficient to support the jury’s aggravated robbery verdict and the trial court erred in assessing attorney’s fees to an indigent offender. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Background

On September 7, 2010, at approximately two o’clock in the afternoon, seventy-four year old David Goodrich was ordering at the drive-through of a Popeye’s Chicken restaurant. A ten-dollar bill was in Goodrich’s hand and his wallet was on the front-passenger seat when an individual stuck a gun approximately a foot to a foot-and-a-half from his face and took the money. The assailant demanded Goodrich’s wallet *163 and car keys; however, the assailant conceded to Goodrich’s request not to take the car and ran off with Goodrich’s wallet in the direction of a nearby apartment complex.

A Popeye’s employee notified the San Antonio Police Department. When officers arrived, Goodrich relayed the events to the officers and provided a physical description of the assailant. Goodrich described the assailant as wearing a reddish-colored, light nylon, long-sleeved jacket. He further identified the assailant as approximately five-foot eight inches, 140 pounds, somewhere between eighteen and twenty-five years of age, and having a short haircut. Goodrich described the weapon as a black-and-silver automatic pistol, as compared to a revolver. Shortly thereafter, Goodrich’s credit card company alerted when an individual attempted to use Goodrich’s credit card to purchase a laptop computer at the Hill Country Pawn and Jewelry.

Tom Solis, a Hill Country Pawn and Jewelry employee, testified that he was unable to complete the sales transaction when an individual, later identified as Daniel Smith, did not have identification to use the credit card presented bearing the name David Goodrich. A security surveillance video was given to the officers. Detective Tony Wilson prepared a photographic lineup from driver’s license photographs of individuals living in the vicinity of the pawn shop. The line-up was shown to Goodrich and he identified Smith as his assailant.

The officers also contacted Christina Valle, Smith’s former live-in girlfriend. Valle told the officers that after Smith moved out of her residence, she had reported a missing firearm — a nine-millimeter black-and-silver automatic Taurus pistol. Valle identified a photograph of a pistol she indicated looked similar to her missing weapon. Monika Smith, a subsequent girlfriend, further confirmed Smith’s possession of a black-and-silver automatic pistol. Monika testified that she overheard Smith attempting to sell two firearms and that he was always in need of money.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

Smith first challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his aggravated robbery conviction.

A. Standard of Review

In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, an appellate court determines whether, viewing “all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.” Hardy v. State, 281 S.W.3d 414, 421 (Tex.Crim.App.2009); accord Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 899 (Tex.Crim.App.2010); see also Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). We must defer to the jury’s assessment of the credibility of the witnesses “and the weight to be given to their testimony,” Brooks, 323 S.W.3d at 899, and allow for reasonable inferences from the evidence presented. Williams v. State, 235 S.W.3d 742, 750 (Tex.Crim.App.2007); see also Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 38.04 (West 1979) (stating that “the jury, in all cases, is the exclusive judge of the facts proved, and of the weight to be given to the testimony” except where provided otherwise by law); Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781 (reiterating it is strictly the province of the jury “fairly to resolve conflicts in the testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts”). In so doing, an appellate court presumes that the jury “resolved the conflicts in favor of the prosecution and therefore de *164 fer to that determination.” Clayton v. State, 235 S.W.3d 772, 778 (Tex.Crim.App.2007).

The key question is whether “the evidence presented actually supports a conclusion that the defendant committed the crime that was charged.” See Williams, 235 S.W.3d at 750. Only upon a finding the evidence is legally insufficient will this court reverse the trial court’s judgment and order an acquittal. See Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31, 41, 102 S.Ct. 2211, 72 L.Ed.2d 652 (1982); Brooks, 323 S.W.3d at 904. This legal sufficiency standard applies equally to both direct and circumstantial evidence. Clayton, 235 S.W.3d at 778; King v. State, 29 S.W.3d 556, 565 (Tex.Crim.App.2000).

B. Aggravated Robbery

Smith does not argue the evidence is inadequate to demonstrate the crime of aggravated robbery was committed. Instead, he contends there is no credible evidence connecting him to the offense. Specifically, he contends (1) only Goodrich identified him as the assailant, (2) neither the weapon nor the wallet was recovered, (3) the suspect’s clothes were never recovered, and (4) no DNA or fingerprint comparison connected him to the offense. Although Smith acknowledges using Goodrich’s credit card at the pawn shop, he argues that possession and use of the credit card does not establish he committed the robbery in question.

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Daniel Miley Smith v. State, 421 S.W.3d 161, 2013 WL 5989498, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 13860 (Tex. Ct. App. 2013).

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