Flournoy v. State

668 S.W.2d 380, 1984 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 599
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 15, 1984
Docket597-83
StatusPublished
Cited by187 cases

This text of 668 S.W.2d 380 (Flournoy v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flournoy v. State, 668 S.W.2d 380, 1984 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 599 (Tex. 1984).

Opinions

OPINION ON STATE’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

TEAGUE, Judge.

The State, through the petition for discretionary review that was filed by a member of the staff of the Hon. Tim Curry, District Attorney of Tarrant County, challenges the correctness of the holding that the Fort Worth Court of Appeals made in Flournoy v. State, 650 S.W.2d 526 (Tex.App.1983), which was that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the attempted burglary of a habitation conviction of Keith Wayne Flournoy, who is the appellant in this cause. We agree with the State that the evidence is sufficient to sustain appellant’s conviction. The judgment of the Court of Appeals will therefore be reversed and the cause remanded to that Court for it to consider appellant’s grounds of error which have not yet been reviewed.

The evidence reflects that Lyndia Conley, the complainant, resided in a mobile home in a rural area of Tarrant County. Conley testified that at approximately 9:00 a.m. on the day in question, while watching television, she saw appellant, who was accompanied by an unidentified passenger, drive his motor vehicle into her driveway, park the vehicle, get out of the vehicle, and commence walking toward the front of her mobile home. The passenger remained inside of the vehicle. This was the first time that Conley had even seen either appellant or his passenger.

While appellant was walking toward her mobile home, Conley got up from her chair, turned off the television set, went and checked both the front and back doors of her residence to make sure that they were locked, which she found they were, and then placed herself in a position whereby her field of vision encompassed appellant, his vehicle, and the passenger that was in appellant’s vehicle. However, neither appellant nor his passenger were able to see from the front of the mobile home what was inside because the window to the front door resembled a “one-way-mirror,” in that some type of substance had been placed on the window of the front door, thereby enabling one on the inside of the mobile home to see outside, but preventing persons on the outside from seeing inside the home.

Conley testified that appellant walked to the front of the mobile home. He then commenced hitting or striking with his hand or fist a metal strip that was attached to the mobile home. This caused a loud noise. However, Conley did not respond to appellant’s “knocking.” After appellant did not receive any response, he returned to his automobile, where he spoke briefly with his passenger, after which the passenger immediately got out of the vehicle and proceeded to the rear of the mobile home, where he attempted to look inside of the mobile home through a rear window. However, because the window was too high from the ground, his efforts to see the inside of the mobile home were for naught. He then returned and got back inside of appellant’s vehicle.

Conley further testified that after the passenger went to the rear of the mobile home, she then saw appellant return to the front of the mobile home, where he “proceeded trying to unlock the door ... his hands were moving like he was trying to— like a screwdriver or something, like he was trying to get into something.” Conley also testified: “The screen door was closed, and he was trying to—going through the screen door, trying to get to the main door ... I was watching, as he kept moving his hands, like he was trying to open the [front] door.”

Conley, after forming the opinion that appellant “was getting ready to come into the house,” got a loaded .410 shotgun, af[382]*382ter which she placed herself directly behind the front door. She then opened the door. Appellant, who was then standing directly in front of the doorway to the mobile home, was told by Conley: “[G]et the hell out of here.” Appellant immediately ran to his parked automobile, got inside, and then drove his vehicle away from Conley’s premises. Conley, however, successfully managed to make a note of the number of the license plate that was on appellant’s vehicle. Thereafter, she notified the authorities and informed them, inter alia, of the license plate number she had taken down. The vehicle was eventually traced to appellant, whose defense to the accusation was alibi.

The Court of Appeals held the above evidence was insufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant had committed the criminal offense of attempted burglary of Conley’s habitation. It further held that appellant did not commit an “act,” as that word is defined by V.T.C.A., Penal Code, Section 1.07(a)(1),

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

Related

Charles Wade Briggs v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Carlos Eduardo Sanchez v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2021
Darragh Liam Smith v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Travis Ryan Crawford v. State
562 S.W.3d 106 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2018)
Jones v. State
229 S.W.3d 489 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
in the Matter of Y. S.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000
Empty v. State
972 S.W.2d 194 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Stahle v. State
970 S.W.2d 682 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Mayfield v. State
906 S.W.2d 46 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Alexander v. State
906 S.W.2d 107 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Staley v. State
888 S.W.2d 45 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Hill v. State
881 S.W.2d 897 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Pachecano v. State
881 S.W.2d 537 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Turner v. State
877 S.W.2d 513 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Nolen v. State
872 S.W.2d 807 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Coon v. State
871 S.W.2d 284 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Turney v. State
859 S.W.2d 500 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Cornejo v. State
871 S.W.2d 752 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Parks v. State
858 S.W.2d 623 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Solomon v. State
854 S.W.2d 265 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
668 S.W.2d 380, 1984 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 599, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flournoy-v-state-texcrimapp-1984.