In re C.C.

930 S.W.2d 929
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 2, 1996
DocketNo. 03-95-00386-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 930 S.W.2d 929 (In re C.C.) 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
In re C.C., 930 S.W.2d 929 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

CARROLL, Chief Justice.

Appellant, a juvenile, was charged with attempted murder by a petition alleging he committed delinquent conduct. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 53.04 (West 1996). The district court of Travis County, Texas, sitting as a juvenile court, waived jurisdiction and transferred the matter to district court. In two points of error, appellant appeals the order waiving jurisdiction and transferring the cause to district court (“the order”). We will affirm the juvenile-court order.

BACKGROUND

On January 10, 1995, Ricardo Davila, a homeless person, was severely beaten and set on fire. Appellant, a juvenile suspected of participating in the assault, was detained under the authority of the juvenile court of Travis County. Before an adjudicative hearing was held, the State petitioned the juvenile court to waive its jurisdiction and transfer the matter to the district court of Travis County. At the hearing on the petition, the State presented witnesses who testified to the following facts.

Scott Ferris was climbing the stairs to his apartment the night of January 10, 1995, when he saw two persons kicking, stomping on, and throwing bottles at an object in an alley behind a convenience store. Ferris went into his apartment, retrieved a baseball bat, and walked to the alley to find out what had happened. Through the fence separat[932]*932ing the apartment complex from the alley, Ferris saw a person (Davila) on the ground. Ferris walked to the end of the fence and saw two young men leaving the scene. Immediately afterward, Ferris saw Davila engulfed in flames. When neither Ferris nor Davila could extinguish the flames, Davila ran across the street to a gas station. Customers at the gas station eventually put out the flames using blankets and a fire extinguisher.

Officer Robert Hester of the Austin Police Department was dispatched to investigate the alleged assault. Tammy Socha, also an officer with the Austin Police Department, was riding with Hester that night. When the two arrived at the scene, Socha videotaped the crime scene and the condition of the victim.

Several hours after the crime occurred, one of the accomplices to the crime told an acquaintance, Bradley Livingston, about the incident. The accomplice identified appellant as one of the persons responsible for the assault and burning. Appellant was present during the conversation. Shortly after that conversation, appellant admitted to Livingston that he and another person had poured lighter fluid on the victim and set him on fire. Not only did appellant implicate himself in the matter, but eyewitness Scott Ferris also identified him in a police photo line-up as one of the two men Ferris saw leaving the scene.

Appellant was detained and later evaluated by psychologist Kevin McFarley. Dr. McFarley concluded that appellant was of at least average intelligence, had a history of depression, understood the difference between right and wrong, and was not suffering from a severe psychiatric illness. Dr. McFarley believed that appellant could respond positively to anti-depressant medication and psychiatric hospitalization, but concluded that appellant probably would not benefit from counseling or psychotherapy.

Dr. McFarley testified that appellant was more sophisticated in some ways than many adolescents his age. The record also reflects that appellant lived alone in an apartment but that his father paid the rent for the apartment.

Appellant presented no evidence in his defense at the hearing on the petition. The juvenile court found, among other things, that there was probable cause to believe appellant had committed attempted murder. Additionally, the court found that the welfare of the community required criminal proceedings. The court waived its jurisdiction over the matter and transferred it to district court.

DISCUSSION

Legal and Factual Sufficiency of the Evidence

In order to properly transfer a matter to district court, a juvenile court must find two things.1 First, the court must find probable cause to believe the juvenile committed the offense or offenses alleged in the transfer petition. See Act of May 11, 1973, 63d Leg., R.S., ch. 544, § 1, 1973 Tex. Gen. Laws 1460, 1476 (Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 54.02(a)(3), since amended) (hereinafter “Former Code”). Second, the juvenile court must find that the welfare of the community requires criminal proceedings because of the seriousness of the offense alleged or because of the background of the juvenile. Id. The juvenile court made the required findings before it transferred appellant’s case to district court.

In his first point of error, appellant complains the juvenile court erred in waiving jurisdiction and transferring the cause because the evidence was not legally or factually sufficient to support three of the juvenile court’s findings. The rules governing transfer determinations are the same as those [933]*933governing civil appeals in general. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 56.01(b) (West 1996). Absent a showing of an abuse of discretion, we will not disturb the juvenile court’s findings. In re J.P.O., 904 S.W.2d 695, 698 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1995, writ denied). In deciding whether evidence is legally sufficient, we consider only the evidence and inferences tending to support the finding of the trier of fact. E.g., Burroughs Wellcome Co. v. Crye, 907 S.W.2d 497, 499 (Tex.1995); J.P.O., 904 S.W.2d at 700. We will uphold the finding if more than a scintilla of evidence supports it. E.g., Crye, 907 S.W.2d at 499. When reviewing the factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting a finding, we must consider and weigh all the evidence in support of and contrary to the finding. E.g., Plas-Tex, Inc. v. U.S. Steel Carp., 772 S.W.2d 442, 445 (Tex.1989); J.P.O., 904 S.W.2d at 700. We will uphold the contested findings unless we find the evidence is too weak to support them, or they are so against the overwhelming weight of the evidence that they are manifestly unjust. E.g., Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821, 823 (Tex.1965); J.P.O., 904 S.W.2d at 700.

Appellant challenges the juvenile court’s finding that there was probable cause to believe appellant committed the offense of attempted murder. Probable cause exists where there are sufficient facts and circumstances to warrant a prudent person to believe the suspect committed the offense. J.P.O., 904 S.W.2d at 700. The evidence showed that appellant was present at the scene of the crime; an eyewitness to the crime identified appellant. The evidence also showed that appellant participated in the burning; appellant admitted to Livingston that he had taken part in the burning. Those facts alone constitute legally sufficient evidence upon which to base a finding of probable cause.

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

Related

in the Matter of I. N. A.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2022
in the Matter of Z.T.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2021
in the Matter of B. M.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
in the Matter of H. Y.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016
In re H.Y.
512 S.W.3d 467 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016)
In re J.G.
495 S.W.3d 354 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016)
Santos Almanzar v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012
In Re ED
127 S.W.3d 860 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2004)
In the Matter of E.D.
127 S.W.3d 860 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2004)
in the Matter of E. D.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2004
In re J.D.P.
85 S.W.3d 420 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2002)
In re C.J.H.
79 S.W.3d 698 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Charles Carlson v. State
71 S.W.3d 524 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2002)
in the Matter of C.L.L.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000
in the Matter of N. B.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999
in the Matter of C. R.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997
in the Matter of M. S.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997
In re M.S.
940 S.W.2d 789 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Matter of MS
940 S.W.2d 789 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
930 S.W.2d 929, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cc-texapp-1996.