1 Nor ma C erda l i v ed wi th appella nt as his wi fe (an

d had f our chil dren by hi m) though they ap pa r en t ly

were nev er marr i ed cerem oni al l y . Sh e te sti f i ed tha t he tol d her th

ey coul d n ot mar ry un t il he got hi s previ

ous marriage ann

ull ed, which he never did. Appellant denied Cerda’s st o ry; he sa id they never married b eca

use they were l azy. At this

trial , she i

nsisted on bei

ng cal le d Norma Cerda. 

### TEXA S COU RT O F AP PEAL S, THIR D DISTRIC T, AT AU STIN

NO. 03-01-00055-CR NO. 03-01-00056-CR
Esquiel Fuentes Ramir ez, App ellant v. The State of Texas , Appellee

FROM THE DISTRICT CO URT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, 331S T JUDICIAL DIST RICT NOS. 0970765 & 0970766, HONORAB LE BOB PERKINS, JUDGE PRESIDING
The di stri ct court conv

i cted Es quiel

Fue ntes Ram i rez of two counts of

i nj ury to a c hild wi th seri ous b odi l y i nj ury and as ses sed

sen tenc e at f i f ty y ears i n pr i son. SeeTex. Pen. Code § 22.04 (West Supp. 2 002). Thi s was Ram irez’ s second trial

on charges that

he injure d his t win t wo -mo nt hol d da ugh ters and sex

ually assaul ted the girl s’ m

ot her, Norma Cerda. 1 Ra mire z w as o r igin ally co nv ic ted on al l three counts. This court r eversed the conv ictions b ecause appel

la nt receiv ed in eff ective assistance of couns el , and rem anded f or new tria l s. Ramirez

v. State , 987 S.W.2d 938, 946 (Tex . Ap

p.—A usti n 19 99, n o pet.). On r et r ial, h e w as

ac qui tted of sex ual as sa ul t. B y two p oi n ts2

of er ro r, app ellant c omp lains tha t t he evide nce is fac t ually insuffi cient t o s upp or t t he finding t hat he was the perso n who in

jured hi s daughters. We will aff irm the convictions. SCOPE AND STANDAR D OF REVIEW Wh en reviewi ng the f actual suf fi ci ency of the evi dence, we consider

all the e vi dence ne ut r ally toward the

verdict. Johnso n v. State , 23 S.W .3d 1, 6- 7 ( T ex . Cr im. A pp . 20 00 ) . We will setaside a verdi

ct f orfact ual insufficiency only if i t is so co nt ra ry t o t he o ver whelming weight of t he evi dence as to be clearl y wrong and un j ust. Clew

is v. State , 922 S.W.2d126, 129 (Tex. Crim . App. 19 96 ) . We sho uld no t su bst an t ially in trude upo n the j ury’ s role as the s ole j udge of t he we ight and cred i b i l i ty gi ven to wi tnes s testi mony . Johnson , 23 S.W.3d at 7 (citin g Jones v. State , 944 S.W.2d 642 , 6 48 ( Te x. C rim. App . 1 996 )) . T he co ur t in Johnson wrot e: We ca n c o nsid er o nly t ho se few mat t er s be ar in g on cr ed ibilit y t ha t ca n be fully determi ned fr o m a col d a pp el l ate re cord. S uc h

an appr oach occ as i on al

l y perm i ts so me credi

bi l i ty asse ssm

en t but usual

l y requi re s de f ere nc e to the j ury ’s

con cl us i on base d o n matt er s beyo nd t he sc op e o f the appe l l ate court’s l egi tim ate con cern . See George E . Dix

& Robert O. Dawson, 42 Texas Practic e—Cri mi nal Practice an d Procedu re § 36 .6 9 ( Su pp. 199 9) . U nless t he ava i l ab l e re cord clearl y reveal s a different r es ult i s a

ppr op riate, an appellate co urt must defer t o t he jury’s de term i na ti on concerni ng what weigh

t t o give contradict ory

t estim onia l e vi dence because resolution of

tent ur ns o n an eva luat ion o f cre dibili t y and demeanor, and those jurors were i

n attendance wh

en the testim

ony was del

iv ered. Johnson , 23 S.W.3d at 9. EVIDENCE AN D TESTIMONY It is un disputed that the girls, Vaness a an d Val erie, suf f ered s erious b odi l

y i nj ury . The i den ti ty of t heir assailant is dispu te d; Cerd a te sti f i ed th at a pp el l an t h ur t th em , but h e den i ed i t.3

