Matter of HRA

790 S.W.2d 102, 1990 WL 88146
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 17, 1990
Docket09-89-225 CV
StatusPublished

This text of 790 S.W.2d 102 (Matter of HRA) 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
Matter of HRA, 790 S.W.2d 102, 1990 WL 88146 (Tex. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

790 S.W.2d 102 (1990)

In the Matter of H.R.A., a Juvenile.

No. 09-89-225 CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Beaumont.

May 17, 1990.

*103 Susan Ward, Lufkin, for appellant.

John Ross Kay, Asst. County Atty., Lufkin, for State.

OPINION

WALKER, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from a final judgment of the County Court at Law of Angelina County, Texas sitting as a juvenile court. The trial court granted the State's Original Petition that alleged that appellant engaged in delinquent conduct as a juvenile by having committed the offense of aggravated sexual assault upon a child younger than 14 years of age. Appellant himself was thirteen. The victim was 5 years old. The effect of the trial court's ruling was that appellant was found to be a child in need of rehabilitation and placed on a one year probation. The case was tried before the court, appellant having properly waived his right to a trial by jury. Findings of fact and conclusions of law were filed by the trial court. Appellant lists five points of error upon the part of the trial court. We will consider them in numerical order.

Point of error one alleges that the trial court erred in holding the evidence to be sufficient to support a finding that appellant had engaged in delinquent conduct "based upon a conviction of intentionally and knowingly causing the penetration of the anus of J.R.S. (the victim) by appellant's penis because the State failed to prove penetration." The trial court's "Finding of Fact" number three does indeed state, "That H.R.A. did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the penetration of the anus of J.R.S., a child, by the penis of H.R.A; ...." In reviewing a factual sufficiency question, this Court must consider and weigh all the evidence in the case. In re King's Estate, 150 Tex. 662, 244 S.W.2d 660 (1951). In a juvenile case, the question is whether the evidence considered as a whole shows that the State sustained its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In the Matter of D.L.K., 690 S.W.2d 654 (Tex.App.—Eastland 1985, no writ); In the Matter of P.A.S., 566 S.W.2d 14 (Tex.App.—Amarillo 1978, no writ). After examining all of the victim's testimony, we feel the following is the key to deciding this point:

Q. (By the State) What room in the house were you in?
A. (Victim) The bathroom; but first in his room.
Q. In his bedroom and then the bathroom?
A. Yes.
Q. Well, can you show us?
A. (indicating)
Q. That's what happened?
A. Yeah.
Q. Did he simply rub his penis on you, or did he go in your body?
A. No, sir.
Q. He didn't go in your body?
A. No.
Q. Did you have all of your clothes off?
A. Yeah.
Q. Did he have all of his clothes off?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. His shirt was off as well as his trousers?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you have your shirt on or off?
A. Off.
Q. So, both of you didn't have any clothing on at all?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. When this took place, were you lying down or standing up?
A. Laying down.
*104 Q. Lying down?
A. Yes.
Q. Did he put his penis inside your bottom or rub it on the outside?
A. Rub it on the outside.
Q. Did it hurt?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. What did you say when he did that?
A. Nothing much. I didn't really say nothing.
Q. Did you say anything when it hurt?
A. No, sir.
Q. But he never put his penis inside you; is that right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Did anything funny happen to his tee-tee or penis when this happened?
A. It was getting browner.
Q. Was it harder or softer, if you know?
A. Harder.
The Court: Did he say browner?
Mr. Kay (the State): J., did you say browner?
The Witness: Yes.

We note at the outset two well settled standards of case law. One deals with the concept of "penetration," which is that although penetration must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, it does not have to be of any particular depth and any penetration, no matter how slight, is sufficient to satisfy the requirement of TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. sec. 22.021 (Vernon Supp. 1987). Johnson v. State, 449 S.W.2d 65, 68 (Tex.Crim.App.1969). See Lynch v. State, 150 Tex.Crim. 57, 199 S.W.2d 780 (1938); and Calhoun v. State, 134 Tex.Crim. 423, 115 S.W.2d 965 (1938). The second standard is that in non-jury trials, the trial court is the exclusive judge of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. He is authorized to believe or not to believe any or all testimony of the witnesses for either the State or the defense. Mattias v. State, 731 S.W.2d 936, 939 (Tex.Crim.App.1987). Furthermore, a witness may be believed even though some of his testimony may be contradicted and part of his testimony recorded, accepted, and the rest rejected. Sharp v. State, 707 S.W.2d 611, 614 (Tex.Crim. App.1986). See, Jackson v. State, 505 S.W.2d 916 (Tex.Crim.App.1974). If evidence exists in the record, we will not sit in judgment upon the weight the trial court chooses to give to such evidence, nor upon the fact that he chooses to accept or reject any part of it. Although the victim testified that appellant did not "go inside [his] body," and that appellant did not put his "penis inside [the victim's] bottom," the victim did testify that appellant's rubbing action "hurt," and that appellant's penis got "browner." As the record reflects that appellant is white, the trial court could rationalize from the victims testimony a painful penetration occurred that caused appellant's penis to be covered with fecal matter after inserting it, however slightly, into the victim's anus. Point of error one is overruled.

Point of error two complains that the trial court erred in failing to grant appellant's "Motion to Dismiss" because the State failed to give appellant notice of the charges against him because the State alleges that appellant's criminal conduct violates a nonexistent penal code section. This point is grounded in the fact that the State's petition cited "Section 22.021(a)(5) of the Texas Penal Code" as the location for the offense of which appellant was being accused.

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Bluebook (online)
790 S.W.2d 102, 1990 WL 88146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-hra-texapp-1990.