In re S.B.

117 S.W.3d 443
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 29, 2003
DocketNo. 2-01-350-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 117 S.W.3d 443 (In re S.B.) 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 S.B., 117 S.W.3d 443 (Tex. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

OPINION

ANNE GARDNER, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

Appellant S.B., a juvenile, appeals from an order of adjudication of delinquency and disposition of two years’ probation, which the trial court entered after a jury found she had engaged in delinquent conduct by committing aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She raises two issues: (1) the trial court erred by including terroristic threat in the charge as a lesser included offense of aggravated assault; and (2) there was legally insufficient evidence to support the verdict of true to the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Appellant and D.F., the alleged victim, were both students at Hebron High School in 2001. While at school on March 2, 2001, D.F. felt water being sprayed on him during his first period class and thought that Appellant was the person who sprayed him. D.F. told Appellant that he was going to get her back. Later that day, D.F. approached Appellant near the school weight room and spit a mouthful of water on her. Appellant stated that a mixture of water and D.F.’s slobber hit the top of her face, went into her eyes, and dripped down her face. D.F. admitted that some of the water reached Appellant’s clothes; although he was unsure if any reached her face. D.F. then went inside the weight room to work out. Shortly thereafter, Appellant went into the weight room and, according to her, demanded an apology from D.F.

Approximately eighty to ninety people were in the weight room, including the entire varsity football squad, of which D.F. was a member, and two male coaches. Because only the boys were supposed to be in the weight room at that time, Coach Sam Harrison told Appellant to leave. Appellant obeyed his instruction and left the room. She then went to another coach to tell him about D.F. spitting water in her face; however, the coach laughed about what she told him and otherwise ignored her complaints.

A few minutes later, she went back inside the weight room, this time with a blue aluminum baseball bat in hand. D.F. testified that Appellant stopped fifteen to eighteen feet from him. Appellant estimated that she stood between ten and fifteen feet from D.F. Several witnesses testified that she came within various distances, and some witnesses testified that they observed her holding the bat in an [445]*445upright position with the wide end next to her head. Appellant and another witness, however, testified that she was holding the bat at her side.

Appellant yelled at D.F., which caused him to take a couple of steps back. While Appellant admitted to having “a verbal exchange and conversation,” D.F. quoted Appellant as saying, “You don’t fucking know me. I’ll fucking hit you.” At some point, Coach Harrison saw Appellant holding the bat in the air while yelling at D.F., and he again told Appellant to leave the weight room. Coach Harrison and another witness then observed Appellant lower the bat, turn to leave the room, and then raise the bat again while looking at Coach Harrison. Coach Harrison stated that before Appellant exited the weight room, she told him, “I will beat the shit out of you, too.”

Coach Harrison contacted the front office personnel, who eventually called the police to investigate the incident. Appellant was charged with aggravated assault for threatening D.F. with imminent bodily injury and using or exhibiting a baseball bat that, in its manner of intended use, was capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.1 Appellant pleaded not true to the charge, and at the ensuing contested adjudication, a jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant had engaged in delinquent conduct as alleged in the petition. Following a disposition hearing, the court placed Appellant on probation for two years and required that she complete 100 hours of community service.

III. LEGAL SUFFICIENCY

In her second issue, Appellant complains that the evidence was legally insufficient to support the jury’s finding of true on the charge of aggravated assault. Specifically, Appellant argues that there was no evidence that she threatened D.F. with imminent serious bodily injury or that she used or exhibited a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault on D.F. The State counters that the evidence was legally sufficient to support the jury’s verdict. We agree with Appellant.

A. Standard of Review

Consistent with fundamental due process requirements, no person may be convicted of a criminal offense unless criminal responsibility for the offense is proved beyond a reasonable doubt. U.S. Const. Amend. XIV; Alvarado v. State, 912 S.W.2d 199, 206-07 (Tex.Crim.App.1995) (citing In re Winship, 897 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1072-73, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970)). When juvenile appellants complain that the evidence was legally insufficient to support the adjudication of delinquency, we apply the criminal standard of review, which is more stringent than the “no evidence” standard applicable in civil cases. In re J.D.P., 85 S.W.3d 420, 422 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2002, no pet.). The relevant question is not whether there was any evidence to support a state-court conviction, but whether there was sufficient evidence to justify a rational trier of fact to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2788-89, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence under the criminal standard, we view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict in order to determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. [446]*4462781; Burden v. State, 55 S.W.3d 608, 612 (Tex.Crim.App.2001). 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, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. at 2789. When performing a legal sufficiency review, we may not sit as a thirteenth juror, re-evaluating the weight and credibility of the evidence and, thus, substituting our judgment for that of the fact finder. Dewberry v. State, 4 S.W.3d 735, 740 (Tex.Crim.App.1999), cert. denied, 529 U.S. 1131, 120 S.Ct. 2008, 146 L.Ed.2d 958 (2000).

In determining the legal sufficiency of the evidence, 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.” Matson v. State, 819 S.W.2d 839, 846 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). The standard of review is the same for direct and circumstantial evidence cases. Burden, 55 S.W.3d at 613; Kutzner v. State, 994 S.W.2d 180, 184 (Tex.Crim.App.1999).

B. Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon

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Bluebook (online)
117 S.W.3d 443, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-sb-texapp-2003.