Ce r da ’s cr ed ibilit y is que st ioned by many wit nesse s who t est ifi

ed t hat she lies well; in this cas e, she hastol d m

ore th an one ve rs i on of t hese event s. S ome o f the medical evide nce is co nsist ent wit h t he da te Ce r da as se r t s t he as sa ult occurred, but not all. Som e of the phy

si cal evi dence suppo rt s Cerda ’s st o ry, but not all. We therefore must r eview the evidence of the gi rls’ i nj uries, t he pa re nt s’ ver sions of how the y su f f ere d those

i njuri es , th e p hy

si cal ev i denc e f rom t he family ’s ho use , a nd

the parent s’ credibil ity bef ore anal yzin g the evi dence un der the appropriate standard. The nature of the gir

ls’ injuries On Dec ember 1 9, 199 6, nineda ys a ft er a d o ct o rde sc r ibe d t he gir ls as “thri vi ng” at a seven-week checkup, Vanessa wa s a dm i tted i n to a hospi tal suf feri ng f rom sei zures. Tests revealed signs of serious in

juri es in cludi ng brai n i nj ury, retinal

bleeding, and b

rok en rib s. On Jan

uary 10, 1997, Va ler ie was adm

itted to a hospi tal af ter a rout in

e checkup rev

eal ed she h

ad a swoll en h ead and reti

nal hem orrhagin g. Bo t h girls co nt inue t o s t ru ggle w ith t he effect s o f the se injuries and a re at t ending special education cl

asses; Vaness a’s i

mpa i rment s ar e mor e se ver e, including lega l bli ndnes s in one ey e. Dr. David Ang lin, medi cal di rectorof the i nte ns i ve ca re u ni t at C hi l dre n’ s H osp i tal of Aust in, t est ifi

ed t hat t he gir ls’ injuries we re co nsist ent with i ntentiona l abuse. The

nature of the f

lui ds sur ro unding t heir br ains indicat ed p os sible multiple t ra umas t o t heir hea ds. The bro ken r ibson b oth si des of Vane ssa i

ndicated the appli

cation of a l

arge am ount o f s queezi

ng f orce because

bab ie s’ b ones arequ it e p liable co mpa r ed t o ad ult s’ bo ne s. Re t ina l he mo rrha gin g is of ten ca us ed by rep eti ti vetoand-f ro acc eleration an

d dec eleration—i .e., shak ing. R et inal hemor rha ging i s extrem el y un com mon4

wi th o t he rt ype s o f se ve r e t r au ma s uc h a s be ing t hr o wn t hr o ug h a win ds hie ld o rdr o pp ed fr o m a hei ght. The concurrence of

these hea d, eye, an d rib in juri es i ndicates in

tentional trauma. Doctors att empting to dat e the injuries based on Vanessa’s symp t o ms did n ot all a gree on a p ar t icu lar da t e. Ang lin

test if ied that the co lor o f the blood in Vanessa’s eyes indicat ed t hat she was sh aken se v erel y th re e to seven

day s bef ore he exam

in ed her on Decem

ber 19, 1996. He testif

ie d that the calci fi

cation al ong the rib

fractures i

ndicatedt hat she w as injure d bet wee n eight and f ourt een da ys befo re t he De cember 21 bo ne sc an. An gli n testif ie d that t he m

ost recent brain

in jury appeared to have oc cur re d se ven t o t en da ys befor e t he exa minatio n, and that a previ ous in jury or inj uries

ma y have occurred

asm uc h as tw en

ty-one d ay

s b ef or e t he exam. The i

nj uries mus t have occurred between th e f av ora b l e ch ecku

p on De cem b er 10 an d th e l ate st e sti mate d date

o f D ecem

ber 16; co nsider ingall the e stim

ates to gether narrows the range to Decemb er 12 or 13 . Ang lin conceded that pe dia t r ic radiologist Dr. Jame s Ry tt in g, who op ined t hat calcificat ion beg an no ea r lier t ha n t en da ys after injury, had mor e exp er ience in t hat est imatio n; t hat put s t he injuries o n De ce m b er 11 at t he l ate st. Dr . Ke it h B us se , an o ph t ha lmo lo gis t , t es t ified t ha t t he un ifo rm co lo ro f t he blo o d in Vanessa’s ey es led him t o co nc lu de t ha t sh e h ad su ffe r ed bu t o ne inju ry; he conceded, however, that two inj uries occurri ng withi n three day

s of each ot her m igh t appear to be a si

ngle i nj ury. He testif

ie d th at the bl ood in V ale r ie’ s e ye was so old by Jan uary 17, 199 7 tha

t he woul d es tim

ate onl y that i t was m ore than a week old. The cause of the gir

ls’ injuries Onl y the two par ents test if

ied regarding seei

ng possibl

e causes of the girls ’ in

juries. Both parents hav

e consi stently

deni ed they inflict ed t he inju r ies t he mse lve s. Ce r da ha s t o ld evo lving5

