Jeffery Todd Archer v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 14, 2023
Docket07-22-00139-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Jeffery Todd Archer v. the State of Texas (Jeffery Todd Archer v. the State of Texas) 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
Jeffery Todd Archer v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

In The Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

No. 07-22-00139-CR

JEFFERY TODD ARCHER, APPELLANT

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

On Appeal from the County Court Deaf Smith County, Texas, Trial Court No. 21-0190, Honorable D.J. Wagner, Presiding

June 14, 2023 MEMORANDUM OPINION Before QUINN, C.J., and DOSS and YARBROUGH, JJ.

Section 30.05(a) of the Texas Penal Code defines criminal trespass to occur when,

among other things, a “person enters * * * on or in property of another * * * without effective

consent and the person [] had notice that the entry was forbidden . . . .” Per statute, notice

can be given through “fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude intruders

or to contain livestock.” TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 30.05(b)(2). There is no dispute that

Appellant, Jeffery Todd Archer, crossed such a border fence and entered onto the property owned by Raymond DeChant. Although DeChant testified he would have

provided Appellant consent to enter his land under other circumstances (i.e., if Appellant

had not been carrying a firearm), such conditions were not present here.

Through three issues, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, the

trial court’s refusal to submit two requested jury instructions, and the trial court’s failure to

grant a mistrial because of allegedly improper jury communication. We overrule

Appellant’s issues and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Background

An information alleged that Appellant intentionally and knowingly entered onto

DeChant’s property without effective consent, that Appellant had notice the entry was

forbidden, and that at the time Appellant was carrying a handgun.1 The State did not

allege Appellant violated the law by remaining on DeChant’s property after being given

notice to depart, so we do not discuss that evidence here.2 Evidence at trial showed

Appellant and his family lived near Hereford, Texas, on property adjacent to DeChant’s.

A fence surrounded DeChant’s property, where he kept chickens, a calf, and a horse.

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 30.05(a). See also TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 30.05(d)(3)(C) (classifying an offense under section 30.05 a Class A misdemeanor if the accused carries a deadly weapon during the commission of the offense); Ladouceur v. State, No. 05-12-00366-CR, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 7792, at *5 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 25, 2013, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (stating “[c]riminal trespass is normally a Class B misdemeanor. However, the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the defendant carries a deadly weapon during the commission of the offense.”) (cleaned up).

2 See Martin v. State, No. 07-11-00102-CR, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 2587, at *3–5 (Tex. App.—

Amarillo Mar. 30, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (holding that when the State alleges only the elements of criminal trespass by entry, our review is therefore limited to that theory of criminal liability).

2 DeChant testified the fence was intended to contain his livestock, and said he considered

anyone who crossed over the fence to be an “intruder.”

Appellant and his family owned a dog that occasionally ventured onto DeChant’s

property. DeChant told Appellant’s spouse he did not want the dog on his property. On

February 21, 2021, DeChant saw Appellant’s dog on his property eating one of his

chickens. DeChant shot and killed the dog. When Appellant learned the news, evidence

revealed he crossed the fence bordering DeChant’s property “screaming and hollering,”

while waving a holstered handgun. At some point, Appellant’s spouse also entered the

property. DeChant contacted the sheriff’s department, and Appellant was arrested for the

offense of criminal trespass.

At trial, when asked if he had given Appellant permission to come onto his property

on February 21, DeChant responded, “Not that day. No I hadn’t.” DeChant later testified

he would have had no objection for Appellant to have entered his land except that

Appellant was carrying a firearm at the time. DeChant also said:

• When Appellant brought a gun onto his property, DeChant felt Appellant was there to harm him.

• Without Appellant’s presence to commit harm to DeChant, the two “would’ve sat down and visited.”

• DeChant would have allowed Appellant to come on his property to retrieve the dog if Appellant had asked and not brought a gun.

• DeChant agreed with the prosecutor’s statement that “if Mr. Archer had just come over and had a conversation with you, we would not be here today . . . .”

Other testimony at trial indicated that the families’ children had crossed the border fence

“many times” without complaint by DeChant.

3 A jury found Appellant guilty of the charged offense and the trial court assessed

punishment at 180 days of confinement in the county jail, probated for one year, a fine of

$1,000, and court costs.

Analysis

First Issue: Sufficiency of the Evidence

By his first issue, Appellant argues the State failed to present sufficient evidence

that he entered the property of DeChant without his effective consent. Our sufficiency

determination is directed by the familiar standard of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307,

318–19 (1979). We view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to

determine whether any rational factfinder could have found the essential elements of the

offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 318–19; Hooper v. State, 214

S.W.3d 9, 13 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007). This standard gives full play to the trier of fact’s

responsibility of resolving conflicts in testimony, weighing evidence, and drawing

reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts. Hooper, 214 S.W.3d at 13 (citing

Jackson, 443 U.S. at 318–19). The trier of fact is the sole judge of the credibility of

witnesses and the weight, if any, given their testimony. Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893,

899 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (plurality op.). In a sufficiency review, “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.

Section 30.05(a) requires the State to prove that at the time Appellant entered onto

DeChant’s land on February 21, 2021, such entry was both “without effective consent”

4 and that Appellant “had notice that the entry was forbidden . . . .” Notice that entry was

forbidden to Appellant is evidenced by the presence of the fence that surrounded

DeChant’s land, as well as his testimony that the fence was designed to exclude intruders

and contain livestock. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 30.05(b)(2); Salazar v. State, 284

S.W.3d 874, 877 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009) (“[I]f there is some sort of indication of a

separation of property in the form of a fence, a border, or even a sign, then the entrant

has explicit notice that entry is forbidden.”).

The question of whether Appellant had “effective consent”3 to enter DeChant’s land

in spite of the fence required the jury to assess and resolve what Appellant accurately

characterizes as “equivocal” testimony by DeChant. On the one hand, DeChant testified

he had never given Appellant permission to come onto his property on February 21, 2021.

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Ex Parte Keller
173 S.W.3d 492 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Hooper v. State
214 S.W.3d 9 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Hawkins v. State
135 S.W.3d 72 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2004)
Holloman v. State
948 S.W.2d 349 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Salazar v. State
284 S.W.3d 874 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2009)
Ocon v. State
284 S.W.3d 880 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2009)
Ladd v. State
3 S.W.3d 547 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Rogers v. State
105 S.W.3d 630 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Brooks v. State
323 S.W.3d 893 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Joshua Reynolds v. State
371 S.W.3d 511 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Johnson v. State
490 S.W.3d 895 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2016)
Jenkins v. State
493 S.W.3d 583 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2016)

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