Philip Kramer Taggart v. the State of Texas

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 15, 2023·No. 05-22-00214-CR·Published

Opinion

Modified and Affirmed and Opinion Filed August 15, 2023

In The

Court of Appeals

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-22-00214-CR

PHILIP KRAMER TAGGART, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 296th Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 296-84192-2018

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Nowell, Goldstein, and Breedlove Opinion by Justice Nowell A jury convicted Philip Kramer Taggart of three counts of indecency with a

child by contact. In two issues, appellant argues the evidence is insufficient and the trial court abused its discretion by providing unreasonable conditions of community supervision. We affirm the trial court’s judgment for Count I. We modify the judgments for Counts II and III and affirm as modified.

A. Sufficiency In his first issue, appellant argues the evidence is insufficient to show he

committed three separate and distinct offenses as charged. When reviewing the

sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. Edward v. State, 635 S.W.3d 649, 655 (Tex. Crim. App. 2021). The verdict will be upheld if any rational trier of fact could have found all the essential elements of the offense proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. “This familiar standard gives full play to the responsibility of the trier of fact fairly to resolve conflicts in the testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979). The finder of fact is the sole judge of the weight and credibility of the evidence. Edward, 635 S.W.3d at 655. When considering a claim of evidentiary insufficiency, we must keep in mind that the finder of fact may choose to believe or disbelieve all, some, or none of the evidence presented. Id. The evidence is sufficient to support a conviction if “the inferences necessary to establish guilt are reasonable based upon the cumulative force of all the evidence when considered in the light most favorable to the verdict.” Id. at 655-56 (quoting Wise v. State, 364 S.W.3d 900, 903 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012)). When faced with conflicts in the evidence, a reviewing court shall presume that the fact finder resolved those conflicts in favor of the verdict and defer to that determination. Id.

As is relevant here, a person commits an offense if the person engages in sexual contact with a child younger than 17 years of age. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 21.11(a)(1). “Sexual contact” means one of a list of acts if committed with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person, including any touching of

the breast through clothing. See id. § 21.11(c). A child victim’s testimony alone is sufficient to support a conviction for indecency with a child. Keller v. State, 604 S.W.3d 214, 226 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2020, pet. ref’d). In the context of indecency with a child, the fact finder can infer the requisite intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire from a defendant’s conduct, remarks, and all the surrounding circumstances. Id.

M.H. testified she began taking private cello lessons with appellant when she was in sixth grade, which was when she was twelve or thirteen years old. During those lessons, appellant would touch her shoulder or knee to tap out a beat or he would touch her shoulders, elbows, upper hand, or fingers to correct her form.

M.H.’s relationship with appellant gradually changed when she was in ninth grade. Appellant told her she was beautiful, said she could come to his studio if she needed a place to go without her parents knowing, and said she could “tell him anything and have my parents not know about it.” When she made mistakes during lessons, appellant made “jokes about tying me up and spanking me or whipping me with the bow or punishing me.” He told her about “inappropriate scenes” in movies, about his marital problems, he often thought about her between lessons, she was special and he adored her, and “I was dangerous or looking to get him in trouble.” Appellant and M.H. exchanged text messages; most of those messages related to the cello lessons. However, he also texted her: “You’re a very special girl,” “Very sweet very talented and a little dangerous,” “Always dangerous,” “Behave or I’ll tie you

to something and apank [sic] you,” and “I would love you forever.” M.H. testified appellant also made sexual comments to her about violent sexual acts, such as “[s]panking, tying me up, whipping me, those things.”

During M.H.’s lessons, appellant continued touching her shoulder and knee as he had done before, but over time “the touches would move. Taps on the shoulder would come down to taps lower on the shoulder to onto [sic] my [upper] chest.” Likewise, the taps on her knee “would move up my leg over time to my upper thigh or near my crotch.” Eventually, appellant’s taps moved “to the top part of my breast to later cupping the side of my breast.” M.H. testified she recalled three specific incidents when appellant touched her breast, although he did so more than three times; she explained the details of the incidents ran together.

On one occasion, appellant placed his hands on M.H.’s shoulders while they were talking. As he leaned forward to point to something in the music, “with his other hand, he brought it down to cup my breast and left it there.” On a different occasion, appellant had his arm around M.H. to hug her and congratulate her on playing music she had struggled to play well. While his arm was around her shoulder, he moved it down to touch and cup her breast “while stroking his thumb across” the top part of her breast. She testified she was wearing a tank top and had exposed skin. M.H. testified there was another occasion when he touched her breast “the same way as before.”

Appellant argues the evidence is insufficient to show he committed three separate and distinct offenses as charged; rather, he argues, the evidence shows one or two separate offenses. We disagree. As described above, M.H. testified about three separate incidents: one when he was standing behind her and cupped her breast while pointing to the music, a second when he hugged her to congratulate her on playing the music well, and a third when he touched her breast “the same way as before.” Applying the standard of review for legal sufficiency in a criminal case, we conclude the evidence is sufficient for any rational trier of fact to have found all the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. We overrule appellant’s first issue.

B. Conditions of Community Supervision In his second issue, appellant argues the trial court abused its discretion by

providing unreasonable conditions of community supervision. Appellant’s second issue relates only to the judgments for Counts II and III.

1. Preservation & Invited Error The State’s initial response to appellant’s second issue is that he failed to preserve any error relating to the conditions of community supervision for review.

On February 11, 2022, the jury assessed punishment for each count. As to Count II, the jury assessed punishment at eight years’ confinement and recommended community supervision. As to Count III, the jury assessed punishment at two years’ confinement and recommended community supervision. The trial court

sentenced appellant in accordance with the jury’s verdict on that day. At that time, the judge stated the terms and conditions of community supervision would follow later. Appellant filed his motion for new trial on March 10, 2022. The conditions of community supervision were filed with the district clerk on March 15, 2022.

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