Meadows, Kendall v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided November 14, 2012·No. 05-11-01124-CR·Published

Opinion

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KKN 1)ALL WI LLIAM IEADOWS, Appellant

V.

[IlK STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the Criminal l)istrict Court No. I l)allas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. F06—29375—lI

MEMORANDUM OPINION I3efore Justices O’Neill, Opinion By Justice O’Neill, FitzGerald and Lang-Miers

Appellant appeals his conviction for criminal solicitation ota minor. In tour issues, appellant

contends (I) the evidence is legally insufficient to support his conviction because the State [hued to

show he acted with intent that the offense of sexual assault be committed, (2) the trial court erred

in admitting extraneous offense evidence, (3) the trial court erred in admitting appellant’s AOL

address book, and (4) the judgment should be reformed to show the correct statute under which

appellant was convicted. For the following reasons, we retorm the judgment, and affirm the

judgment as reformed.

The grand jury indicted appellant for criminal solicitation of a minor for requesting,

commanding, and attempting to induce “Nellie,” a fictitious minor, to engage in conduct that would constitute sexual assault. At trial, the State presented evidence that Detective I lntce Marshall created

a Iictional prohle 1)11 AOL [or “ianelleL.iirl 14” (“Nellie”), a Iburteen—ycar—old high school freshman.

;ppellant, who was thirty-one years old, began communicating with “Nellie” by instant message.

lhe State introduced transcripts of the messages exchanged between appellant and Nellie.

11w transcripts show Nellie’ told appellant she was lburteen and lived in Garland. Appellant

told Nellie he was twenty-one and began “chatting” with her asking what she liked to do and whether

she babysat. She said she liked to spend money. but that she (lid not babysit. Appellant asked if

she liked older men that could help her with money, and asked to meet her so he could see what she

looked like. Nellie said she would meet appellant at a nearby McDonald’s that day.

When Nellie did not show up, appellant contacted Nellie the following day, a Friday.

Appellant again asked to meet Nellie to see how they would “work out” and ifshe may be his “WC’

(girlfriend). Nellie said she was busy all weekend, but she could meet him the following Monday.

When Nellie questioned what they would do, appellant asked ifshe wanted to have sex. Nellie told

appellant she had never had sex before, but that it might be fun. However, she said she was worried

her mother would find out or she might get pregnant. She insisted appellant wear a condom ifthey

were going to have sex. Appellant agreed. Appellant and Nellie planned to meet outside the same

McDonald’s on Monday and they would go to his house. Appellant promised to bring her some

marijuana so she would be less nervous.

Appellant went to the McDonald’s the following Monday with his two children, an intint

and young daughter. Police arrested appellant tbr solicitation ofa minor. Appellant and his car were

searched and no condoms were found. During his interrogation, appellant initially denied he was

meeting a girl at the McDonald’s, claiming he was just getting something to eat. Eventually,

‘When we refer to “Nellie,” we refer to Mnnhnll pretending to be Nellie.

—2— :ippell;mi admitted lie was planning on iiteetmg Nellie at the McDonald’s.

:\ppcllaut test tiled at trial and claimed the transcripts ol the commumeations between he and

Nellie were false. He said he met “Nellie” to talk to her about babitting and whether he could pay

her with “weed” to babysit. After hearing the evidence, the jury Ibund appellant guilty as charged

in (lie indictment.

In his first point of error, appellant contends the evidence is legally insufficient to support

his conviction, tinder section 15.031(b) of the penal code, it is an offense if a person, with intent

to commit sexual assault of a child, requests. commands, or attempts to induce a minor or a person

he believes to be a minor to engage in conduct that the actor believes would constitute the offense.

See rEx. PENAL CODE ANN. § 15.03 1(b) (West 2011); see also TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. 4 22.01 l(West 2011) According to appellant, the State failed to prove he had the intent to engage in

sexual contact with “Nellie.”

When reviewing legal sufficiency of the evidence to support a verdict, we view all of the

evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, asking whether any rational trier of fact could

have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt Jackson v. Vfrginia,

443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979); Brooks i’. State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 899, 912 ((‘cx. Crim. App. 2010);

Wesbrook v. State, 29 S.W.3d 103, Ill (‘fex. Crim. App. 2000). A jury may believe all, some, or

none ofany witness’s testimony. Sharp it Slate, 707 S.W.2d 611,614 (Ccx. Crim. App. 1986). The

jury may draw reasonable inferences from the evidence and we presume the jury resolved all

inconsistencies in the evidence in favor of the verdict. See Clayton v. State, 235 S.W.3d 772, 778

(Tex. Crim. App. 2007).

The chat records shows that the thirty-one-year-old appellant, claiming he was twenty-one-

years-old, tried to induce someone he believed to be a fourteen-year-old girl to meet him. When

-3- appellant’s first attempt to meet “Nellie” lulled, he tried again. Appellant told Nellie he wanted to

meet her to see if might he his girlfriend, and specifically asked Nellie if she wanted to have sex.

Appellant promised he would bring a condom and arranged to meet her outside of the McDonald’s

to then go back to his place. To show lie did not have the requisite intent, appellant relies primarily

on his own selitserving testimony claiming he was only meeting Nellie to take her to the park and

see ifshe might babysit in exchange for marijuana. He also asserts the State tidied to prove his intent

because he did not have condoms with him when he went to meet Nellie. Having viewed all the

evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the jury could have rationally found beyond

a reasonable doubt that appellant had the intent to engage in sexual contact with a minor. We

overrule appellant’s first point of error.

In his second point of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in admitting extraneous

offense evidence that he engaged in online chats with other girls who may have been minors. In his

third point oferror, appellant contends the trial court erred in admitting evidence ofhis AOL address

book because it showed he had contacts with fcmales with sexually suggestive and youthful names.

A trial court’s decision to admit evidence ofextraneous offenses will not be reversed absent

a clear abuse ofdiscretion. Santeilan v. State, 939 S.W.2d 155, 169 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997). Rule

of evidence 404(b) allows evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts if the evidence has relevance

apart from character conformity. Moses v.

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Clayton v. State
235 S.W.3d 772 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Wesbrook v. State
29 S.W.3d 103 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Gigliobianco v. State
210 S.W.3d 637 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Moses v. State
105 S.W.3d 622 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Brooks v. State
323 S.W.3d 893 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Santellan v. State
939 S.W.2d 155 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Sharp v. State
707 S.W.2d 611 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1986)