Monique Danae McClinton v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 3, 2014·No. 05-13-00578-CR·Published

Opinion

AFFIRM; and Opinion Filed July 3, 2014.

S I n The

Court of A ppeals

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-13-00578-CR

MONIQUE DANAE MCCLINTON, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the County Court at Law Rockwall County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. CR11-1799

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Bridges, O’Neill, and Brown Opinion by Justice Brown

Monique Danae McClinton appeals her conviction for the offense of cruelty to animals.

In two issues, she challenges the trial court’s decision to grant the State’s motion to strike words in the information and the sufficiency of the evidence to support her conviction. We affirm.

Procedural Background

On October 22, 2011, the City of Rockwall Animal Services in conjunction with the Rockwall County Sheriff’s office seized thirty-four dogs from property located in Royse City that appellant leased with her husband, Wyakie Glenn Hudson. The dogs, all of which were American Pit Bull Terriers, belonged to appellant and Hudson. Twelve of the dogs were six- to- eight-week old puppies, and one dog was an adult female named “Baby G” that had just given birth to six puppies. The remaining dogs were adults or older puppies.

The State charged appellant by information in thirty-four cases with the Class A misdemeanor offense of cruelty to animals, alleging appellant committed the offense by failing to unreasonably provide food or water or care or shelter for the dogs. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 42.092(b)(3) (West 2011). The State went to trial on three of those cases—one case involved a six- to eight-week old puppy, another case involved a six-month old puppy, and the other case was for Baby G. Appellant waived a jury and pleaded not guilty in each case.

After a bench trial, the trial court found appellant guilty in the case involving Baby G and not guilty in the other two cases. The court sentenced appellant to 365 days in the Rockwall County jail, which was suspended pending fifteen months of community supervision, and assessed a $400 fine. The court also ordered appellant to pay $210 in restitution and court costs. Appellant moved for a new trial, which the trial court denied. This appeal followed.

Motion to Strike Words in the Information Appellant argues in her first issue that the trial court reversibly erred when it granted the State’s motion to strike certain words in the information after trial had commenced and over her objection. The information alleged appellant:

did then and there intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly fail unreasonably to provide necessary food or water or care or shelter for an animal, to-wit: a grey and white adult female American Pit Bull Terrier in [appellant’s] custody, by not providing food, water, and reasonable living conditions . . . .

(Emphasis added).1 The day before the start of trial, the State filed a “Motion to Strike Words of the Information,” asking the trial court to delete the above italicized words from the information and allow the State to proceed to trial on the remaining part of the information. The trial court addressed the motion to strike at the start of trial, after the parties announced they were ready and

1 We note that the information previously had been amended before trial by adding the kennel card identification number so that the particular American Pit Bull Terrier (Baby G) could be identified with greater specificity.

appellant had entered her pleas of not guilty. The trial court granted the motion over appellant’s objection, and the case proceeded to trial.

Appellant argues the removal of the above language constituted an amendment to the information because it deleted the manner and means of how the alleged offense occurred. She maintains that permitting a trial amendment over her objection violates article 28.10(b) of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and because the trial court struck a “specific means of committing cruelty to animals” that the State was required to prove, she was harmed by this error. The State responds that the deleted language was surplusage and repetitious of other language that remained in the information and its deletion did not constitute an amendment under article 28.10(b). The State adds that there was no error in striking the language because the trial court made no substantive change to the information or the State’s burden of proof and the manner and means alleged in the information was unaffected by the trial court’s decision to strike the subject language.

An information may be amended after trial begins if the defendant does not object; if there is an objection, the information may be amended only if the amendment does not charge the defendant with an additional or different offense. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 28.10(b), (c) (West 2006). But not every change to the face of an information is an amendment. For example, an information may contain “surplusage,” which is unnecessary words or allegations in the information that do not describe what is legally essential to constitute the offense charged. Hall v. State, 62 S.W.3d 918, 919 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2001, pet. ref’d). The deletion of words that are surplusage is not an amendment of the information; rather, such a change is merely an abandonment, which does not implicate article 28.10. Id.; Garza v. State, 50 S.W.3d 559, 563 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, no pet.).

We agree that the deleted language constitutes surplusage, which may be abandoned at any time without triggering the prohibition of article 28.10. While the words “by not providing food, water, and reasonable living conditions” describe how one commits the charged offense, the words also are repetitive of other words that remained in the information that describe the same element—specifically, “fail unreasonably to provide necessary food or water or care or shelter.” See Maldonado v. State, Nos. 05-05-01386-CR, 05-05-01387-CR, 2006 WL 3291045, at *3 (Tex. App.—Dallas Nov. 14, 2006, pet. ref’d). The words that remained also mirror the description of the offense in the penal code. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 42.092(b)(3); cf. Haecker v. State, 571 S.W.2d 920, 921 (Tex. Crim. App. [Panel Op.] 1978) (information is sufficient if it follows language of the statute if that statute completely describes the offense such that it informs accused of the nature of the charge). Because the necessary element of how the offense was alleged to have been committed remained in the information, the deletion of the words “by not providing food, water, and reasonable living conditions” did not alter or affect the substance of the charged offense or the State’s burden of proof and thus, was not an amendment to the information. See Hall, 62 S.W.3d at 919. We therefore conclude the trial court did not err in granting the State’s request to delete the words “by not providing food, water, and reasonable living conditions” from the information. We overrule appellant’s first issue.

Sufficiency of the Evidence Appellant contends in her second issue that the evidence is insufficient to support her conviction for cruelty to animals in the case involving Baby G. We review appellant’s sufficiency challenge by considering all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict; based on that evidence and any reasonable inferences, we must determine whether a rational fact finder could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979); Merritt v. State, 368 S.W.3d 516, 525 (Tex. Crim.

App. 2012). Under this standard, the fact finder has full responsibility for resolving conflicts in the testimony, weighing the evidence, and drawing reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319. We presume the fact finder resolved any conflicts in the evidence in favor of the verdict and defer to that determination. See id. at 326. We do not reassess witness credibility. Id. at 319.

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Hall v. State
62 S.W.3d 918 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)
Garza v. State
50 S.W.3d 559 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)
Martinez v. State
48 S.W.3d 273 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)
Haecker v. State
571 S.W.2d 920 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1978)
Merritt, Ryan Rashad
368 S.W.3d 516 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2012)