Harrell v. State

834 S.W.2d 540, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 1779, 1992 WL 148295
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 2, 1992·No. A14-90-00988-CR·Published·Cited by 16 cases

Opinion

OPINION

SEARS, Justice.

Willie Lewis Harrell brings this appeal from a conviction for theft. Appellant pled not guilty and the case was tried before a jury. Having found appellant guilty, punishment was assessed at five years confinement with a $10,000.00 fine. We affirm.

Quincy Maxey shot and killed his wife Edith Maxey. Quincy subsequently executed a power of attorney authorizing his daughter Diann Maxey to receive any sums belonging to him, and he relinquished his. interest in any insurance policies on his wife. After Edith’s death, the Maxey children consulted appellant to be their financial advisor and handle their mother’s estate. Appellant, who is not an attorney, told the children he would handle the estate and that he would charge a maximum of five percent as fees. Appellant consulted an attorney and was appointed as administrator of Edith Maxey’s estate.

Once named the administrator, appellant received monies on behalf of the estate, including two insurance checks totalling $408,000.00. Appellant also received money from pension and profit sharing plans and made disbursements to the children in varying amounts. Renea Maxey received a $55,000.00 disbursement, from which she paid $35,000.00 to appellant’s company, Equibuild, as a down payment on the construction of a new house. However, only the foundation and frame work were completed. The thirty-five thousand dollars was never returned to Renea and appellant kept title and possession of the lot.

Diann Maxey also arranged for money to be deducted from her share to cover the costs of a down payment on a new house, as well as for remodeling work to be done on her mother’s house. Appellant deducted approximately $17,000.00 from Diann’s share for remodeling costs, however, the contractor doing the work was only paid $8,000.00.

Craig Maxey also testified that he received $42,200.00, and that appellant kept an additional $14,800.00 for taxes. However, there are no records of any taxes having been paid. Craig, Diann, and Re-nea, the only children appearing at trial, testified that they still did not know the full extent of their parents’ estate. They also testified that appellant did not have consent to use any of their money to conduct his business, or use it for his personal expenditures.

Appellant testified that he negotiated separate contracts with complainants providing for a fee of $45.00 per hour, although the children deny such an agreement. Contrary to appellant’s testimony, Diann Testified that she never agreed to appellant’s alleged fee of $45.00 per hour or a $10,000.00 flat rate. Appellant also stated that he performed 5,000 hours of work on Maxey affairs, but only billed them for 3,900 hours, for a total fee of $175,000.00.

Bank records reflected that $479,288.59 was collected for the Maxey estate from which the beneficiaries received $189,-537.24. Appellant signed eighty-three checks made payable to himself, for a total of $170,028.39. Appellant used the remainder of the estate money to pay office expenses and personal expenses, such as remodeling costs on his house and salaries to his wife and daughter. Appellant retained sixty percent of the estate for his own use and benefit.

Appellant asserts in his first three points of error that the evidence is insufficient to support a conviction of theft. Specifically, appellant contends in his first point of error that the evidence was insufficient to show that complainants had a greater right to possession of the money as alleged in the indictment.

Theft is defined as the unlawful appropriation of property with the intent to deprive the owner of the use and benefit of the property. TexPenal Code Ann. § 31-03(a) (Vernon 1989). An owner is defined as someone having title, possession, or a greater right to possession of the property than the actor. TexPenal Code Ann. *543 § 1.07(a)(24) (Vernon 1974). Proof of management alone is insufficient to sustain ownership allegation. Freeman v. State, 707 S.W.2d 597, 603 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). When a fiduciary acts in a manner inconsistent with his lawful authority, for the purpose of permanently depriving the owner of property, then he has committed theft. Id. at 605-06.

As an administrator of the estate, appellant had authority limited to collecting and distributing estate assets to the beneficiaries. The complainants always had title to the property, appellant’s rights were only possessory. Appellant’s actions in paying monies to himself and to his family were inconsistent with his lawful authority, and a rational trier of fact could find beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant intended to deprive the complainants of the property.

Appellant also contends that the State was required to prove what was alleged in the indictment, eighty-three checks written with an aggregate total of more than twenty thousand dollars. The indictment charged appellant with appropriation of money in an aggregate amount of more than twenty thousand dollars pursuant to one scheme and continuing course of conduct. The State alleged eighty-three checks made payable to appellant as support for the continuing course of conduct theory.

The State need only prove an aggregated value where there is alleged one scheme or continuing course of conduct. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 31.09 (Vernon 1974). The State is not required to prove each individual theft. It is sufficient if the State shows enough of the property was stolen to meet the aggregated value allegation. Lehman v. State, 792 S.W.2d 82, 85 (Tex.Crim.App.1990).

As stated above, appellant retained roughly sixty percent of the $479,288.59 estate. He was only entitled to five percent. The remainder of the estate was either disbursed as checks payable to appellant ($170,028.39), or paid out to others for personal and office expenses incurred by appellant. A rational juror could find beyond a reasonable doubt that more than $20,000.00 had been unlawfully appropriated, and that the appropriation was without the effective consent of the owners. Point of error one is overruled.

Appellant asserts in his second point of error that the evidence was insufficient to show that appellant appropriated the money without the effective consent of the complainants. Appropriation of property is without the owner’s effective consent if either (1) it is without his assent in fact or (2) his assent in fact is rendered ineffective by various circumstances including deception. Thomas v. State, 753 S.W.2d 688, 692 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). The evidence shows that appellant used estate money for his personal benefit even though the complainants were the beneficiaries of the estate. The complainants testified they did not give their effective consent for appellant to appropriate monies for his own benefit. Appellant’s testimony that he was entitled to $45.00 an hour also did not establish that there was an independent contract so as to make this a civil dispute rather than a criminal offense. Point of error two is overruled.

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Harrell v. State, 834 S.W.2d 540, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 1779, 1992 WL 148295 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

834 S.W.2d 540 (Harrell v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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