Davis v. State

645 S.W.2d 855, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 5651
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 29, 1982
DocketNo. 3-82-239-CR(T)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 645 S.W.2d 855 (Davis 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
Davis v. State, 645 S.W.2d 855, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 5651 (Tex. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

EARL W. SMITH, Justice.

Appellant Charles Clinton Davis was in-dieted in the district court of Fayette County, Texas, for the first degree felony offense of burglary of a habitation. Two prior felony convictions were alleged for enhancement purposes. On change of venue to Travis County, trial before a jury was had on the issue of guilt or innocence, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty of the offense charged. At the time appellant entered his plea to the indictment, he did not elect for the jury to assess punishment. The trial judge found that appellant had been duly, legally, and finally convicted of one of the alleged prior felony offenses, to-wit, escape; assessed punishment at twenty years; and sentenced him to confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections for not less than fifteen years nor more than twenty years in accordance with the provisions of the Indeterminate Sentence Law then in effect.

Appellant’s grounds of error are: that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s finding of guilt; that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to dismiss the indictment for lack of a speedy trial; and that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence a prior conviction for felony escape for the reason that the conviction was void as a matter of law. We will overrule appellant’s grounds of error and affirm the judgment of conviction.

Appellant’s argument that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s finding of guilt is without merit. This is a circumstantial evidence case. Admittedly, to show guilt, the State relies upon the recent unexplained possession by appellant of property stolen from the habitation of the complaining witness, Janecka. The Ja-necka habitation was burglarized either on August 28, or early on August 29, 1977. In the course of the burglary, a .30-06 Springfield rifle with scope and a toaster oven were taken. Janecka had previously recorded the serial numbers of the rifle [857]*857(4136610) and the toaster oven (Model No. 7006, serial number D 414106). On discovery of the burglary, he furnished the serial numbers of both items to Deputy Sheriff Koopman of Fayette County.

Wayne Appelt, Special Agent of the U.S. Treasury Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, had been assigned to Austin, Texas, to set up a “fencing operation.” In this operation, he worked with Agent Charles Meyer and Officer Tom Evans of the Austin Police Department. They set up an undercover apartment for the purpose of purchasing stolen property from “whoever had it for sale.” The apartment was equipped with a telephone with an extension set up at Appelt’s office. Through informants, word was made known that Appelt was available to purchase stolen property. If he received a call from someone who wanted to sell stolen property, he would arrange to meet such person at the apartment. On August 29, 1977, he received a call from someone who stated that “they” had some firearms and other merchandise to sell. The caller asked if Appelt wanted to look at the merchandise and possibly purchase the same. He directed the caller how to get to the apartment, and promptly proceeded there, accompanied by Special Agent Charles Meyer. A short time later, two individuals arrived at the apartment and asked if Appelt and Meyer wanted to buy some property. Appellant, also known as “Dash,” was positively identified by Appelt as one of the two individuals; the other was someone known as “Bushrod.” Appelt told appellant and “Bushrod” to bring the property in, which they did.

Appellant offered to sell Appelt a .30-06 rifle with scope and a toaster oven, along with other items. Appelt negotiated prices for the rifle and toaster oven with the two men. Most of the negotiations were conducted with appellant. Appelt purchased the rifle for one hundred dollars and the toaster oven for twenty-five dollars. The appellant stated that the officers “were not treating him right on the price.” The evidence clearly shows that the rifle and oven were purchased from appellant and his companion the day after Janecka and his wife had left their home on a trip. Both items were turned over to Officer Evans of the Austin Police Department and were subsequently returned to Janecka, who identified them as his by the serial numbers they bore. Tom Evans also verified the serial numbers, giving the same numbers as those from Janecka’s records.

The State conclusively proved that appellant was in recent possession of property stolen in the burglary of the Janecka habitation. Appellant made no explanation of his possession of the rifle or oven. The behavior of appellant in negotiating the sale of the items to Appelt clearly shows a “conscious assertion of right” by appellant.

Evidence that a house has been burglarized, together with defendant’s unexplained possession of some of the property stolen from the house is sufficient to sustain a conviction for burglary. Hardage v. State, 552 S.W.2d 837 (Tex.Cr.App.1977); Hall v. State, 490 S.W.2d 589 (Tex.Cr.App.1973); Montoya v. State, 625 S.W.2d 25, 28 (Tex.App.1981, no pet.). In Rodriguez v. State, 549 S.W.2d 747, 749 (Tex.Cr.App.1977), the Court said:

An inference or a presumption of a defendant’s guilt of a burglary or of a theft sufficient to sustain a conviction may arise from the appellant’s possession of property stolen or taken in a recent burglary. However, in the prosecution for either a theft or a burglary, to warrant such an inference or presumption of guilt from the circumstances of possession alone, such possession must be personal, must be recent, must be unexplained, and must involve a distinct and conscious assertion of a right to the property by the defendant.

In the instant case, each of the indicia required in Rodriguez to raise the presumption of guilt is present: appellant possessed the rifle and the oven taken in the burglary; such possession was recent — the day after the burglary; the possession was unexplained by appellant; and by his conduct in negotiation of the sale, appellant asserted a distinct and conscious assertion of right to the property. We hold the evi[858]*858dence to be sufficient to establish the guilt of the appellant and overrule the first ground of error.

We next turn to appellant’s contention that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to dismiss for lack of speedy trial under the Speedy Trial Act, Tex.Code Cr.P. Ann. art. 32A.02 (Supp.1982), which effective July 1,1978. For cases pending on the effective date of the act, time periods called for in the act run from the effective date thereof. Phipps v. State, 630 S.W.2d 942 (Tex.Cr.App.1982); Barfield v. State, 586 S.W.2d 538 (Tex.Cr.App.1979); Wade v. State, 572 S.W.2d 533, 535 (Tex.Cr.App.1978).

From the record, the following sequence of events applicable to the instant case is garnered:

1. September 1977 — Appellant indicted in Fayette County;
2. April 4, 1978 — Appellant retained attorney Campbell;

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Smith v. State
754 S.W.2d 414 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1988)
Tucker v. State
689 S.W.2d 235 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
645 S.W.2d 855, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 5651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-state-texapp-1982.