Eric Alan Moore, Jr. v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 25, 2015
Docket03-14-00381-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Eric Alan Moore, Jr. v. State (Eric Alan Moore, Jr. 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
Eric Alan Moore, Jr. v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

ACCEPTED 03-14-00381-CR 5824472 THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS Kristen Jernigan 6/25/2015 1:57:09 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE Attorney at Law CLERK

207 S. Austin Ave., Georgetown, Texas 78626 (512) 904-0123 (AUSTIN AREA) (832) 642-3081 (HOUSTON FILEDAREA) IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS KRISTEN@TXCRIMAPP.COM AUSTIN, TEXAS 6/25/2015 1:57:09 PM B BOARD CERTIFIED' JEFFREY D. KYLE CRIMINAL APPELLATE LAW Clerk

June 25,2015

VIA CERTIFIED MAIL, RRR # 7014 2120 0004 1503

Eric Alan Moore, Jr. TDCJ No. 01936595 Ferguson Unit 12120 Savage Drive Midway, Texas 75852-3654 Re: Eric Alan Moore, Jr. v. The State of Texas, No. 03-14-00381-CR

Dear Eric:

I have enclosed a copy of the Court of Appeals' opinion in your case. Unfortunately, your conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Court. The Court's opinion was issued on June 24,2015. You now have the right to file a pro se Petition for Discretionary Review. That Petition is due within thirty days of the date of the Court's opinion, making it due on or before July 24, 2015. As a courtesy, I have filed an extension of that filing deadline with the Court of Criminal Appeals, which I have enclosed. If that motion is granted, your petition will be due on or before September 22, 2015. I have enclosed a copy of the relevant Rules of Appellate Procedure that apply to petitions for discretionary review so that you will know the deadlines and requirements for filing the petition. When you file the petition, be sure to attach a copy of the Court of Appeals' opinion. I urge you to contact the Bell County District Clerk to obtain the records you may need to draft your petition. In addition I have attached a motion you can file with the Court of Appeals to obtain a copy of your appellate record. The Bell County District Clerk's address is:

Bell County District Clerk 1200 Huey Road Belton, Texas 76513

The Court of Appeals address is:

Third Court of Appeals P.O. Box 12547 Austin, Texas 78711

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals address is:

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals P.O. Box 12308 Austin, Texas 78711

I wish you the best of luck.

Sincerely, /s/ Kristen Jernigan

Kristen Jernigan TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-14-00381-CR

Eric Alan Moore, Jr., Appellant

v.

The State of Texas, Appellee

FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF BELL COUNTY, 264TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT NO. 67109, HONORABLE JOHN GAUNTT, JUDGE PRESIDING

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Eric Alan Moore, Jr. appeals the district court's judgment adjudicating guilt, revoking

his probation, and sentencing him to six years in prison. He contends the revocation of his probation

was an abuse of the court's discretion because the victim denied the assault occurred and another

witness's testimony about the assault was not credible. We will affirm the district court's judgment.

BACKGROUND Moore was indicted in 2010 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. See

Tex. Penal Code § 22.02. He entered into a plea agreement placing him on deferred-adjudication

probation for ten years. The first condition of his probation was that he "neither commit nor be

convicted of any offense against the laws of the State of Texas."

On an early morning in 2014, Moore and his girlfriend Jaquilla Scott got into an

argument. Moore kicked in the door of her apartment, and then the altercation moved outside. The noise from the quarrel and the cries of the couple's child woke the neighbors. A few of them went

outside and attempted to stop the altercation. One of the neighbors, Peatreia Spells, testified that

she heard another neighbor, Shanta Britton, yelling "Stop hitting her!" Spells grabbed her gun and

placed it in her jacket pocket before stepping outside her apartment. When she saw that Moore had

Scott by the hair and was punching her, Spells threatened to shoot Moore if he hit Scott again. She

then called the police at Scott's request. After the police arrived, they took pictures of Scott and the

scene of the argument and spoke with Moore, Scott, and neighbors who witnessed the argument.

The neighbors reported that Moore struck Scott, consistent with Scott's injuries, including

her "busted lip" that officers saw and photographed. Based on the witnesses' statements and the

officers' observations, the officers concluded there was probable cause to believe the assault took

place and arrested Moore.

The State subsequently filed a motion to adjudicate Moore's guilt and revoke

his probation, alleging that he violated it by committing the offense of assault family violence. See

Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 42.12, § 5(b) (providing adjudication procedure for violation of

condition of community supervision); Tex. Penal Code § 22.01 (defining offense of assault). At the

subsequent hearing on the motion, Moore pled "not true" to the allegations, and in her testimony

Scott denied that Moore hit her. Three neighbors testified otherwise. At the conclusion of the

hearing, the court found the State's allegations to be true, revoked Moore's probation, and sentenced

him. Moore then filed this appeal. DISCUSSION

In one issue on appeal, Moore challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting

the district court's judgment, emphasizing Scott's testimony that he did not assault her and

challenging the credibility of Spells's testimony.

We review an appeal from a revocation of probation under an abuse of discretion

standard, taking into account the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the basis for revocation.

Hacker v. State, 389 S.W.3d 860, 865 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013). Abuse of discretion occurs "only

when the trial judge's decision was so clearly wrong as to lie outside the zone within which

reasonable persons might disagree." Cantu v. State, 842 S.W.2d 667,682 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992).

A trial court abuses its discretion in revoking probation if the State fails to prove by a preponderance

of the evidence that a violation of probation occurred. Cobb v. State, 851 S.W.2d 871, 874

(Tex. Crim. App. 1993). In this context, "a preponderance of the evidence" means "the greater

weight of the credible evidence which would create a reasonable belief that the defendant violated

a condition of his probation." Rickets v. State, 202 S.W.3d 759, 764 (Tex. Crim App. 2006);

see Moore v. State, No. 03-08-00097-CR, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 8138, at *3 (Tex. App.—Austin

Oct. 24,2008, pet. refd) (mem. op., not designated for publication).

The degree of proof required to establish the truth of the allegation in a motion to

revoke probation is not the same as a criminal prosecution. Hacker, 389 S.W.3d at 865. This means

that a defendant may be acquitted of a crime and still have his probation revoked based on the

same act because a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard—rather than beyond-a-reasonable-

doubt standard—applies to revocation proceedings. See Barrett v. State,

Related

Cobb v. State
851 S.W.2d 871 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Mauney v. State
107 S.W.3d 693 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Rickels v. State
202 S.W.3d 759 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Cantu v. State
842 S.W.2d 667 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Hacker, Anthony Wayne
389 S.W.3d 860 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Barrett v. State
630 S.W.2d 335 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1982)

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