Raymond Waier Wirth v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 28, 2009
Docket06-08-00220-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Raymond Waier Wirth v. State (Raymond Waier Wirth 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
Raymond Waier Wirth v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

In The Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

______________________________

No. 06-08-00220-CR ______________________________

RAYMOND WAIER WIRTH, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 336th Judicial District Court Fannin County, Texas Trial Court No. 22758

Before Morriss, C.J., Carter and Moseley, JJ. Opinion by Justice Carter OPINION

I. Factual Background

A. The Leasing Business

For more than twenty years, Raymond Waier Wirth owned and operated a successful

automobile leasing business. The business was operated by two corporations: RW Leasing did the

marketing of vehicles and Wirth Leasing, Inc., provided the funding sources and received one-third

of the profits. Wirth was the sole owner of Wirth Leasing, Inc., and was a fifty percent owner with

James Rogers, sales manager, of RW Leasing. The sales force contacted prospective customers

interested in leasing a vehicle; based on the customers' requests, Wirth's company would then contact

automobile dealerships and locate the vehicle desired. Wirth Leasing, Inc., had agreements with

several major banks wherein Wirth would arrange for transfer of title to the vehicle and assign the

lease contract to the bank funding the transaction. After the lease and the customer were approved

by the funding bank, a draft drawn on an account of RW Leasing at the Prosper, Texas, bank was

sent to the automobile dealership for the purchase price of the vehicle and the vehicle was delivered

to the customer. The automobile dealership, on receipt of the draft, would prepare the title

documents placing ownership of the vehicle in the funding bank and a draft would be sent to Wirth's

bank. When the funding bank received title, it would electronically transfer funds into the RW

Leasing bank account in the Prosper Bank. At that time, Wirth would issue a check on the RW

Leasing bank account and the draft to the dealership was then honored. The customer made lease

2 payments to the funding bank according to the terms of the contract. Wirth's agreement with the

funding banks involved fees or compensation paid to his company on the contracts that had been

approved. This process had been in place for several years until the early part of 2005, when some

of the drafts sent to automobile dealerships were unpaid and Wirth closed the Prosper bank accounts.

B. Unpaid Drafts Led to Theft Conviction

Fifteen drafts to automobile dealerships, all signed by Rogers, involving over $500,000.00

were unpaid. Wirth later filed bankruptcy and discharged a great amount of debt.

Wirth was indicted for theft of property over $200,000.00 in connection with the transfer of

title of the fifteen vehicles when the drafts for each went unpaid. Allegations of theft involved one

Fannin County automobile dealership and other allegations from other dealerships outside the

county; they were prosecuted as a continuing conduct or scheme.1 The jury found Wirth guilty of

the lesser offense of theft of $20,000.00 or more but less than $100,000.00 and assessed punishment

at ten years' imprisonment and a $10,000.00 fine, and recommended community supervision. The

trial court sentenced Wirth accordingly by placing him on community supervision for five years and

ordered that he pay restitution of $128,103.27.

1 The indictment alleged that pursuant to one scheme and continuing course of conduct, Wirth intentionally and knowingly unlawfully appropriated motor vehicles of the aggregate value of $200,000.00 or more by bringing about a transfer of title without the effective consent of Bonham Chrysler Plymouth Dodge Jeep Eagle, Inc.; Toyota of Lewisville, Inc.; McKinney Dodge, Inc.; Lexus of Clear Lake, Inc.; and Park Place Motorcars Dallas, the owners of the property, and with the intent to deprive the owners of the property. TEX . PENAL CODE ANN . § 31.03(a) (Vernon Supp. 2008).

3 Wirth argues there is no evidence to satisfy the intent requirement—effectively arguing that

the State has reinstituted the notion of a "debtors prison" by convicting him for failing to repay debts.

He further argues that the evidence is insufficient to show that any part of the alleged continuing

theft occurred in Fannin County—and thus venue in that county was improper. Finally, he argues

that if any criminal wrongdoing occurred, it was not at his hand, but at the hand of James Rogers,

an employee of the company. For any of these reasons, he contends, the conviction must be

reversed.

II. Legal and Factual Sufficiency

Wirth argues that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support the verdict

because of a lack of any evidence that could support a finding of intent to commit theft—at least as

to any wrongdoing in Fannin County.

A. Standard of Review

In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, we view 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. Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1, 7 (Tex.

Crim. App. 2000).

In a factual sufficiency review, we review all the evidence, but do so in a neutral light and

determine whether the evidence supporting the verdict is so weak or is so outweighed by the great

weight and preponderance of the evidence that the jury's verdict is clearly wrong or manifestly

4 unjust. Lancon v. State, 253 S.W.3d 699, 705 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008); Roberts v. State, 220 S.W.3d

521, 524 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007).

In this analysis, we use a hypothetically correct jury charge to evaluate both the legal and

factual sufficiency of the evidence. Grotti v. State, 273 S.W.3d 273 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008). Such

a charge accurately sets out the law, is authorized by the indictment, does not unnecessarily increase

the State's burden of proof or unnecessarily restrict the State's theories of liability, and adequately

describes the particular offense for which the defendant was tried. Villarreal v. State, 286 S.W.3d

321(Tex. Crim. App. 2009); Malik v. State, 953 S.W.2d 234, 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997). Wirth

does not argue that the charge is incorrect or not one authorized by the indictment, and it tracks the

indictment and the statute that criminalizes the conduct involved.

B. The Statute

The jury was charged to determine whether Wirth, pursuant to one scheme or continuing

course of conduct, committed the offense of theft by intentionally or knowingly unlawfully

appropriating property by bringing about a transfer of title (of automobiles) without the effective

consent of the owners and with intent to deprive the owners of property. The jury was also instructed

that consent is not effective if it is induced by deception. TEX . PENAL CODE ANN . § 31.01(3)

(Vernon Supp. 2008).

Deception was defined in the charge as

promising performance that is likely to affect the judgment of another in the transaction and that the actor does not intend to perform or knows will not be

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Related

Jacobs v. State
230 S.W.3d 225 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Young v. State
261 S.W.2d 836 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1953)
Malik v. State
953 S.W.2d 234 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Moore v. State
969 S.W.2d 4 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)
King v. State
17 S.W.3d 7 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Griffin v. State
614 S.W.2d 155 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1981)
Villarreal v. State
286 S.W.3d 321 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2009)
Roberts v. State
220 S.W.3d 521 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Lancon v. State
253 S.W.3d 699 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Plante v. State
692 S.W.2d 487 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Gigliobianco v. State
210 S.W.3d 637 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Johnson v. State
23 S.W.3d 1 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Christensen v. State
240 S.W.3d 25 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Grotti v. State
273 S.W.3d 273 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Sims v. State
273 S.W.3d 291 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Baker v. State
986 S.W.2d 271 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Peterson v. State
645 S.W.2d 807 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1983)
State v. Weaver
982 S.W.2d 892 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)

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