Kevin Dewayne Johnson v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 28, 2017
Docket05-16-00195-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Kevin Dewayne Johnson v. State (Kevin Dewayne Johnson v. State) 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
Kevin Dewayne Johnson v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

AFFIRMED; Opinion Filed February 28, 2017.

In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-16-00195-CR

KEVIN DEWAYNE JOHNSON, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 380th Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 380-81811-2015

MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Francis, Stoddart, and Whitehill Opinion by Justice Stoddart A jury convicted Kevin Dewayne Johnson of theft under $1,500 with two previous

convictions and sentenced him to two years’ confinement. In five issues, Johnson argues the

evidence is insufficient to support the conviction and the trial court erred by denying his requests

for jury instructions on a lesser-included offense and community supervision. We affirm the trial

court’s judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Ignacio Lopez worked as a loss prevention officer for a JCPenny store. Sephora is a

department within the JCPenny store and Lopez’s duties included protecting Sephora’s

merchandise. Sephora is a “high shrink department” from which many items are stolen. Lopez monitored the JCPenny sales floor in person and with closed-circuit cameras. In

July 2015, a sales associate alerted Lopez to a man, identified at trial as appellant, carrying a

plastic bag in the Sephora department. Shoplifters frequently use bags as a tool to steal

merchandise. Lopez testified he saw appellant select a night cream and a wrinkle cream without

looking at the items’ prices and put them into his plastic bag. He testified: “After concealment

was completed, [appellant] walked straight to the cash register.” The creams cost $50 each.

Lopez followed appellant to the check-out counter and stood a few feet away and

watched to see whether appellant paid for the items or attempted to return them. He could not

hear any discussion between appellant and the cashier. Appellant removed three items from his

plastic bag and completed a “no-receipt return.” Lopez explained that JCPenny’s return policy

allows customers to return merchandise without receipts in exchange for a voucher that can be

used at any JCPenny location. In exchange for the three items, the cashier gave appellant a card,

the front of which states: “JCPenny Merchandise Credit.” Appellant accepted the merchandise

credit for $250, which included the value of the night and wrinkle creams he collected in

Sephora. After appellant received the merchandise credit, Lopez apprehended him. The jury

viewed footage from the in-store closed-circuit cameras showing appellant in the Sephora

department and making the no-receipt return.

Officer Cliff Turrubiarte with the Plano Police Department arrived at the JCPenny store

and searched appellant’s plastic bag. He testified: “As I was searching the bag, [appellant] told

me that he did take the night cream and the wrinkle cream, but the other Peter Thomas clinic

cream was his wife’s and that he did not steal it from JCPenny.”

–2– LAW & ANALYSIS

A. Variance

In his first issue, appellant asserts the evidence is insufficient to establish theft of United

States currency. The indictment alleged that appellant intentionally and knowingly appropriated

property, “namely: lawful United States currency, of the value of less than Fifteen Hundred

Dollars (1,500), without the effective consent of JC Penny’s [sic], the owner of the property.”

Appellant argues the State sought to prove theft of a JCPenny merchandise credit, which is not

currency, and the variance between what the State alleged and what was proven is material.

In cases involving a sufficiency claim based on a variance between the indictment and the

evidence, rather than reviewing the evidence under the traditional sufficiency standards, we

consider the materiality of the variance. See Fuller v. State, 73 S.W.3d 250, 253 (Tex. Crim.

App. 2002); Johnson v. State, No. 05-15-00060-CR, 2016 WL 1733610, at *5 (Tex. App.—

Dallas Apr. 28, 2016, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication). A variance only

renders the evidence insufficient when it is material. Fuller, 73 S.W.3d at 253; Johnson, 2016

WL 1733610, at *5. A variance is material if it (1) deprived the defendant of sufficient notice of

the charges against him such that he could not prepare an adequate defense, or (2) would subject

him to the risk of being prosecuted twice for the same offense. Fuller, 73 S.W.3d at 253;

Johnson, 2016 WL 1733610, at *5. The burden of demonstrating the materiality of a variance

rests with the defendant. Santana v. State, 59 S.W.3d 187, 194 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001);

Johnson, 2016 WL 1733610, at *5.

Appellant does not argue he lacked notice of the charges against him such that he could

not prepare an adequate defense or he could be subject to the risk of being prosecuted twice for

the same offense. Rather, he argues, the State failed to prove what it alleged: theft of “lawful

United States currency,” and the variance is material “because it is both per se material and

–3– because part of Appellant’s defense at trial was that he did not take U.S. currency.” Appellant’s

argument does not comport with the standard against which we determine whether a variance is

material.

Theft occurs when a person, without the owner’s effective consent, unlawfully

appropriates property with the intent to deprive its owner of the property. TEX. PENAL CODE

§ 31.03(a), (b). In this context, “property” includes a document that represents anything of

value. Id. § 31.01(5)(C). The JCPenny merchandise credit is a document representing

something of value—the right to claim up to $250 in JCPenny merchandise. Thus, the

merchandise credit is “property” subject to being misappropriated within the meaning of the theft

statute, and the issue is whether theft of the card presents a material variance from the

indictment’s allegation that appellant misappropriated “lawful United States currency.”

In the case before us, the record shows appellant was not surprised by the variance and

his defense was not prejudiced by the State’s failure to prove the property description as alleged.

During jury selection, appellant’s counsel spoke with the venire about currency and United

States currency and asked whether potential jurors consider “Kyle bucks”1 to be currency. He

also asked potential jurors about the difference between a coupon and cash. He inquired whether

people would convict his client if the indictment alleged appellant stole from a Kohl’s store and

the evidence showed the theft occurred at Macy’s. Additionally, during opening statement,

counsel for appellant stated:

Kevin was trying to commit theft. He was. We’re not going to be here to dispute the color of the sky, we’re not going to be here disputing things that can’t reasonably be disputed. ...

1 Kyle Therrian represented appellant at trial. It appears counsel used the term “Kyle Bucks” to describe fake currency he could create that would not have value as a way to discuss the difference between legal currency and non-currency with the venire. For example, he asked the venire whether Kyle Bucks are currency and why they considered or did not consider them currency.

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