Robinson v. State

658 S.W.2d 779, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 5254
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 7, 1983
Docket09 83 014 CR
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 658 S.W.2d 779 (Robinson 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
Robinson v. State, 658 S.W.2d 779, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 5254 (Tex. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

OPINION

BROOKSHIRE, Associate Justice.

Wade Robinson, Jr., appeals from a conviction of the primary offense of burglary of the habitation of Elvin Anderson, complainant. The indictment also alleged an enhancement paragraph:

“... that before the commission of the primary offense, ... the Defendant committed the felony of Burglary of a Building and was finally convicted of such felony on December 15, 1978, in Cause No. 36455, in the Criminal District Court of Jefferson County, Texas .... ”

The jury found the enhancement paragraph true and assessed punishment at confinement for sixty-six (66) years. Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 12.42 (Vernon 1974).

Appellant claims that the circumstantial evidence upon which the State relied was insufficient to support the conviction.

The burglary in question happened on January 19,1982, at the residence of Anderson, 1017 Kansas Street, Port Arthur. Mrs. Ollie Lott, Anderson’s landlord and next door neighbor, testified that at about 1:15 p.m. (“somewhere along there”) she heard a crashing noise, found Anderson’s back door open and then called to Anderson and received no response. She went into Anderson’s house and recognized that a number of items were missing. Mrs. Lott called the police. She never saw appellant and admitted she did not know who broke in the premises.

Buster Barabin resides in a house which faces Grannis Street and is behind the houses of Mrs. Lott and Anderson, though offset slightly. At “approximately around two o’clock” on January 19, 1982, he saw two young men in the alley between his house and the shop next door carrying a stereo, radio, and other items, some covered. The men placed the items behind Barabin’s house and covered them with a pinkish blanket. The two then walked out to Gran-nis Street and continued a short distance. He identified appellant as one of the men he saw carrying the loot. Barabin also called the police. When the policeman came he pointed out the two men he had just seen making the stash with the goods. The police arrested the men. Barabin said he watched the men from the time he first saw them making the stash until the time they were arrested because he was “confused with the stuff being behind my house.”

Policeman Lynn Reynolds testified he was the officer dispatched to answer Bara-bin’s call. Reynolds said Barabin told him he “needed to go catch those two guys *781 walking down the street, that they were the ones that put some property behind my house.” He said there were no other people in the street at that time and nothing obstructed Barabin’s view. Reynolds arrested appellant and the other man. He said both men’s shoes and pants legs were muddy and wet, but there was no mud or dampness near where the men were standing when apprehended.

Policeman O.W. Withrow, Jr., was the officer dispatched to answer Mrs. Lott’s call at 1017 Kansas. He saw a screen that had been taken off a window at Anderson’s residence and a rear door kicked open. He noticed damp dirt and grass near the north side of Anderson’s residence.

Anderson testified he went to work on the morning in question and gave no one, including appellant, permission to enter. He said several days before the burglary appellant had been to Anderson’s house. Anderson related the occasion was a Saturday night and Anderson had been out, had met a girlfriend, and the two returned to Anderson’s residence. Anderson said appellant appeared at the door and identified himself as the woman’s brother. The woman also said appellant was her brother and so Anderson let appellant enter. Anderson said appellant sat down for awhile and Anderson believed appellant put something in Anderson’s drink because thereafter Anderson said he became sleepy. Objections as to what happened thereafter that night were sustained. Anderson identified all of the items found behind Barabin’s house (including the pinkish blanket) as Anderson’s personal property.

In this case, we have viewed the record according to the “different standard of review in circumstantial evidence cases.” Wilson v. State, 654 S.W.2d 465 (Tex.Cr.App.1983). See also, Sewell v. State, 578 S.W.2d 131 (Tex.Cr.App.1979). We refer to such standard of review by reference only for the sake of brevity and because such standard has been firmly delineated in other cases.

Appellant contends that evidence of unexplained possession of stolen property, the movement of same, and the presence near the scene of a burglary are insufficient to sustain a conviction. He also advances that no showing was made of a purpose or design in common with the companion to make an entry into the Anderson abode with intent to commit theft. We agree with appellant that, in certain fact situations, a case standing on only one of the referenced propositions may be reversible because of evidence insufficiency. We find distinguishable and different the facts in the following cases: Wormley v. State, 366 S.W.2d 565 (Tex.Cr.App.1963) and Urtado v. State, 605 S.W.2d 907 (Tex.Cr.App.1980).

While mere presence at the scene of an offense and flight therefrom are not enough to sustain a conviction, they are circumstances tending to prove guilt which, when combined with other facts, may suffice to show the accused was a participant. Thomas v. State, 645 S.W.2d 798 (Tex.Cr.App.1983). See also, Miller v. State, 566 S.W.2d 614 (Tex.Cr.App.1978). In the case at bar, though each of the circumstances standing alone is of unconvincing probative value, when considered together they are sufficient to sustain conviction. See Coronado v. State, 508 S.W.2d 373 (Tex.Cr.App.1974).

Finally, witness Barabin testified he saw appellant and another in possession of the property taken in the burglary. It is settled that an inference or a presumption of appellant’s guilt of a burglary sufficient to sustain a conviction may arise from appellant’s possession of property stolen or taken in the burglary. In such an instance, to warrant such inference, the possession must be personal, recent, unexplained and must involve a distinct and conscious assertion of right to the property by appellant. Rodriguez v. State, 549 S.W.2d 747 (Tex.Cr.App.1977). Also, the requirement of possession may be satisfied even though joint. Sanders v. State, 155 Tex.Cr.R. 90, 231 S.W.2d 413 (1950). We find all of these requirements have been met.

Appellant asserts that a hypothesis not negated by the State is that appel *782

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Rodolfo Ruiz v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009
Daniels, William Oliver IV v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2002
Nelson v. State
905 S.W.2d 63 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Jones v. State
899 S.W.2d 25 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
William R. Keen, Jr. v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995
Hood v. State
860 S.W.2d 931 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Garza v. State
841 S.W.2d 19 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Jackson v. State
772 S.W.2d 459 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Tatmon v. State
766 S.W.2d 546 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Nutall v. State
722 S.W.2d 545 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Draper v. State
681 S.W.2d 175 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
658 S.W.2d 779, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 5254, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-state-texapp-1983.