in the Matter of S.D.C.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 8, 2003
Docket02-02-00182-CV
StatusPublished

This text of in the Matter of S.D.C. (in the Matter of S.D.C.) 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 the Matter of S.D.C., (Tex. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH

NO. 2-02-182-CV

 

IN THE MATTER OF S.D.C.

 

------------

FROM THE 323RD DISTRICT COURT OF TARRANT COUNTY

MEMORANDUM OPINION (1)

I. Introduction

Appellant S.D.C., a juvenile, appeals from an adjudication of delinquent conduct for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A jury found that S.D.C. had engaged in delinquent conduct, assessed his punishment at two years in the Texas Youth Commission ("TYC"), and found that S.D.C. should be placed on probation. In accordance with the jury's recommendation, the trial court placed S.D.C. on three years' probation, subject to one-year extensions up to the age of eighteen.

S.D.C. raises six points on appeal. In his first two points, he complains that the evidence is both legally and factually insufficient to support the jury's finding that he engaged in delinquent conduct. In points three through five, S.D.C. contends that the trial court erred by refusing to permit cross-examination of the victim concerning a pending arrest warrant; by admitting a pistol into evidence; and by admitting extraneous offense evidence at the adjudication phase, depriving him of a fair trial. In his sixth point, S.D.C. contends that the trial court erred by failing to include an instruction in the jury charge that extraneous offenses must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. We will affirm.

II. Background Facts

On February 7, 2002, Thierry Burston ("T. Burston") left the Railridge Apartments with a friend, Van Dean ("Dean"), while his twin brother, Brooks Burston ("B. Burston") remained upstairs in the apartment. As T. Burston approached his car, he noticed a maroon Dodge Shadow in the parking lot. Dean knew the driver of the maroon Dodge, John Brooks ("Brooks"), and went over to speak with him. T. Burston walked over to the car shortly thereafter and saw S.D.C. sitting in the front passenger seat.

Initially, T. Burston confused S.D.C. with S.D.C.'s brother, Otis. The Burston brothers had recently had an altercation with Otis and others at a convenience store. Believing S.D.C. was Otis, T. Burston told S.D.C. to get out of the car. The driver, Brooks, got out of the car first to take up for S.D.C. S.D.C. and a third passenger, who was sitting in the back seat, then exited the car. After exiting the car, Brooks ran around to the passenger side and asked T. Burston, "[W]hy are you "f---ing with my homeboy?"

T. Burston, realizing he and Dean were outnumbered, told Dean to go get B. Burston. As B. Burston approached the group, he asked, "Who wants to box?" Brooks then ran partway back around the car, turned and came back with a gun in his hand, and pointed the gun at T. Burston's face. At this point, B. Burston ducked behind some parked cars.

Brooks, still pointing the gun at T. Burston, began repeatedly yelling at S.D.C. to move the car, tapping it as he was yelling. S.D.C. got into the passenger's side of the vehicle and slid over to the driver's side and began moving the vehicle. Once the car starting moving, Brooks lowered the gun slightly and the Burston brothers and Dean ran toward the Burstons' apartment.

Brooks shot at the Burstons and Dean as they fled. While T. Burston was running up the stairs to his apartment, he heard gunshots and felt pieces of the apartment wall that had been hit by gunfire falling on his head. B. Burston was hit in his left buttock. The bullet traveled through his body and exited through the front of his pants.

When they reached the apartment, T. Burston called the police. The police arrived and learned from Dean and T. Burston the identity of the vehicle used in the shooting and that Brooks and S.D.C. were suspects in the shooting. Two officers drove T. Burston and Dean around the neighborhood until they identified a maroon Dodge vehicle sitting in Brooks's driveway as the vehicle driven by the shooter. They also showed the officers where S.D.C. lived.

The officers obtained an arrest warrant for Brooks and a search warrant for his home. The search of Brooks's home revealed a handgun not associated with the offense and small baggies containing what appeared to be marijuana. Brooks was arrested. The officers spoke with Brooks and learned that the weapon used in the shooting might be at S.D.C.'s house.

Officers then went to S.D.C.'s home and obtained consent to search from S.D.C.'s mother. S.D.C. was on the living room sofa when the officers arrived. Next to the sofa, officers found a backpack containing a Glock 21 pistol and its loaded magazine wrapped in a towel. The backpack also contained nine baggies of a substance the officers believed to be marijuana. School papers in the backpack bore the name of S.D.C.'s brother, Otis. S.D.C. was arrested. Ballistics tests proved that three cartridges found at the shooting scene were fired from the Glock 21 pistol seized from the backpack at S.D.C.'s home.

III. Legal and Factual Sufficiency of the Evidence

In his first and second points, S.D.C. contends legally and factually insufficient evidence exists to support the jury's finding that he committed the offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon either as a primary actor or under the law of parties. S.D.C. thus challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's adjudication finding. In the adjudication phase of a juvenile case, the criminal legal and factual sufficiency standards of review apply. In re J.D.P., 85 S.W.3d 420, 422-23 (Tex. App.--Fort Worth 2002, no pet.); In re G.A.T., 16 S.W.3d 818, 828 (Tex. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 2000, pet. denied).

In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. 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 (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 (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 (1979).

In reviewing the factual sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we are to view all the evidence in a neutral light, 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).

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

Related

Davis v. Alaska
415 U.S. 308 (Supreme Court, 1974)
Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Delaware v. Van Arsdall
475 U.S. 673 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Cardenas v. State
30 S.W.3d 384 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Moreno v. State
22 S.W.3d 482 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Juneau v. State
49 S.W.3d 387 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)
Muniz v. State
851 S.W.2d 238 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Hudson v. State
675 S.W.2d 507 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Duncan v. State
899 S.W.2d 279 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Kemp v. State
846 S.W.2d 289 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Bridgewater v. State
905 S.W.2d 349 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Waldo v. State
746 S.W.2d 750 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1988)
Campos v. State
589 S.W.2d 424 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1979)
Cain v. State
958 S.W.2d 404 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Lagrone v. State
942 S.W.2d 602 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Narvaiz v. State
840 S.W.2d 415 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Wilkerson v. State
881 S.W.2d 321 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Atkins v. State
515 S.W.2d 904 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1974)
Matson v. State
819 S.W.2d 839 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Harris v. State
738 S.W.2d 207 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
in the Matter of S.D.C., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-matter-of-sdc-texapp-2003.