in the Matter of L.M.O., a Juvenile

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 31, 2014
Docket10-13-00425-CV
StatusPublished

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Bluebook
in the Matter of L.M.O., a Juvenile, (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

No. 10-13-00425-CV

IN THE MATTER OF L.M.O., A JUVENILE

From the County Court at Law No. 1 Johnson County, Texas Trial Court No. J05419

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In three issues, appellant, L.M.O., a juvenile, challenges the jury’s finding that he

engaged in delinquent conduct. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In its original adjudication petition, the State alleged that appellant engaged in

delinquent conduct—specifically, burglary of a motor vehicle, engaging in organized

criminal activity, and evading arrest. The charged offenses in this case occurred on or

about March 11, 2013, and stemmed from, among other things, the burglary of Trenna

Stafford’s motor vehicle and appellant’s subsequent attempts to evade arrest. At the

time of the alleged incident, appellant was fifteen years old. The case proceeded to trial before a jury. Appellant pleaded “true” to the

evading-arrest allegation. At the conclusion of the evidence, the jury determined that

disposition should be made on the allegation made in the State’s adjudication petition.

Thereafter, the trial court signed an adjudication order, stating that appellant engaged

in delinquent conduct within the meaning of section 51.03 of the Texas Family Code.

See generally TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 51.03 (West 2014). A disposition hearing

immediately followed. In its order of disposition, the trial court noted that appellant is

in need of rehabilitation. To that end, the trial court placed appellant on probation for a

period of twelve months and ordered that appellant pay probation fees, complete 120

hours of community service, and successfully complete individual counseling, family

counseling, drug and alcohol counseling, and the Youth Advocate Program. In

addition, as a condition of appellant’s probation, the trial court also ordered appellant’s

parents to attend parent orientation. The trial court certified appellant’s right of appeal,

and this appeal followed.

II. ENGAGING IN ORGANIZED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

In his first and third issues, appellant challenges the State’s allegation that he

engaged in organized criminal activity. Specifically, in his first issue, appellant

contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict because

the record contains no evidence or testimony indicating that he “planned or

collaborated . . . or otherwise ‘conspired to commit’ criminal activities beyond the

conclusion of one single event consisting of [his] burglary or attempted burglary of a

single vehicle.” In his third issue, appellant contends that the burglaries on the night in

In the Matter of L.M.O. Page 2 question constituted a single criminal episode, rather than a continuing course of

criminal activity.

A. Facts

The record reflects that appellant, A.L., and Vicente Elizalde Jr. were hanging out

drinking and smoking cigarettes on the night in question. After smoking all of the

cigarettes they had, Elizalde suggested that appellant drive to Elizalde’s neighbor’s

house to get more cigarettes. Appellant did not have a driver’s license at the time, and

he had taken the vehicle without his parent’s permission. Nevertheless, appellant

agreed to take Elizalde and A.L. to the neighbor’s house to get more cigarettes.

According to A.L., Elizalde told A.L. and appellant that he was going to steal some

cigarettes from his neighbor’s vehicle. Elizalde stole two cigarettes from the neighbor’s

vehicle while A.L. and appellant remained in appellant’s parent’s car. The record

reflects that the three friends smoked the two cigarettes that were stolen from the

neighbor’s vehicle. The group then drove around looking for more cigarettes and other

items from other cars. Appellant drove his parent’s car through Elizalde’s

neighborhood and other neighborhoods looking for more items to steal. Appellant

drove slowly and would stop the car to allow A.L. and Elizalde to enter and steal items

from other vehicles.

Later that night, appellant allowed Elizalde to drive the car. Though it was dark,

Elizalde drove the car without the headlights turned on, presumably to avoid detection.

Both A.L. and Elizalde testified that, after Elizalde began driving the car, appellant

burglarized several vehicles and removed items from the vehicles. The group then

In the Matter of L.M.O. Page 3 devised a plan to steal change from vehicles to pay for gasoline for appellant’s parent’s

car. According to A.L., appellant stole coins from ten to fifteen different vehicles,

though appellant admitted to only attempting to burglarize one vehicle. In total, A.L.

estimated that the friends burglarized about forty vehicles. Elizalde stated that they

had burglarized twenty to twenty-five vehicles.

Thereafter, police caught up with the three friends and began following the

vehicle. Upon noticing that they were being followed, the three friends fled on foot

from police. Eventually, the three friends were arrested.

B. Motion for Directed Verdict

We review a challenge to the denial of a motion for directed verdict as a

challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Williams v. State, 937 S.W.2d 479, 482

(Tex. Crim. App. 1996). The Court of Criminal Appeals has expressed our standard of

review of a sufficiency issue as follows:

In determining whether the evidence is legally sufficient to support a conviction, a reviewing court must consider all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether, based on that evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom, a rational fact finder could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560 (1979); Hooper v. State, 214 S.W.3d 9, 13 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007). This “familiar standard gives full play to the responsibility of the trier of fact fairly 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. “Each fact need not point directly and independently to the guilt of the appellant, as long as the cumulative force of all the incriminating circumstances is sufficient to support the conviction.” Hooper, 214 S.W.3d at 13.

Lucio v. State, 351 S.W.3d 878, 894 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011).

In the Matter of L.M.O. Page 4 Our review of "all of the evidence" includes evidence that was properly and

improperly admitted. Conner v. State, 67 S.W.3d 192, 197 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001). And if

the record supports conflicting inferences, we must presume that the factfinder resolved

the conflicts in favor of the prosecution and therefore defer to that determination.

Jackson, 443 U.S. at 326, 99 S. Ct. at 2793. Furthermore, direct and circumstantial

evidence are treated equally: “Circumstantial evidence is as probative as direct

evidence in establishing the guilt of an actor, and circumstantial evidence alone can be

sufficient to establish guilt.” Hooper, 214 S.W.3d at 13.

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Hart v. State
89 S.W.3d 61 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Middleton v. State
125 S.W.3d 450 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Hooper v. State
214 S.W.3d 9 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Miller v. State
83 S.W.3d 308 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Munoz v. State
29 S.W.3d 205 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Malik v. State
953 S.W.2d 234 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Olivas v. State
202 S.W.3d 137 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Williams v. State
937 S.W.2d 479 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Barber v. State
764 S.W.2d 232 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1988)
Dowdle v. State
11 S.W.3d 233 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Roberson v. State
311 S.W.3d 642 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Stuhler v. State
218 S.W.3d 706 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Otto v. State
95 S.W.3d 282 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Conner v. State
67 S.W.3d 192 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2001)
Chambers v. State
805 S.W.2d 459 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Almanza v. State
686 S.W.2d 157 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Arline v. State
721 S.W.2d 348 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1986)
Hutch v. State
922 S.W.2d 166 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Lucio v. State
351 S.W.3d 878 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2011)

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