In re C.R.

571 S.W.3d 849
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 31, 2018
DocketNO. 01-18-00185-CV; NO. 01-18-00186-CV; NO. 01-18-00187-CV; NO. 01-18-00188-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 571 S.W.3d 849 (In re C.R.) 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.R., 571 S.W.3d 849 (Tex. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Michael Massengale, Justice

The juvenile court waived jurisdiction over the appellant, C.R., with respect to *853charges of capital murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated robbery. A fourth charge of evading detention was dismissed in the trial court. Appellant was ordered transferred to the criminal district court for further criminal proceedings.

Appellant challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the juvenile court's findings of probable cause that he committed the alleged offenses and that the welfare of the community requires criminal proceedings. See TEX. FAM. CODE § 54.02(a). We dismiss the appeal taken from the nonsuited charge. With respect to the remaining charges, we conclude that the juvenile court's determinations were supported by legally and factually sufficient evidence, and the court did not abuse its discretion by certifying appellant to stand trial as an adult. Accordingly, we affirm.

Background

In March 2017, the State filed petitions in Harris County juvenile court alleging that appellant C.R., at age 16, engaged in delinquent conduct by committing aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon,1 evading detention,2 capital murder,3 and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.4 Pursuant to section 54.02(a) of the Family Code, the State later petitioned the juvenile court to waive its exclusive original jurisdiction and transfer appellant to the criminal court for further proceedings on each of the charges, excluding evading detention. The juvenile court ordered a certification examination, which was conducted prior to the certification hearing.

At the hearing, the trial judge took judicial notice of the court's file for each of the three cause numbers for which the State sought certification. The State called Harris County Sheriff's Office Detective J. Roberts as a witness. In January 2017, Detective Roberts was notified of a reported shooting in a movie theater parking lot. Two males, Daniel Gerding and C.T., had sustained gunshot wounds. Gerding had been shot twice in the back, and he later died of his injuries. The autopsy report on Gerding's body noted that he had two gunshot wounds to his back, each with an exit wound through the chest. It identified the cause of Gerding's death as gunshot wounds to the chest, and homicide as the manner of death.

C.T. had been shot in the face. Detective Roberts testified that a bullet passed through C.T.'s left jaw socket and exited through his right jaw socket. C.T. survived his injuries. Photographs of his injuries were admitted into evidence.

Detective Roberts did not have an opportunity to speak with Gerding before he passed away. Both Gerding and C.T. were transported to the hospital before Detective Roberts arrived at the movie theater. However, Detective Roberts testified that responding officers informed him that Gerding stated at the scene that he and C.T. were robbed in his car by a Hispanic male and female. The certification evaluation report, which was admitted into evidence, stated that Gerding had further indicated that he was shot during a drug transaction that "went bad."

As part of his investigation, Detective Roberts inspected a car that was parked in the movie theater parking lot. He testified that bags of marijuana were scattered outside *854of the car, and the way the marijuana was packaged indicated that it may have been intended for sale. He further testified that the "unorganized" placement of the bags suggested that "some type of incident" occurred at the car. Two mobile phones, which were later determined to belong to Gerding and C.T., respectively, were collected from inside and around the car. Roberts determined that the car was registered to Gerding's father.

Once C.T. recovered from his injuries, he gave a statement to Detective Roberts. C.T. stated that on the night of the shooting, Gerding arranged to meet a "Hispanic female" in the movie theater parking lot. C.T. and Gerding were sitting in Gerding's parked car when the female arrived. She was accompanied by a Hispanic male, and they both got into the back seat of Gerding's car. C.T. informed Detective Roberts that there was some conversation between the others in the car, and Gerding abruptly attempted to exit the car. The male then shot Gerding twice in the back. C.T. turned around, and the male shot him in the face.

Detective Roberts obtained telephone records for the mobile phones that were recovered at the scene of the shooting. The telephone number associated with the last incoming calls to and outgoing calls from Gerding's phone prior to the shooting was registered to the father of a local high school student, F.D. Detective Roberts met with F.D. at her school. She told him that on the night of the shooting, she had met with appellant at a party. He asked her to set up a meeting with a drug dealer so he could rob the person. F.D. sent text messages to several people who she knew sold drugs, including Gerding, who was the first to respond to the text message. F.D. asked him for marijuana, and they agreed to meet at the movie theater.

F.D. told Detective Roberts that appellant drove her to the theater in a white pickup truck. When they arrived, appellant parked on the side of the building. They both got into the back seat of Gerding's car, which already was parked at the theater. F.D. stated that Gerding showed them a gram of marijuana, and appellant grew impatient because it was not the amount they had agreed upon. Appellant then displayed a semi-automatic handgun. Gerding tried to leave the car, and appellant shot him twice. Then appellant shot C.T. in the face.

F.D. stated that she and appellant ran back to the truck. Appellant told F.D. that he had dropped the clip from his weapon. He also asked for her mobile phone, which he broke and later threw out of the car. He told her not to tell anyone about what happened. F.D. told Detective Roberts that appellant drove to a gas station and parked at a pump. She explained that appellant got out of the truck and walked toward the store at the gas station. He went back to the truck, and he changed his clothing before walking back toward the store and going inside. They left the gas station and went to a party. Then appellant dropped her off at home.

Based on the name, age, and description provided by F.D., Detective Roberts obtained a photograph of appellant. He showed the picture to F.D., and she confirmed that he was the person who shot Gerding.

Detective Roberts obtained surveillance video footage from the gas station, which he believed corroborated F.D.'s statement. He stated that the video showed a white pickup truck pulling up to the pump. A male got out of the truck, walked toward the store, and then walked back to the truck before entering the store. The summary of the offense included in the certification evaluation report stated that the *855male entered the store wearing different-colored shoes than when he initially exited the truck. Although he could not positively identify appellant in the video, Detective Roberts stated that the footage of the male entering the store "appears" to fit appellant's description. The video was admitted into evidence.

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Bluebook (online)
571 S.W.3d 849, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cr-texapp-2018.