In re C.R.K.

56 S.W.3d 288
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 9, 2001
DocketNo. 2-00-214-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 56 S.W.3d 288 (In re C.R.K.) 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.K., 56 S.W.3d 288 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

DAY, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

This is an appeal from an adjudication of juvenile delinquency for the offense of false alarm or report. Appellant C.R.K. brings four points on appeal complaining of the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the trial court’s judgment. We affirm.

II. BACKGROUND

Appellant was a student at Everman Junior High School. On February 22, 2000, he went to the principal’s office and asked if he could leave school early. Tasha Jackson, a receptionist in the front office, explained that he would not be allowed to do so. Appellant became angry and walked into the main hall, at which point Appellant threatened that he was going to burn down the school.

Cathy Anderson, the principal of the school, contacted the on-campus police officer, Mamie L. Gatlin Hodge, who brought Appellant back to the main office. Appellant was suspended and placed in an alternative school for approximately two weeks to a month.

The State filed a petition containing one paragraph alleging terroristic threat and two paragraphs alleging false alarm or report. The trial court adjudicated Appellant delinquent on the two paragraphs alleging false alarm or report and assessed punishment at an indeterminate commitment to the Texas Youth Commission until Appellant turned 21.

III.DISCUSSION

In this case the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that: (1) Appellant; (2) knowingly; (3) initiated a report; (4) of a future fire or future emergency; (5) that he knew to be baseless; and (6) that would ordinarily cause an action by an official agency organized to deal with emergencies. See Tex. PeNAL Code AnN. § 42.06 (Vernon 1994). In four points, Appellant challenges that the State failed to prove that his threat to burn down the school was false and baseless when it was made and that the threat would ordinarily cause action by an official agency organized to deal with emergencies.1

Appellant argues in his first and second points, that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support the trial court’s judgment. Specifically, Appellant contends that the State failed to prove that he knew that the alleged report was false and baseless.

In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence to support the trial court’s findings and judgment, we view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the [291]*291judgment.2 Cardenas v. State, 30 S.W.3d 384, 389-90 (Tex.Crim.App.2000); Narvaiz v. State, 840 S.W.2d 415, 423 (Tex.Crim.App.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 975, 113 S.Ct. 1422, 122 L.Ed.2d 791 (1993). The critical inquiry is whether, after so viewing the evidence, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. McDuff v. State, 939 S.W.2d 607, 614 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 844, 118 S.Ct. 125, 139 L.Ed.2d 75 (1997). This standard gives full play to the responsibility of the trier of fact to resolve conflicts in the testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Our duty is not to reweigh the evidence from reading a cold record but to act as a due process safeguard ensuring only the rationality of the fact finder. Williams v. State, 937 S.W.2d 479, 483 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). The judgment may not be overturned unless it is irrational or unsupported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Matson v. State, 819 S.W.2d 839, 846 (Tex.Crim.App.1991).

In determining the legal sufficiency of the evidence to show appellant’s intent, and faced with a record that supports conflicting inferences, we “must presume— even if it does not affirmatively appear in the record — that the trier of fact resolved any such conflict in favor of the prosecution, and must defer to that resolution.” Id.

In reviewing the factual sufficiency of the evidence, we are to view all the evidence in a neutral fight, favoring neither party. Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1, 7 (Tex.Crim.App.2000); Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 129 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). Evidence is factually insufficient if it is so weak as to be clearly wrong and manifestly unjust or the adverse finding is against the great weight and preponderance of the available evidence. Johnson, 23 S.W.3d at 11. Therefore, we must determine whether a neutral review of all the evidence, both for and against the finding, demonstrates that the proof of guilt is so obviously weak as to undermine confidence in the judgment, or the proof of guilt, although adequate if taken alone, is greatly outweighed by contrary proof. Id. In performing this review, we are to give due deference to the fact finder’s determinations. Id. at 8-9; Clewis, 922 S.W.2d at 136. Consequently, we may find the evidence factually insufficient only where necessary to prevent manifest injustice. Johnson, 23 S.W.3d at 9, 12; Cain v. State, 958 S.W.2d 404, 407 (Tex.Crim.App.1997).

The specific intent of the Appellant is an essential element of the offense of false alarm or report. See Tex. Penal Code Ann . § 42.06. The State must prove that at the time Appellant made the report he knew it was false or baseless. Watts v. State, 706 S.W.2d 707, 707 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1986, pet. ref'd). The court may use circumstantial evidence to determine the falsity of Appellant’s report. See Frost v. State, 2 S.W.3d 625, 630 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1999, pet. ref'd) (using the circumstantial evidence of defendant’s motive as evidence of the falsity of his report).

[292]*292Anderson testified that she did not feel that there was any immediate danger of Appellant carrying out his threat when he was in the office. Appellant’s counsel even characterized the threat as “an off-the-cuff angry statement.” Appellant’s counsel also argued to the trial court that Anderson “didn’t think he [Appellant] was actually going to burn the building down. She thought that the situation was perfectly under control, and quite frankly, I don’t think there was any kind of thought that the school was going to be burned the next day or the day after that.” He continued to argue that it was “a logical inference from the evidence that ... [the school administration] did not believe that the school was going to be burned down ... [because] they only called the ... campus police. They would not have called the Fort Worth police, because they didn’t consider it a serious enough threat to do that.”

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

Related

In Re CRK
56 S.W.3d 288 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
56 S.W.3d 288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-crk-texapp-2001.