Matter Of, R.R.

714 S.W.2d 25, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 12854
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 29, 1986
DocketNo. 07-85-0341-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 714 S.W.2d 25 (Matter Of, R.R.) 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, R.R., 714 S.W.2d 25, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 12854 (Tex. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

REYNOLDS, Chief Justice.

R.R., a child, has perfected this appeal to challenge the trial court’s adjudication that he has engaged in delinquent conduct and the disposition that he be committed to the Lubbock Texas Youth Commission until his eighteenth birthday. Because R.R. was not shown to have engaged in delinquent conduct for the reasons alleged, we grant his prayer to reverse and render, ordering the case dismissed with prejudice.

[27]*27By its live trial pleadings, the State of Texas alleged that R.R. engaged in delinquent conduct for the following reasons:

I.
That on or about the 18th day of September, 1985, in Hale County, Texas, said [R.R.] did then and there intentionally and knowingly without the effective consent of Paul Zieglar [sic], the owner thereof, enter a building not then and there open to the public with intent to commit theft,
II.
That on or about the 1st day of October, 1985, in Hale County, Texas, said [R.R.] did then and there intentionally flee from Tim King, a peace officer, who the Juvenile knew to be a peace officer, and said peace officer was then and there attempting to lawfully detain the said Juvenile,
III.
That on or about the 1st day of October, 1985[,] in Hale County, Texas, said [R.R.] did then and there appear to be intoxicated in a public place, by the introduction of inhalants, to-wit: Paint sniffing to the degree that he might endanger himself or another, [sic ]

To the allegations, R.R. pleaded “not true.”

Following the adjudication hearing, the court found beyond a reasonable doubt that R.R. was a child who engaged in delinquent conduct, to-wit:

(1) On [o]r about the 18th day of September, 1985, in Hale County, Texas, said [R.R.] did then and there intentionally and knowingly without the effective consent of Paul Ziegler, the owner thereof, enter a building not then and there open to the public with intent to commit theft, (2) That on or about the 1st day of October, 1985[,] in Hale County, Texas, said [R.R.] did then and there intentionallu [sic] flee from Rim [sic] King, a peace officer and Eddy Burton, who was also a peace officer, who the juvenile knew to be peace officers, and said peace officers were then and there attempting to lawfully detain the said Juvenile, (3) That on or about the 1st day of October, 1985, in Hale County, Texas, said [R.R.] did then and there appear to be intoxicated in a public place by the introduction of inhalants, to-wit: Paint sniffing to the degree that he might endanger himself or another, [sic]

It is noted that the court’s findings of delinquent conduct track the State’s allegations, except for the addition that R.R. also fled from peace officer Eddy Burton.

At a disposition hearing held immediately thereafter, a social case history of R.R., made available to his attorney, was admitted into evidence and considered by the court. The court found that R.R. was in need of rehabilitation and, for the protection of the public and of the child, committed him to the Lubbock Texas Youth Commission until his eighteenth birthday.

R.R. presents three points, and one sub-point, of error to challenge the court’s adjudication and disposition. With these points, he contends that as a matter of law, intoxication does not constitute delinquent conduct, and that there is no evidence, or alternatively, factually insufficient evidence to support the findings of delinquent conduct beyond a reasonable doubt.

At this point, we observe that the State did not file an appellate brief and, as a result, has neither answered nor challenged R.R.’s factual statement of the record. Consequently, it is within our discretion to accept, if we wish, the statements concerning the facts and the record made by R.R. in his brief as correct, Tex.R. Civ.Pro. 419; Clyde v. Hamilton, 414 S.W.2d 434, 441 (Tex.1967), without further resort to the record. Payne v. Snyder, 661 S.W.2d 134, 142 (Tex.App. -Amarillo 1983, writ ref’d n.r.e.). Nevertheless, we have reviewed the entire record.

The testimonial facts are that on 18 September 1985, the Plainview Police Department received a report that some people were on top of a jewelry store in downtown [28]*28Plainview. Upon immediate investigation, the police discovered that Ziegler Music Company, Inc., a store next to the jewelry store, had been broken into and items therein had been removed. The police saw and talked to a “Spanish male” existing the alley behind the store on a bicycle, and saw a juvenile climbing off the roof of the building. The juvenile ran and eluded his capture by the police. Another juvenile, seen on the roof, escaped.

Several guitars and other items taken from, and identified by the owner of, the music company were found on the roof. Fingerprints found on some of the items were not R.R.’s prints. The police discovered tennis shoe tracks behind the building.

Officers Michael Carroll, a member of the criminal investigation division, and Lonnie Burton investigated the burglary. They took photographs of the scene, including the tracks behind the building, juveniles suspected of involvement in the burglary, and the bottom of their tennis shoes.

Three juveniles, including R.R., were located by a police officer at one of their houses several blocks from the scene of the burglary. They were asked, and voluntarily agreed, to accompany the officer to the police station to talk about the burglary, but R.R. refused to say anything. The next day R.R. was taken before a judge, read his rights, and questioned, but he would not give any type of statement.

In the evening of 1 October 1985, Tim King, a patrol officer, saw R.R. and “two other subjects” on a public street. Approximately an hour later, King saw R.R. and another individual and, so he testified, tried to “detain” them. Both ran, but were subsequently taken into custody and transported to the police station. King testified that R.R. was intoxicated from inhaling paint fumes to the degree that he was a danger to himself or others.

By his initial point of error, R.R. contends the court erred as a matter of law in finding him guilty of delinquent conduct upon the basis of intoxication which, by definition, does not constitute delinquent conduct. We agree.

As stated, the State alleged, and the court found, that R.R. did “appear to be intoxicated in a public place by the introduction of inhalants, to-wit: Paint sniffing to the degree that he might endanger himself or another.” Apparently the allegation and finding were meant to designate the delinquent conduct defined in Section 51.03(a)(1) of the Texas Family Code Annotated (Vernon Pamp.Supp.1986), as “conduct, other than a traffic offense, that violates: (1) a penal law of this state punishable by imprisonment or by confinement in jail,” in view of the penal law that provides:

(a) An individual commits an offense if the individual appears in a public place under the influence of alcohol or any other substance, to the degree that the individual may endanger himself or another.

Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08

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Related

Burns v. State
676 S.W.2d 118 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Schiesser v. State
544 S.W.2d 373 (Texas Supreme Court, 1976)
Payne v. Snyder
661 S.W.2d 134 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Garza v. Alviar
395 S.W.2d 821 (Texas Supreme Court, 1965)
Smith v. State
704 S.W.2d 791 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Clyde v. Hamilton
414 S.W.2d 434 (Texas Supreme Court, 1967)
Escamilla v. State
612 S.W.2d 608 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1981)

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Bluebook (online)
714 S.W.2d 25, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 12854, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-rr-texapp-1986.