Walker & Associates Surveying, Inc. v. Rebecca Austin d/b/a Austin Surveying and Mapping--Appeal from 123rd District Court of Panola County

State: Texas

Court: Texas Northern District Court

Docket No: 06-08-00117-CV

Case Date: 12/11/2009

Plaintiff: Javier Navarrete

Defendant: State of Texas--Appeal from 238th District Court of Midland County

Preview:Opinion filed June 23, 2011

In The

Eleventh Court of Appeals
__________

No. 11-09-00264-CR __________ JAVIER NAVARRETE, Appellant V. STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 238th District Court Midland County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. CR33894

MEMORANDUM OPINION The jury convicted Javier Navarrete of the offense of indecency with a child and assessed punishment at confinement for seventeen years and a fine of $10,000. We affirm. In his sole issue on appeal, appellant contends that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to establish that he committed the offense of indecency with a child. We note at the outset of our analysis that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has now held in Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010), that there is "no meaningful distinction between the

Jackson v. Virginia1 legal-sufficiency standard and the Clewis2 factual-sufficiency standard"; that the Jackson v. Virginia standard is the "only standard that a reviewing court should apply in determining whether the evidence is sufficient to support each element of a criminal offense that the State is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt"; and that "[a]ll other cases to the contrary, including Clewis, are overruled." Brooks, 323 S.W.3d at 895, 902, 912 (footnotes added). Accordingly, a challenge to the factual sufficiency of the evidence is no longer viable. We also note that appellant did not have the benefit of the opinion in Brooks when this case was briefed. We will review appellant's factual sufficiency challenge under the legal sufficiency standard set forth in Jackson v. Virginia. Under this standard, 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; Brooks, 323 S.W.3d at 899. Appellant was indicted for the offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child for penetrating the female sexual organ of the victim with his finger. The jury acquitted appellant of that offense but found that he was guilty of the lesser included offense of indecency with a child for engaging in sexual contact with the victim by touching her genitals. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN.

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