Phelps v. State

999 S.W.2d 512, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 5690, 1999 WL 553696
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 29, 1999
Docket11-97-00258-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 999 S.W.2d 512 (Phelps 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
Phelps v. State, 999 S.W.2d 512, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 5690, 1999 WL 553696 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION

W.G. ARNOT, III, Chief Justice.

A jury convicted Reid Darwin Phelps of injury to a child. 1 The indictment contained enhancement paragraphs for two prior felony convictions. The jury found both paragraphs true and assessed punishment at 60 years confinement. 2 Appellant urges 13 points of error. We affirm.

In his eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth points of error, appellant argues that the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to support the jury’s verdict. In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, we must review all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126 (Tex.Cr.App.1996); Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154 (Tex.Cr.App.1991). In conducting a factual sufficiency review, we examine all of the evidence impartially and set aside the verdict only if it is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence as to be clearly wrong and unjust. Cain v. State, 958 S.W.2d 404 (Tex.Cr.App.1997); Clewis v. State, supra at 129. Appellate courts measure legal and factual sufficiency against a hypothetically correct charge. See Malik v. State, 953 S.W.2d 234 (Tex.Cr.App.1997); Warren v. State, 971 S.W.2d 656 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1998, no pet’n).

*515 The issue before this court is whether the standard of review for legal sufficiency as established in Malik for “hypothetically correct jury charge” will extend to an indictment. The indictment alleged in pertinent part that appellant did “intentionally and knowingly cause serious bodily injury to [the victim], a child younger than fifteen years of age, by striking her in the head with his hand.” The jury charge tracked the language of the indictment. Although the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to prove that appellant caused serious bodily injury to the child by striking her in the head, the State did not offer any evidence that appellant used his hands to commit the crime.

On December 19, 1996, appellant lived with his girlfriend, Michelle Lofton, and with her two daughters. Early that morning, appellant called Lofton at work and asked her to come home. Upon her return, Lofton watched as appellant brought the child (age 3) down the stairs. Lofton testified that she did not notice any signs of injury, but she said that the child’s tongue was sticking out and her eyes were “just everywhere.”

Appellant drove the child to Brownwood Regional Medical Center. In the emergency room, appellant and Lofton told the nurse that Selina had fallen off the commode. The child also told the nurse that she fell off the commode. Because the child’s injuries were not consistent with the explanations given, hospital personnel called for a Child Protective Services caseworker. Elice Lee, from Child Protective Services, arrived at the hospital shortly after the call and observed the child. Lee noticed that the child was lethargic and did not move her limbs. The child told Lee that appellant had hit her real hard in the head.

Brownwood Police Department officers were dispatched to the hospital, but appellant had already left when they arrrived. The police went to Lofton’s apartment and found appellant locked inside. Lofton gave the police permission to open a window to enter her apartment. Appellant was found sitting on the couch. He told the officers that two or three days ago, he spanked the child for going to the bathroom on the couch. Appellant then stated that two weeks earlier the child fell down some stairs. He also said that he would never hurt any kid and that he thought all children were angels.

The child was transported by helicopter to Cooks Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth. Dr. Jan Lea Lamb treated the child and observed the following injuries: (1) vertical skull fracture, (2) a sub-dural hematoma, (3) retinal hemorrhages, (4) elevated liver enzymes, and (5) multiple bruises of different colors and at different stages of healing across her face, flanks, and buttocks. Dr. Lamb testified that many of the injuries were consistent with being struck in the head. Dr. Lamb said it would be rare for a fall of under three to four feet to result in a skull fracture. Dr. Lamb testified that, even though a person could sustain a skull fracture from a fall, he believed the child’s injuries suggested a non-accidental trauma given the other injuries, the loss of consciousness, and the pattern of injuries sustained by the child.

Appellant called two doctors to testify on his behalf. First, Dr. Marlen S. Stre-fling testified about a prior injury to the child. Dr. Strefling had treated the child five months earlier for a broken arm and had not seen any signs of child abuse at that time. Apparently, the child had fallen off the sofa while appellant was not present. Dr. Strefling also testified regarding the medical records from Cooks Children’s Hospital. He stated that the findings were inconclusive as to whether child abuse occurred. Second, Dr. Robert Ho-gue testified about the fall. Specifically, Dr. Hogue testified that it would be difficult to determine the mechanism for the injury without knowing more information.

Lofton told Dr. Lamb that she and appellant had been fighting about discipline issues. Lofton also mentioned that the *516 child had a history of injuries that occurred only when the child was in appellant’s care. During trial, however, Lofton told the jury that the child was active and prone to injury. Lofton also told the jury that appellant was really good with her children and that appellant would read Bible stories to them. She described her relationship with appellant as a good one.

Upon further examination by the State, Lofton admitted that she had called the police four or five times because of appellant. She also admitted to an injury she received from appellant which required seven staples in her head. Officer Dennis Weathermon testified that Lofton had called the police and reported a prior injury to the child. Lofton told Officer Weath-ermon that appellant forcibly grabbed the child by her face, leaving bruises on both sides of her face and throat. The incident arose because of the child’s bed-wetting problem.

Generally, if an allegation in the indictment is not descriptive of a legally-essential element, such words can be rejected as surplusage. Collins v. State, 500 S.W.2d 168 (Tex.Cr.App.1973). When the unnecessary allegation is descriptive and explanatory of the offense charged, the State must prove the allegation even though needlessly pleaded. Burrell v. State, 526 S.W.2d 799, 802 (Tex.Cr.App.1975).

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Bluebook (online)
999 S.W.2d 512, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 5690, 1999 WL 553696, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phelps-v-state-texapp-1999.