Shanequa Terry v. State

397 S.W.3d 823, 2013 WL 1168780, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 2958
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided March 21, 2013·No. 14-12-00162-CR·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

OPINION

KEM THOMPSON FROST, Justice.

Appellant Shanequa Terry appeals her conviction of aggregate theft, stemming from her applications for and receipt of food stamps. She challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction. In addition, she asserts the trial court violated her rights under the Confrontation Clause of the United States Constitution by admitting certain records into evidence. We affirm.

Factual and ProceduRAl Background

Appellant was charged by indictment with the felony offense of theft in connection with appellant’s applications for and receipt of food stamps. As alleged in the indictment, “pursuant to one scheme and continuing course of conduct” appellant unlawfully appropriated, by acquiring and exercising control over, food stamps owned by the State with intent to deprive the State of that property. The conduct was alleged to have occurred beginning on or about May 1, 2007, and continuing through March 31, 2008, and November 1, 2009, and continuing through December 31, 2009. The value of the food stamps was $3,026. Appellant pleaded “not guilty” to the charged offense.

At trial, the State presented evidence that appellant, a single mother of three children, applied for assistance with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”), a “food-stamp” program associated with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. According to testimony at trial, the program provides a “Lone Star Card,” a special debit card that contains a fixed amount of money that a recipient may use to purchase food and other basic necessities.

Generally, after an applicant files a handwritten application, a caseworker from the Health and Human Services Commission interviews the applicant and enters the applicant’s answers into a computer program during the interview. According to the record, when calculating benefits, the caseworkers rely heavily on applicants’ representations in entering information into the computer program. Although caseworkers attempt to verify representations for accuracy, not all employers are required to report employment information to the State, and, with respect to those that do report, the infor *827 mation could be two to three months old at the time it is reported.

Based on the information entered into the computer, a “generic worksheet” is generated by the computer program. The generic worksheet reflects all of the information that the computer program uses to calculate benefits awarded to the applicant, including the interviewer’s work product, a synthesis of information from the applicant’s handwritten application, supporting documents, and oral responses given by the applicant at the interview. Recipients of the assistance may apply every six months to renew the benefits.

Kenneth Martin, a program supervisor for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, testified that an applicant’s eligibility for assistance and the benefit amount is not determined by the caseworker; rather, “the [computer] system determines” it. Martin further testified that income and household size are primary factors for calculating benefits. According to Martin, if an applicant failed to report income, the applicant could receive more benefits than the applicant would be entitled to receive.

The record reflects that the Texas Department of Health and Human Services first received an application for SNAP benefits for appellant and two children on May 8, 2007. 1 As reflected in the handwritten application, appellant had not worked in the prior three months. Appellant attended an interview with a caseworker on May 21, 2007. A generic worksheet, State’s Exhibit 7, prepared during the interview reflects the following statements:

• appellant’s only income was from child support;
• appellant had no other income or contributions from any other sources; and
• appellant had not worked in the past twelve months.

The record reflects that appellant was eligible for $408 in monthly SNAP benefits. Although the generic worksheet was admitted into evidence, the caseworker who conducted the interview with appellant did not testify.

The record reflects that appellant filed a renewal application for SNAP benefits on November 5, 2007, for herself and two children. The application reflects that appellant had not worked in the prior three-month period. Appellant attended an interview on November 16, 2007. A generic worksheet, State’s Exhibit 4, compiled during appellant’s interview on November 16, 2007, reflects the following statements:

• appellant’s only income was from child support; and
• appellant was looking for work.

Although the generic worksheet was admitted into evidence, the worker who conducted the interview with appellant did not testify.

It is undisputed that appellant continued to receive SNAP benefits through December 2009. The record contains another application for renewal of SNAP benefits, received on April 15, 2009, for appellant and three children. 2 The application reflects that appellant had not worked in the prior three months and listed child support as appellant’s only income.

The record reflects that appellant attended another interview with a caseworker on October 22, 2009, but there was no application in the record associated with this interview. As reflected in this generic worksheet, State’s Exhibit 2, generated *828 during the interview, appellant continued to receive child support, but was “no longer working for Pubsco, Inc. as of 7/15/2009.” As reflected in the generic worksheet, appellant also had received “vendor payments.” The interviewer who prepared the generic worksheet did not testify.

In June 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services initiated an investigation of appellant’s SNAP benefits after the Texas Workforce Commission reported that appellant had been receiving income from two companies: “Bargain Network” and “Pubsco.” Richard Ramirez, a senior investigator with an investigative division of Texas Health and Human Services Commission, conducted the investigation of welfare fraud. Ramirez obtained pay records from the Bargain Network, reflecting a pay period for appellant beginning April 16, 2007, and that appellant’s last pay period ended in March 2008. Pay records from Pubsco reflect that appellant first received a paycheck on September 11, 2009, and that appellant’s last paycheck was dated January 8, 2010.

Because Ramirez’s investigation for welfare fraud pertained to two relevant time periods, he obtained the generic worksheets associated with appellant’s receipt of SNAP benefits relevant to those time periods and compared them to the employers’ records. Ramirez did not have access to the applications associated with those same time periods. After reviewing those generic worksheets, Ramirez determined that appellant’s income from Bargain Network and Pubsco had not been reported to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission; none of the generic worksheets reflected that she reported such income to a caseworker.

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Shanequa Terry v. State, 397 S.W.3d 823, 2013 WL 1168780, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 2958 (Tex. Ct. App. 2013).

397 S.W.3d 823 (Shanequa Terry v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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