Perkins v. State

65 S.W.3d 98, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 2603, 2000 WL 424155
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 19, 2000
Docket10-95-165-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 65 S.W.3d 98 (Perkins 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
Perkins v. State, 65 S.W.3d 98, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 2603, 2000 WL 424155 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

FRANK G. McDONALD, Chief Justice (Retired).

Appellant appeals from his conviction for driving while intoxicated, third offense, for which he was sentenced to five years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division, probated, and a $500.00 fine.

Appellant appeals on two points of error:

Point 1: “The evidence is legally insufficient to support the conviction for DWI.”
Point 2: “The evidence is factually insufficient to support the conviction for DWI.”

This court issued an opinion filed February 26,1997, overruled Appellant’s Point 1; sustained Appellant’s Point 2; reversed the judgment; and remanded the cause for a new trial.

[100]*100The Court of Criminal Appeals granted a petition for discretionary review, vacated the judgment of this court, and remanded the case to this court to “re-evaluate appellants point of error [2] in the light of Cain.”

Cain v. State, 958 S.W.2d 404, 407-08 (Tex.Crim.App.1997) states:

We delineated the proper standard of review for the courts of appeals to apply in reviewing factual sufficiency grounds in Clems v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). In reviewing factual sufficiency of the elements of the offense, the court of appeals “views all the evidence without the prism of ‘in the light most favorable to the prosecution’ and sets aside the verdict only if it is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence as to be clearly wrong and unjust.” Clems at 129. In Clewis this court discussed three major principles to guide courts of appeals when conducting a factual sufficiency review.
First, is the principle of deference to jury findings_ In Clewis, we explained that appellate courts should only exercise their fact jurisdiction to prevent a manifestly unjust result; those courts are not free to re-weigh the evidence and set aside a jury verdict merely because the judges feel that a different result is more reasonable. Clewis at 135.... A court of appeals may not reverse a jury’s decision simply because it disagrees with the result; the appellate court must defer to jury findings and may find the evidence factually insufficient only where necessary to prevent manifest injustice.
Second, courts of appeals must support a finding of factual insufficiency by providing a detailed explanation of that finding so that this court can ensure that the appellate court accorded the proper deference to the jury finding. Clewis at 135.... We explained that where a court of appeals reverses a lower court decision on factual sufficiency grounds, it should detail the evidence relevant to the issue in consideration and clearly state why the jury’s finding is factually insufficient ... as to be manifestly unjust; why it shocks the conscience; or clearly demonstrates bias. Further those courts, in their opinions, should state in what regard the contrary evidence outweighs the evidence in support of the verdict. Clewis at 135.
Third, the standard of review for factual insufficiency states that courts of appeals must review all the evidence. This differs from a legal sufficiency review where the court of appeals considers only the evidence that supports the verdict. The court of appeals must consider the evidence as a whole, not viewing it in the light most favorable to either party.

Clewis further states: In consideration of a factual sufficiency review, an appellate court reviews the factfinder’s weighing of the evidence and is authorized to disagree mth the factfinder’s determination. This review, however, must be appropriately deferential so as to avoid an appellate court substituting its judgment for that of the jury. Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 133 (Tex.Crim.App.1996).

The court of appeals avoids substituting its judgment for that of the factfin-der by remanding the cause for a new trial. Id. at 133-134.

About 11:00 p.m. on April 2, 1994, Dallas Firefighter Farrell investigated a parked car in the middle of the road on Military Parkway. Farrell testified that appellant was slumped over the steering wheel and passed out; that he smelled of alcohol; noticed beer cans in the back seat; and that he summoned the police.

[101]*101Officer Johnson arrived at the scene about 11:15 p.m. Johnson testified he believed Appellant to be intoxicated; had alcohol on his breath; had slurred speech and an unsteady stance. Johnson arrested Appellant and transported him to the Lew Sterrett Justice Center where Appellant refused to submit to blood and breath tests, but was videotaped within forty minutes after his arrest. The video tape is in evidence.

Appellant denied that he was intoxicated; he testified he had spent the day at a recreation center producing a talent show for children; that he left the center at 9:00 p.m. with a friend, Emil Thompson, and went to a car wash where he washed his car and drank one beer; that he left the car wash to go to a friend’s house and had stopped his car to look at his Mapsco and was leaning forward when Farrell opened his car door and asked him if he had been drinking. He further testified that Officer Johnson arrived and asked him if he had been drinking and if he had any warrants; that he replied he had one beer and did have a probation violation warrant for DWI.

Emil Thompson testified he was with Appellant until 9:45 p.m.; that Appellant drank one can of beer at the car wash; that Appellant was not intoxicated; that Appellant took some medication during the evening; that he noticed Appellant’s nose was running but he was not “woozy.” Additional evidence will be recited in our discussion of Appellant’s points.

Trial was before the judge without a jury. The judge found Appellant guilty and sentenced him to five years in prison, probated, and a $500 fine.

Point 2: “The evidence is factually insufficient to support the conviction for driving while intoxicated.”

For conducting a review of the factual sufficiency of the evidence, we recognize that the State bears the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and apply the “complete and correct” standard of review set out by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1 (Tex.Crim.App.2000). This court “asks whether a neutral review of all the evidence, both for and against the finding, demonstrates that the proof of guilt is so obviously weak as to undermine confidence in the [the fact finder’s] determination, or the proof of guilt, although adequate if taken alone, is greatly outweighed by contrary proof.” Id. at *8, at 11; see also Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126 (Tex.Crim. App.1996); Stone v. State, 823 S.W.2d 375 (Tex.App.—Austin 1992); Cain v. State, 958 S.W.2d 404 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). Under the

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Perkins v. State
65 S.W.3d 98 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
65 S.W.3d 98, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 2603, 2000 WL 424155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perkins-v-state-texapp-2000.