John Bozeman v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided April 8, 2011·No. 06-10-00055-CR·Published

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-10-00055-CR

JOHN BOZEMAN, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 349th Judicial District Court Houston County, Texas

Trial Court No. 08CR-042

Before Morriss, C.J., Carter and Moseley, JJ.

Opinion by Justice Carter

OPINION

John Bozeman was indicted for the theft1 of nine pieces of jewelry from Cathy Hobson.

After a bench trial, Bozeman was found guilty and was sentenced to eighteen months‘ imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice–State Jail Division. 2 On appeal, Bozeman claims that (1) the judgment is not supported by constitutionally sufficient evidence; and (2) the judgment is not supported by appropriate evidence of the value of the items alleged to have been stolen. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. I. BACKGROUND Bozeman and Hobson went to school together and have known each other most of their lives. In July 2006, when Hobson was preparing to move from a small house to a larger house next door, Bozeman offered the use of his truck and trailer to assist in the move. The moving process commenced on Monday, July 17.3 Hobson testified that on that date, Bozeman moved both of her jewelry boxes from the smaller house to the upstairs bedroom of the larger house. Bozeman was aware of the location of the jewelry boxes because Hobson directed him to place

1 TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 31.03 (Vernon Supp. 2010).

2 Originally appealed to the Twelfth Court of Appeals, this case was transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to its docket equalization efforts. See TEX. GOV‘T CODE ANN. § 73.001 (Vernon 2005). We are unaware of any conflict between precedent of the Twelfth Court of Appeals and that of this Court on any relevant issue. See TEX. R. APP. P. 41.3. 3 Others helped with the move; Hobson hired Consuelo Venezuela and Christopher Lopez to help pack. Bozeman testified that Donald Davis accompanied him to Hobson‘s house to assist with the move.

them in a drawer next to her bed. At that time, there was nothing missing from either of the jewelry boxes.4 On the second day of the move, Tuesday, July 18, Bozeman asked Hobson to take her son to a babysitter, as Bozeman could not get any work done with the child underfoot. Hobson agreed and took her son to a friend‘s house a few blocks away. Hobson returned approximately forty-five minutes later, only to find that Bozeman was gone. Baffled by his disappearance, Hobson called Bozeman on his cell phone only to be told that he was at Lowe‘s in Palestine purchasing a lawn mower for his father.5 When Hobson‘s husband arrived home from work on the evening of July 18, Hobson showed him what had been accomplished at their prospective new home. When Hobson noticed that an antique music box and an antique adding machine6 were both missing, she immediately went upstairs to check her jewelry boxes. Hobson discovered that some of her jewelry was missing and filed a report with the local police that same evening. Hobson never questioned Bozeman about the missing items of jewelry, as she suspected he was responsible for their disappearance.

Approximately three weeks later, when Hobson learned Bozeman was having work done on one of his rings at Charles Dickens‘ jewelry store in Palestine, she paid a visit to Dickens.

4 Bozeman claims that he never saw a jewelry box while assisting with the move.

5 According to Bozeman, Hobson was aware of his appointment with the manager at Lowe‘s on July 18.

6 Bozeman was not charged with the theft of these items.

After having been presented with a copy of the police report, Dickens agreed to show Hobson several items of jewelry Bozeman brought to the store. Hobson identified nine of those items of jewelry as belonging to her. At trial, Dickens testified that Bozeman brought those nine items of jewelry into his store on July 19, 2006, the day after Hobson‘s jewelry was reported missing. Bozeman denies any involvement in the disappearance of Hobson‘s jewelry; the jewelry boxes were dusted for fingerprints, but no discernible prints were obtained. II. The Evidence Is Legally Sufficient to Support the Finding of Unlawful Appropriation In his first point of error, Bozeman generally claims the evidence is legally insufficient to support the trial court‘s verdict. In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, we review all the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury‘s verdict to determine whether any rational jury could have found the essential elements of the charged offense. Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 902 n.19 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (4-1-4 decision) (citing Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979)); Hartsfield v. State, 305 S.W.3d 859, 863 (Tex. App.––Texarkana 2010, pet. ref‘d) (citing Clayton v. State, 235 S.W.3d 772, 778 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007)). Our rigorous legal sufficiency review focuses on the quality of the evidence presented. Brooks, 323 S.W.3d at 917–18 (Cochran, J., concurring). We examine legal sufficiency under the direction of the Brooks opinion, while giving deference to the responsibility of the jury ―to fairly resolve conflicts in testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate

facts.‖ Hooper v. State, 214 S.W.3d 9, 13 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (citing Jackson, 443 U.S. at 318–19).

Legal sufficiency of the evidence is measured by the elements of the offense as defined by a hypothetically correct jury charge. Malik v. State, 953 S.W.2d 234, 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997).7 The hypothetically correct jury charge ―sets out the law, is authorized by the indictment, does not unnecessarily increase the State‘s burden of proof or unnecessarily restrict the State‘s theories of liability, and adequately describes the particular offense for which the defendant was tried.‖ Id. This standard ensures that a judgment of acquittal is reserved for those situations in which there is an actual failure in the State‘s proof of the crime, rather than a mere error in the jury charge submitted. Id. This standard also applies to bench trials. Id.

A. Appropriation of Property The first issue is determined by an analysis of the evidence to determine if it is sufficient to justify finding that Bozeman appropriated the property. Bozeman points to his own testimony, which accounts for his acquisition of the jewelry in question from sources other than Hobson. First, Bozeman maintains that he purchased two of the items of jewelry at a pawn shop in Crockett. The record is not clear as to which two items Bozeman claims were so purchased. John Smock, the owner of the pawn shop in Crockett, testified that he has known Bozeman for fifteen years and that Bozeman has purchased several pieces of jewelry from Smock over the years, similar to the

7 Even though this was not a jury trial, we nevertheless employ this analysis to determine the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Malik, 953 S.W.2d at 240 (the Malik test applies to nonjury or bench trials).

rings depicted in State‘s exhibit seventeen (a photograph of the nine items of jewelry located in Dickens‘ jewelry store). Next, Bozeman testified that the coin he is accused of stealing from Hobson (actually a .5-ounce coin, rather than a 5-ounce coin) was given to him by his father, Charles Bozeman. Charles testified that he purchased a 2000 Liberty gold coin for Bozeman in March 2001. Bozeman testified that the wedding band (otherwise not identified) was given to him by his father as well when his father outgrew it.

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