Gonzalez v. State

954 S.W.2d 98, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 4373, 1997 WL 471338
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 20, 1997·No. 04-96-00130-CR·Published·Cited by 47 cases

Opinion

OPINION

JOHN F. ONION, Jr., Justice (Assigned).

This appeal is taken from convictions for misapplication of fiduciary property of the value of $200 or more but less than $10,000, all third-degree felonies at the time of the commission of the offenses. 3 In a bench trial, the trial court found appellant guilty of the three offenses and placed appellant on community supervision for ten years.

*100 POINTS OF ERROR

Appellant advances three points of error. First, appellant contends that the trial court failed to apply the correct standard in determining that appellant was a fiduciary under the statute. Second, appellant urges that the “trial court erred in finding an agreement existed under which the fiduciary held property” for the purpose of the statute. Third, appellant asserts that there was no evidence to support a restitution order of $10,901 as a condition of community supervision.

The first two points of error are actually challenges to the legal sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions and are briefed as such. Appellant contends that the State failed to show that he, as a store clerk, was a fiduciary within the meaning of the statute or that there was an agreement which was essential to a conviction for misapplication of property by a fiduciary. Section 32.45 of the Texas Penal Code in effect at the time of the commission of the offenses provided:

(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Fiduciary” includes:
(A) trustee, guardian, administrator, executor, conservator, and receiver;
(B) any other person acting in a fiduciary capacity, but not a commercial bailee; and
(C) an officer, manager, employee, or agent carrying on fiduciary functions on behalf of a fiduciary.
(2) “Misapply” means deal with property contrary to:
(A) an agreement under which the fiduciary holds the property; or
(B) a law prescribing the custody or disposition of the property.
(b) A person commits an offense if he intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly misapplies property he holds as a fiduciary or property of a financial institution in a manner that involves substantial risk of loss to the owner of the property or to a person for whose benefit the property is held.
(c) An offense under this section is:
(1) a Class A misdemeanor if the value of the property misapplied is less than $200;
(2) a felony of the third degree if the value of the property is $200 or more but less than $10,000;
(3) a felony of the second degree if the value of the property is $10,000 or more but less than $100,000; or
(4) a felony of the first degree if the value of the property is $100,000 or more.

Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 32.45. '

In analyzing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the judgment of the conviction in a bench trial to determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt all the essential elements of the offense charged. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Turro v. State, 867 S.W.2d 43, 47 (Tex.Crim.App.1993). This standard of review applies to both direct and circumstantial evidence cases. Green v. State, 840 S.W.2d 394, 401 (Tex.Crim.App.1992), ce rt. denied, 507 U.S. 1020, 113 S.Ct. 1819, 123 L.Ed.2d 449 (1993); see Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154, 160-61 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). In our review, we must consider all the evidence, whether rightly or wrongly admitted. Nickerson v. State, 810 S.W.2d 398, 400 (Tex.Crim.App.1991).

In a bench trial, the trial court is the trier of fact, the judge of the credibility of the witnesses and of the weight to be given their testimony. The trial court is free to accept or reject any or all of any witness’s testimony. See Joseph v. State, 897 S.W.2d 374, 376 (Tex.Crim.App.1995); Wicker v. State, 667 S.W.2d 137, 141 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 892, 105 S.Ct. 268, 83 L.Ed.2d 204 (1984); Price v. State, 902 S.W.2d 677, 679 (Tex.App.—Amarillo 1995, -no pet.); Alexander v. State, 823 S.W.2d 754, 756 (Tex. App.—Austin 1992, no pet.).

FACTS

Craig Rosenstein, President of San Antonio Plumbing Distributors, Inc., testified that his company operated several stores in San Antonio and three stores in other Texas cities. He identified appellant as a store clerk *101 or “counter employee” at his store located at Cherry Ridge and Loop 410 in San Antonio. Appellant had been employed there since 1991. Previously, appellant had been employed in the same type of position for eight years at the Mars Plumbing Supply Company 4 operated by Maurice Rosenstein, father of Craig. Earlier, appellant had been a chauffeur “for Maurice’s father.”

Craig Rosenstein testified that appellant was hired because of appellant’s experience and the trust that Maurice Rosenstein had in appellant. Craig Rosenstein testified that appellant held a position of trust. Rosen-stein explained that appellant had access to and control over the store’s inventory and handled cash coming in and going out of the Cherry Ridge store. He described appellant as being “a fiduciary.” Rosenstein explained that when a sale of plumbing supplies was made, appellant was required to execute an invoice, collect the money and put it in the register, and deliver the material to the customer. The money was to be collected at the store with the exception that on a few occasions a C.O.D. delivery was permitted. Ro-senstein did acknowledge that if the merchandise was ever to leave the store without payment, a pink ticket was to be created and then signed by the purchaser who was to pay by the end of the week. This procedure was reserved for three or four particular plumbers.

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Gonzalez v. State, 954 S.W.2d 98, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 4373, 1997 WL 471338 (Tex. Ct. App. 1997).

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