In re the Commitment of Short

521 S.W.3d 908, 2017 WL 2471093, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 5246
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 8, 2017
DocketNO. 02-16-00179-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 521 S.W.3d 908 (In re the Commitment of Short) 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 the Commitment of Short, 521 S.W.3d 908, 2017 WL 2471093, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 5246 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

MARK T. PITTMAN, JUSTICE

A jury found that Appellant Von Michael Short is a sexually violent predator (SVP), and, accordingly, the trial court ordered him to be civilly committed in accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code section 841.081. See Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 841.081 (West Supp. 2016). In two issues, Short challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury’s verdict. We affirm the trial court’s judgment of civil commitment.

[910]*910I. Procedural History

The State of Texas filed a petition to have Short civilly committed as a SVP. See id, § 841.041(a) (West Supp. 2016). The State alleged, that Short was a repeat sexually violent offender who had been convicted of (1) burglary by entering a habitation and attempting to commit and committing a sexual assault; (2) aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault committed during the kidnapping; (3) sexual assault at an apartment complex; and (4) attempted aggravated sexual assault of a coworker.

The matter was tried to a jury. The State called two forensic psychologists 'and Short as witnesses. Short testified again in his defense and also called a forensic psychologist, his sister, and three péople who knew him from volunteer work they had performed through a faith-based prison program.

The jury was instructed that “[a] person is a sexually violent predator ... if the person[] is a repeat sexually violent offended ] and ,.. suffers from a behavioral abnormality that makes the person likely to engage in a predatory act of sexual violence.” See id. § 841.023(a) (West Supp. 2016). After deliberations, a unanimous jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that Short is a SVP. In accordance with the -jury’s verdict, the trial court ordered Short to be civilly committed.

II. Analysis

On appeal, Short challenges the jury’s finding, arguing in his first issue that the evidence was legally insufficient to support a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that he has a behavioral abnormality because the State failed to provide any connection between his past and present behavior. In his second issue,, he challenges the factual, insufficiency of the evidence on the same ground.

A. Short Preserved his Challenges to the Sufficiency of the Evidence.

Before we consider Short’s issues, we first address the State’s contention that Short failed to preserve .his sufficiency challenges. The State maintains that Short’s complaints on appeal are not preserved because they are not the same as those he raised in his motion for new trial. We disagree.

A party may preserve sufficiency arguments by raising them in a motion for new trial. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 324(b) (providing that a motion for new trial is a prerequisite to complaining on appeal of factual insufficiency of the evidence to support a jury finding); Hutchison v. Pharris, 158 S.W.3d 554, 562 (Tex. App.—Port Worth 2005, no pet.) (noting that a motion for new trial preserves a legal sufficiency complaint). Here, Short filed a motion for new trial asserting, among other grounds, that the State’s experts “failed to show a basis for support of their opinion that [his] sexual deviance makes him likely to act on that tendency.” Short further asserted that the jury’s answer to question, one .in the jury charge was -not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. That question asked the jury whether it found beyond a reasonable doubt that Short is a sexually violent predator. Short contended in his motion that he was not “shown to have engaged in a sexually violent act today, which affected his. emotional and volitional capacity” and that the State’s expert testimony failed , to “close the analytical gap”, between Short’s past offenses and his sexual behavior today.

On appeal, Short makes essentially the same complaint in his sufficiency challenges—that the State did not meet .its burden of proof to show that he currently lacks control over his own behavior and that the State failed to connect his past [911]*911behavior to his present behavior. Shores complaints in his motion for new trial were clear enough to give the trial , court the opportunity to address them. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 321 (requiring that each point relied on in a motion for new trial “shall-briefly refer to that part of the ruling of the court ... in such a way that the objection can be clearly identified and understood by the court”); Arkoma Basin Expl Co., Inc. v. FMF Assocs. 1990-A, Ltd., 249 S.W.3d 380, 387 (Tex. 2008) (“[T]he cardinal rule for preserving error is that an objection must be clear enough to give the trial court an opportunity to correct it.”). Short therefore preserved his complaints for appeal. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 324(b)(2); Hutchison, 158 S.W.3d at 562.

B. The Standard of . Review Applied to Civil Commitment Proceedings

We review SVP civil commitment proceedings for legal sufficiency of the evidence using the appellate standard of review applied in criminal cases. In re Commitment of Stuteville, 463 S.W.3d 543, 551 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2015, pet. denied); see In re Commitment of Dever, No. 02-16-00276-CV, 521 S.W.3d 84, 85-86, 2017 WL 1089695, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Mar. 23, 2017, no. pet.). We assess the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether any rational trier of fact could find the statutory elements required for commitment beyond a reasonable doubt. Stuteville, 463 S.W.3d at 551.

When reviewing the factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the civil commitment order, we weigh all the evidence to determine “whether a verdict that is supported by legally sufficient evidence nevertheless reflects a risk of injustice that would compel ordering a new trial.” Dever, 521 S.W.3d at 86, 2017 WL 1089695, at *1 (quoting In re Commitment of Day, 342 S.W.3d 193, 213 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2011, pet. denied)). We reverse only if, after weighing the evidence, we determine that the risk of an injustice remains too great to allow the verdict to stand. Stuteville, 463 S.W.3d at 562 (quotation marks omitted); see also Brooks v. Stale, 323 S.W.3d 893, 895, 912 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010).

C. SVP Civil Commitment Proceedings

Chapter 841 of the health and safety code (the SVP Act) provides a procedure for the involuntary- civil commitment of a SVP. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 841.001 (West 2010). The procedure begins with the assessment of a potentially sexually violent offender before the person’s release date. A.person meets.the criteria for an assessment if the person (1) is serving a sentence ,for a sexually violent offense described in the SVP Act and (2) may be a repeat sexually violent offender. Id. §§ 841.021(a), 841.003(b) (West Supp.

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Bluebook (online)
521 S.W.3d 908, 2017 WL 2471093, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 5246, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-commitment-of-short-texapp-2017.