Earnest Dewayne Clayton v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 11, 2023
Docket05-21-00329-CR
StatusPublished

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Bluebook
Earnest Dewayne Clayton v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

Affirm and Opinion Filed January 11, 2023

In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-21-00329-CR

EARNEST DEWAYNE CLAYTON, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 1 Rockwall County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. CR17-2027

MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Molberg, Reichek, and Garcia Opinion by Justice Molberg

The trial court found appellant Earnest Dewayne Clayton guilty of a Class B

misdemeanor offense of driving while intoxicated (DWI),1 sentenced him to sixty

days’ confinement in jail and a $250 fine, suspended the imposition of the jail

sentence, and placed him on fifteen months of community supervision, subject to

certain terms and conditions. In four issues, Clayton argues the evidence was

insufficient to sustain his conviction (third issue); the trial court erred by admitting

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE § 49.04(a), (b). and denying his motion to suppress certain evidence (first and second issues); and

the trial court erred by failing to file findings of fact and conclusions of law upon his

request (fourth issue). Because his fourth issue is now moot and we overrule his

other issues, we affirm the trial court’s judgment in this memorandum opinion. See

TEX. R. APP. P. 47.4.

DISCUSSION A. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law We begin with Clayton’s fourth issue, in which he argues the trial court erred

by failing to file findings of fact and conclusions of law upon his request and asks

that we remand the case to the trial court for the issuance of such findings and

conclusions.

Clayton’s complaint and request are now moot. After Clayton filed his brief

on appeal, we issued an order that (1) noted Clayton filed a request for findings of

fact and conclusions of law and a motion to enter findings of fact and conclusions of

law after the trial court denied his motion to suppress, (2) ordered, by a particular

date, the trial court to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law and the county

clerk to file a supplemental clerk’s record containing the trial court’s findings, and

(3) abated the appeal to allow the trial court to comply with our order.2

2 See State v. Elias, 339 S.W.3d 667, 674 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011); State v. Cullen, 195 S.W.3d 696, 699 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006). In Elias, 339 S.W.3d at 674, the court stated, “[U]pon the request of the losing party on a motion to suppress evidence, the trial court shall state its essential findings.” Elias explained that by “essential findings” the court meant “findings of fact and conclusions of law adequate to provide an appellate court with a basis upon which to review the trial court’s application of the law to the facts,” see

–2– The trial court then issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law, and the

county clerk filed in our Court a supplemental record including those findings and

conclusions. We then reinstated the appeal.

In his brief in our Court, Clayton has not discussed the trial court’s specific

findings and conclusions, nor has he discussed the effect, if any, their issuance has

on his fourth issue.3 Because his fourth issue raises an error the trial court has

corrected, the issue is now moot, and we need not consider it. See TEX. R. APP. P.

44.4(b) (stating, in part, that if a trial court’s failure or refusal to act prevents the

proper presentation of a case to the court of appeals and the trial court can correct its

failure to act, the court of appeals “must direct the trial court to correct the error”

and “then proceed as if the erroneous action or failure to act had not occurred”).

B. Sufficiency of the Evidence In his third issue, Clayton argues the evidence, when considered in its totality,

is legally insufficient to support his conviction for driving when intoxicated.

When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we view all of the evidence

in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether any rational trier of

id. (quoting Cullen, 195 S.W.3d at 699) and that this requirement “assures that appellate resolution of the suppression issue ‘is based on the reality of what happened [at the trial court level] rather than on [appellate] assumptions that may be entirely fictitious’”). Id. (quoting Cullen, 195 S.W.3d at 698). The findings may be written or stated on the record at the conclusion of the hearing. See Nadeau v. State, No. 05-19-01137- CR, 2022 WL 3053917, at *3 (Tex. App.—Dallas Aug. 3, 2022, pet. ref’d) (citing Cullen, 195 S.W.3d at 699). That Clayton did not discuss the trial court’s findings and conclusions in his original brief is 3

understandable, as such findings and conclusions had not yet been issued. Once the trial court issued them and we reinstated the appeal, the State made note of the trial court’s findings and conclusions in its brief, and Clayton did not file a reply. –3– fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable

doubt. Ramjattansingh v. State, 548 S.W.3d 540, 546 (Tex. Crim. App. 2018) (citing

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979)). The factfinder is the sole judge of

witness credibility and the weight to be given their testimony. See Martin v. State,

635 S.W.3d 672, 679 (Tex. Crim. App. 2021). We may not re-evaluate the weight

and credibility of the evidence or substitute our judgment for that of the factfinder.

Bohannan v. State, 546 S.W.3d 166, 178 (Tex. Crim. App. 2017). “When the record

supports conflicting inferences, we presume that the factfinder resolved the conflicts

in favor of the verdict, and we defer to that determination.” Murray v. State, 457

S.W.3d 446, 448–49 (Tex. Crim. App. 2015). The evidence is legally sufficient if it

would enable reasonable and fair-minded people to reach the decision under review.

See Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 922 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010).

In conducting our review, we consider “all evidence in the record of the trial,

whether it was admissible or inadmissible.” Winfrey v. State, 393 S.W.3d 763, 767

(Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (citations omitted); see Powell v. State, 194 S.W.3d 503,

507 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (“[A] reviewing court is permitted to consider all

evidence in the trial-court record, whether admissible or inadmissible, when making

a legal-sufficiency determination.”). Thus, regardless of whether the evidence

Clayton challenges in his first and second issues was properly admitted, such

evidence is properly considered in a review of the sufficiency of the evidence.

Winfrey, 393 S.W.3d at 767.

–4– “A person commits Class B misdemeanor DWI if the person is intoxicated

while operating a motor vehicle in a public place.” Ramjattansingh, 548 S.W.3d at

546 (citing TEX. PENAL CODE § 49.04(a), (b)). “‘Intoxicated’ means either ‘not

having the normal use of mental or physical faculties’ by reason of ‘the introduction

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Stewart v. State
129 S.W.3d 93 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2004)
State v. Cullen
195 S.W.3d 696 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
State v. Barbernell
257 S.W.3d 248 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Lagrone v. State
942 S.W.2d 602 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Bird v. State
692 S.W.2d 65 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Powell v. State
194 S.W.3d 503 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Brooks v. State
323 S.W.3d 893 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Shaw v. State
329 S.W.3d 645 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Martinez v. State
186 S.W.3d 59 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2006)
State v. Elias
339 S.W.3d 667 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Winfrey, Megan AKA Megan Winfrey Hammond
393 S.W.3d 763 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Murray, Chad William
457 S.W.3d 446 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2015)
Gonzalez v. State
544 S.W.3d 363 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2018)
Bohannan v. State
546 S.W.3d 166 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2017)
Ramjattansingh v. State
548 S.W.3d 540 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2018)
Beham v. State
559 S.W.3d 474 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2018)

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