Gillermo Fernando Sanchez v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 15, 2016·No. 05-15-00098-CR·Published

Opinion

Modified and Affirmed. Opinion Filed July 15, 2016.

In The

Court of Appeals

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-15-00098-CR

GILLERMO FERNANDO SANCHEZ, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 416th Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 416-81054-2013

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Francis, Evans, and Stoddart Opinion by Justice Stoddart

A jury convicted Gillermo Fernando Sanchez of criminal mischief by tampering with an electric metering device without effective consent of the owner and causing pecuniary loss of less than $20,000. The trial court assessed punishment at 180 days in jail, suspended the sentence, placed Sanchez on community supervision for three years, and ordered restitution in the amount of $2,153.29. Sanchez argues on appeal that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction, the restitution order is not supported by the record, and the jury charge failed to include an instruction on the proper use of a statutory presumption. The State raises a cross- point that the judgment should be modified to reflect the trial court’s pronouncement of two years of community supervision and the name of Sanchez’s trial attorney. We modify the trial court’s judgment and affirm as modified.

BACKGROUND

On December 30, 2012, Sanchez’s neighbor saw a man standing on the trunk of a car, which was parked next to a utility pole. Afraid the man might be electrocuted, the neighbor reported it to police. Officer Bryan Kile responded to the report and spoke with Sanchez. Sanchez said the power was out at his home and he was removing a piece from the utility pole to fix it. Kile collected the piece from the pole, took photographs, and contacted the director of security at Oncor. A few days later, Kile again spoke with Sanchez. After being advised of his Miranda rights, Sanchez denied attempting to steal electricity, but said he had been a lineman for TXU for thirty years and knew how to accomplish what he was trying to do.

Jonathan Nichols, a revenue security employee of Oncor, went to Sanchez’s house on December 31, 2012. Nichols took pictures of the meter and electrical connections at the house. He saw that both the inner and outer seals on the meter had been removed. Nichols testified that removing those seals is tampering and customers do not have consent from Oncor to take that action. Nichols also noticed several wires running from the meter base. Although the wires should have been located inside the conduit, they ran to an open breaker box on the patio wall, indicating possible tampering. To alleviate the unsafe condition created by the stray wiring, Nichols disconnected the electricity at the pole. In response, Sanchez told Nichols he was a former TXU employee and would climb the pole and reconnect the power after Nichols left. Nichols testified that a lineman would have the knowledge and ability to remove a meter and divert electricity.

On the patio, Nichols found additional items, including a breaker and a broken part of the meter base called a lug. He explained that a lug is part of the meter base that the meter plugs into to make a connection allowing electricity to flow from the utility wires through the meter and into the house. Lugs are designed to last for the life of the meter and a broken lug indicates the meter has been removed repeatedly from the base. Lugs do not break due to normal repair

operations. A burned lug indicates either the spring steel has lost elasticity over time or that a foreign object was placed into the meter. This creates a poor connection and causes the parts to heat up.

The two lugs in the meter at Sanchez’s house were not from the same meter, indicating one or both had been replaced. A lug is only replaced if it is broken or burned. While there are reasons other than tampering that can cause a burned lug, Nichols was able to exclude those reasons in this case. He testified that replacing a lug inside the meter base without consent constitutes tampering. Only Oncor employees have permission to replace a lug or repair a meter.

Data obtained from Sanchez’s meter indicated it was removed from December 24, through December 26, 2012, as well as parts of December 29 and December 30. Nichols explained that during those times no power would flow into Sanchez’s house unless a jumper or other conductor were installed in the meter base to complete the electrical connection.

Additional data obtained from the meter showed a total of 48 power outages between October 2012 and December 31, 2012. However, Oncor’s records did not reflect a corresponding number of service calls to Sanchez’s house during that time period.

Kenneth Scott Stanley, a measurement supervisor for revenue and security at Oncor, assisted with the investigation. He explained that a significant reduction in average monthly electrical usage is an indication of tampering. By examining historical data for Sanchez’s house, Stanley found a large reduction in usage began to occur in February, 2005. He concluded that is when the tampering began.

To determine Oncor’s monetary loss, Stanley analyzed Sanchez’s average monthly usage from January 2004 through January 2005. From that data, he estimated the amount of electricity Sanchez was using before the tampering was 1,000 kWh per month. Sanchez’s reported usage after February 2005 was less than the monthly average before the tampering. The difference between the monthly average and the reported usage represents Oncor’s loss. Oncor also

incurred fees of $419.75 for meter costs, locking devices, labor and transportation. Stanley testified that Oncor’s monetary loss was less than $20,000. While some of the records in evidence list Sanchez’s wife on the account, others indicate Sanchez called several times over the years to report power outages, request repairs, complain that meter readings were wrong, and to request billing adjustments.

Diane Hallmark, a paralegal in Oncor’s legal department, testified that Oncor is regulated by the Public Utility Commission and owns the meters, poles, and equipment necessary to supply electricity to the public. She testified that Oncor suffers monetary damage when a person tampers with a meter and receives electricity without paying for it. She confirmed that a customer is never given permission to divert the power supply or tamper with the Oncor’s equipment.

At trial, Sanchez testified that on December 30, 2012, he observed fire and smoke coming from the meter attached to his home. He turned the power off in the utility room then went outside and pulled the meter off the base. He saw that a lug was burned. Sanchez did not call TXU or Oncor about the meter or the fire. Nor did he call the fire department. Rather, he admitted removing a lug from a meter on nearby property to replace the burned lug in his own meter. Sanchez denied stealing electricity and denied breaking into his meter, but admitted he knew how to tamper with a meter. Sanchez lived at the property for several years with his wife and grandson. He had several gas appliances in the home, but admitted on cross-examination that the appliances were installed before 2004 and would not explain the substantial change in electricity usage in 2005.

ANALYSIS

A. Sufficiency of the Evidence In his first issue, Sanchez argues the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction for criminal mischief. In his second, he argues the trial court erred by denying his motion for

directed verdict based on insufficiency of the evidence.1 We discuss the issues together.

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