In re J.W.W.

507 S.W.3d 408, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 11927
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 3, 2016
DocketNO. 01-16-00394-CV, NO. 01-16-00395-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 507 S.W.3d 408 (In re J.W.W.) 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 J.W.W., 507 S.W.3d 408, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 11927 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

Terry Jennings, Justice

In these accelerated appeals,1 appellant, J.J.W., a minor, challenges the juvenile court’s orders, entered after a hearing, waiving its exclusive original jurisdiction over the cases and transferring them to the criminal district court for him to be tried as an adult for the felony offenses of escape from custody, causing serious bodily injury,2 and assault of a public servant.3 In two issues, J.W.W. contends that the juvenile court erred in waiving its exclusive original jurisdiction and transferring the cases to a criminal district court on the grounds that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support certain findings made by the juvenile court.

We affirm.

Background

On November 20, 2015, the State, in trial court cause number 2015-06714J-Amended, filed a petition to adjudicate J.W.W. a juvenile delinquent, alleging that he “unlawfully, intentionally, knowingly escape[d] from custody while detained in a secure detention facility ..., namely [the] Harris County Juvenile Detention Center[,] and to effect his escape, [he] caused serious bodily injury to” Juvenile Supervision Officer T. Keneaster. On December 16, 2015, the State, in trial court cause number 2015-07198J-Amended, filed a petition to adjudicate J.W.W. a juvenile delinquent, alleging that he “unlawfully and intentionally, knowingly eause[d] bodily injury to [Juvenile Supervision Officer R. Brown] ..., a person th[at] [he] knew was a public servant while [Brown] was lawfully discharging an official duty, ... by striking [Brown] with his hand.” The State then moved, in both cases, for the juvenile court to waive its exclusive original jurisdiction over the cases and transfer them to the criminal district court for J.W.W. to stand trial as an adult.4

At the transfer hearing on the State’s motions,5 Harris County Constable’s Office, Precinct 1, Deputy S. Hausler, assigned to the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center, testified that on November 15, 2015, he reported to the detention center and reviewed videotape footage of three juvenile offenders escaping from custody. The escape incident occurred on the seventh floor of the detention center and began with a juvenile offender, A.C., in his cell. A.C., whose cell door was open at the time, exited his cell and “viciously assaulted]” Officer Keneaster. A.C. picked [411]*411up Keneaster, threw him onto the floor, and punched him in the face several times until he appeared to be unconscious. A.C. then obtained Keneaster’s keys, unlocked two additional cell doors, and released two other juvenile offenders, J.W.W. and D.H.6 Hausler noted that while A.C. attacked Keneaster, J.W.W. “put[ ] something around his face to try and hide his identity and [to] prepare to be let out of his cell.”

After A.C., J.W.W., and D.H. exited their respective cells, they went to the control room, acquired fire extinguishers, and proceeded down several flights of stairs to the probation area on the first floor of the detention center. They then left the detention center through the final exit door onto the street. Although law enforcement officers apprehended A.C. and D.H. the next day, they did not apprehend J.W.W. until five days after the escape.

Deputy Hausler opined that A.C., J.W.W., and D.H. had planned their escape and were organized. “It did not appear that they were not prepared for their next action or ... the route they were taking or what they were going to do.” In regard to Officer Keneaster’s injuries, Hausler noted that “[h]is face was extremely swollen on both sides,” “[t]he inside of his lips were cut, bruised, and he had bruising all about his face and neck.” He had to be transported to a hospital and lost several teeth.

Deputy Hausler further testified that on December 9, 2015, Officer Brown took J.W.W. from his cell and escorted him to the first floor of the detention center for a hearing before a judge. Following the hearing, Brown escorted J.W.W. back to his cell. Once inside the cell, Brown removed the handcuffs on J.W.W., who then assaulted Brown by striking him in his face. Brown sustained a cut near his left eye and bruising. And J.W.W. suffered “bruising and swelling to his right fist and knuckle area.”

Finally, Deputy Hausler noted that, at the time of the hearing, J.W.W. had “two previously certified aggravated robber[y]” cases pending against him. He noted further that there had been no adjudication in either case, the cases had not been dismissed, and J.W.W. had not been found not guilty in either case.

The juvenile court admitted into evidence an Order to Waive Jurisdiction from trial court cause number 2014-02350J-Amended, reflecting that it had previously waived its exclusive original jurisdiction over J.W.W. and ordered him transferred to the criminal district court for proceedings after finding that he was “charged with a violation of a penal law of the grade of felony, namely Aggravated Bobbery, committed on or about the 9th day of April, 2014”; there had been “no adjudication of th[e] offense”; he was “14 years of age or older at the time of the commission of the alleged offense having been born on May 22, 1999”; there was “probable cause to believe that [he] committed the Aggravated Robbery alleged in the [State’s] petition”; and “because of the seriousness of the offense and/or the background of [J.W.W.], ... the welfare of the community require[d] [a] criminal proceeding.”7

[412]*412The juvenile court also admitted into evidence an Order to Waive Jurisdiction from trial court cause number 2014-02415J-Amended, reflecting that it had previously waived its exclusive original jurisdiction over J.W.W. and ordered him transferred to the criminal district court for criminal proceedings after finding that he was “charged with a violation of a penal law of the grade of felony, namely Aggravated Robbery, committed on or about the 29th day of March, 2014”; there had been “no adjudication of th[e] offense”; he was “14 years of age or older at the time of the commission of the alleged offense having been born on May 22, 1999”; there was “probable cause to believe that [he] committed the Aggravated Robbery alleged in the [State’s] petition”; and “because of the seriousness of the offense and/or the background of [J.W.W.], ... the welfare of the community require[d] [a] criminal proceeding.”8

After the hearing, the juvenile court waived its exclusive original jurisdiction over the cases and ordered them transferred to the criminal district court for J.W.W. to stand trial as an adult.9

Standard of Review

The Juvenile Justice Code governs proceedings in all cases involving the delinquent conduct of an individual who was a child at the time he engaged in the conduct. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 51.04(a) (Vernon Supp. 2016); see also id. §§ 51.02(2)(A) (defining “[c]hild” as person “ten years of age or older and under 17 years of age” (internal quotations omitted)), 51.03(a)(1) (defining “[d]elinquent conduct” as conduct “violating] a penal law of th[e] state or of the United States punishable by imprisonment or by confinement in jail”) (Vernon Supp. 2016). The juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction over all proceedings governed by the Juvenile Justice Code. Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
507 S.W.3d 408, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 11927, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-jww-texapp-2016.