Hughes v. State

625 S.W.2d 827, 1981 Tex. App. LEXIS 4583
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 17, 1981
DocketC14-81-024-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 625 S.W.2d 827 (Hughes 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
Hughes v. State, 625 S.W.2d 827, 1981 Tex. App. LEXIS 4583 (Tex. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

MILLER, Justice.

This appeal arises from a conviction for burglary of a building while armed with a deadly weapon. The jury assessed punishment at thirty (30) years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections, as a result of an enhancement for a prior felony conviction. We find no error in the judgment below and we affirm.

On March 16,1979, Thomas Easley, assistant chief to the building manager of the San Jacinto Building in downtown Houston, was working in his basement office when he observed the appellant standing in the adjacent engine/locker room. Easley called his assistant, Ed Boughal, and two men proceeded to the engine/locker room, only to see appellant exit through an opposite door. Easley and Boughal followed appellant into the L&C Cafeteria, where he was stopped and “ushered” back to the engine/locker room. While waiting for a police officer to arrive, appellant was questioned about the missing contents of some open lockers. Appellant denied any knowledge of the missing contents and claimed he was in the room only to use the restroom. After a few minutes of “forceful” questioning, Easley left the room to let in the police officer, leaving Boughal to guard appellant. Boughal and appellant became involved in a struggle in which a gun was drawn and fired. Easley and the police officer entered the room and saw appellant standing over Boughal with the gun in his hand. Appellant dropped the gun on demand and was arrested. A search of this person revealed an amount of money approximating that missing from the lockers.

Evidence revealed the engine/locker room was not open to the public. Fred Whitty, building manager of the San Jacin-to Building, testified the engine/locker *829 room was posted with a sign indicating the area was closed to the public, and that only employees of the building were allowed in the room. There was no testimony to the effect appellant had permission to enter the engine/locker room.

Appellant raises three grounds of error on appeal. First, appellant claims the evidence is insufficient to show beyond a reasonable doubt the building which serves as the basis of the burglary charge was not open to the public when entered. Second, the appellant claims there is a fatal variance between the language of the indictment and the proof offered at trial. Third, appellant asserts the trial court committed reversible error in admitting proof of a nonadjudicated offense over the objection of his counsel. Appellant argues his first two grounds together and we will consider them in conjunction with each other.

Appellant’s first argument centers around the indictment. Appellant was charged, and the jury instructed, with burglary by entering a building not then open to the public. Appellant asserts the evidence conclusively revealed the San Jacinto Building was open to the public, since he was stopped in a public cafeteria during lunch time. While the evidence may show the engine/loeker room was not open to the public, this was not charged in the indictment. Therefore, appellant argues, a fatal variance exists between the indictment and the proof which serves as the basis of conviction. As a result, appellant argues, this proof is insufficient to show beyond a reasonable doubt he entered a building not open to the public.

Before this court can examine the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction, we acknowledge some well established principles of law. Any contention that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt raises concerns of constitutional dimensions. The requirement of proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in state criminal matters was given federal constitutional stature and protection in the case of In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). There, the United States Supreme Court held the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an accused against conviction “except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged.” Id. at 364, 90 S.Ct. at 1073. This State also recognizes this long standing principle of Anglo-American justice through Article 38.-03 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which mandates a defendant in a criminal case is presumed innocent until guilt is established by legal evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has established some guidelines for reviewing grounds of error asserting insufficiency of the evidence. When the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction is challenged, appellate courts must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the jury verdict. Drager v. State, 548 S.W.2d 890 (Tex.Cr.App.1977); Clark v. State, 543 S.W.2d 125 (Tex.Cr.App.1976). Appellate courts may consider all the evidence, whether presented by the defendant or the State, in their review of the case. Drager, supra. For evidence to amount to proof beyond a reasonable doubt two elements must exist. First, it must be shown the offense was actually committed. Second, the proof must amount to a degree of certainty greater than a mere possibility or a strong suspicion that the defendant committed the offense. O’Mary v. State, 139 Tex.Cr.R. 294, 139 S.W.2d 800, 802 (1940). In addition, for this proof to satisfy the constitutional due process considerations of In Re Winship, the record must reveal the existence of sufficient evidence at trial to justify a rational trier of facts finding, beyond a reasonable doubt, each essential element of the offense. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

With these standards in mind we address appellant’s claim the evidence was insufficient to show beyond a reasonable doubt he entered a building not then open to the public, and that there is, therefore, a *830 fatal variance between the proof and the indictment. The indictment charged appellant did “then and there unlawfully with intent to commit theft, enter a building not then open to the public.” V.T.C.A., Penal Code, Section 30.02, “Burglary” provides in pertinent part:

(a) A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner, he:
(1) enters a habitation, or a building (or any portion of a building) not then open to the public, with intent to commit a felony or theft;

Appellant urges Section 30.02(a)(1) provides two distinct methods of committing burglary: (i) entering a building not then open to the public; and (ii) entering any portion of a building not then open to the public. Appellant maintains these methods are as separate and distinct as the actions prohibited in the remaining two subsections: (2) remaining concealed in a building or a habitation with intent to commit felony or theft; and (3) entering a building or habitation and committing or attempting to commit a felony or theft.

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Bluebook (online)
625 S.W.2d 827, 1981 Tex. App. LEXIS 4583, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hughes-v-state-texapp-1981.