stories regardin

g her knowle dge of who i

nj ured the girls. The onl

y i nci dent appella

nt recall ed see ing that might ha ve ca us ed t he inju rie s invo lved t heir t hr ee -ye ar -o ld br o t her pu shing t heir bas sine t o ff a table . Ce rd a’ s v er si on s of ev en ts Cer da ha s given many exp lanat ions fo r ho w t he childr en su ffered t heir injuries . We will dis cuss her origi

nal denial o f kno wledg e and sidelo ng implicat ion o f her t hre e- year- old so n, her ac cu sa ti on of appel la nt in her statemen

t t o police , her recantation of that accusation i

n a psy chol ogical ex am, her accusa ti on of

a n ei gh bor be f ore a nd dur i ng the pre vi oustri al , an

d her a ccus ati on of ap pe llant in t he se co nd t r ial.

December

1996/Jan uary 1997 state

ments . O riginally, Cer da d enied k now ing ho w t he in juri es migh t ha ve o cc ur r ed . Sh e p as se d a lo ng ap pe llant ’s r ec o llec t io n o f t he ir son hit t ing t he gir ls wi th a toy tru ck an d p oss i b l y kn ock i n g th em out of a b as si n et. January 24, 1997

statement to police . Inter rog ated o ver the cou rse of several h our s, Cerda clai me d for seve

ral h ours that app ellant w as c onfe ssing in hi s sleep. She eventually asserted that she s awhi

m s hake the gi

rls. In her wri tt en statemen

t, she said that she got up at 3:3 0 a .m . on Decem ber 15, 1997 to feed the cryi ng twins. Afte r fee ding t hem, she went to take a shower, then a b ath . A pp el l an t ca me i n to th e b ath

r oo m demanding t hat t hey have se x. Whe n she d eclined, he pull ed her out o f the tub b

y h er ha i r, dragg ed h

er i nto the b edroom , and thre w a b roken door on h er. Whe n sh e t r ied t o ge t aw ay, he hit the w al l and pun ched a h ole i n i t. He pi cked her up an

d broke a wi nd owwit h he rhe ad . T he gir ls started cryin g and appel

la nt went over to their cri

b, y elle d at them to be qu iet, picke d up Valer ie, a nd sho ok h er un ti l s he was qui

et. He t hen

pic ked up Vanes sa,6

squeezed her t ight , a nd sho ok her unt il Cerda agr eed t o ha ve sex w ith him. Aft er he left , t heir so n, wh o wa s pre se

n t f or m ost of th e e n cou n ter , then b rough t Ce rd a a b l an ket. January 31, 1997 psychological exam . Ce r da t o ld Dr . Da vidPoo le

a story si mi la r to her statemen

t t o police up until appella nt picke d up the gi rl s. At that point, she say s she bl acked out and can

not distin guis h what reall

y h appened thereaf

ter from wha

t she dream

ed. February1997-September1997 . Cerda t o l d W i l l Cu nn i ng ha m , a c as ew orke

r f rom Ch ild Prot ective Services (“CPS”), that her nei ghbor Jan ie Burks cal

le d her and tearful

ly confes sed to sha kin g t he ch ildr en . Sh e t o ld t ha t sa me story i n Ju n e 1 99 7 to D i an

a V erdi n , Trav i s C oun ty MentalHe alt h- Me nt al R et ar da t io n c linicia n. Ce r da ne ve r t he les s s aid in p ar en t ing cla ss es in Ap r il 1997 an d to a pr os ecu t or in June 1 997 t hat her husba nd injure d t he chi ldren . In August 1997, Cerda tol d Verdi n th at s he ne ve r s aw appe l l an t hu rt h er c hi l dre n;sh e al so c l ai med sh e di d n ot want app ellant in h er li fe. Sh e cl ai

med that poli ce coerced

her Janua

ry stateme nt and that prosecutors an d CPS workers were angry at he r f or recan tin g he r acc usa tion of h er h usb and. This trial . Ce

rda tes ti f i ed to av er si on si m i l ar i n m ost re sp ec ts to her Jan

uary 1997 st at ement to the police. It diverges i n som e respects. She added that appella nt was edgy

and qui ck to anger be cause of di

etary suppl

em ents he was

taking. She indicat ed t hat he pu nched t he ho le in the wa ll over t he crib

in anger that , in context, seemed directed t oward the girls. She also testifi ed that he pic ked up Vanes sa f

irst, whom

she des crib ed as more petite; l ater, after her phy

si ci an testifi ed that Vanessa weighe d mo re , she testifi ed that Vanessa wa s bi

gger. When

confronted

wit h t he ch an ge in order o f s haki ng f rom previ ous test im

ony, sh e conceded sh

e m igh t have m ade a m is take.7

A pp el l an t’s v er si on of ev en ts Appe llanthas c ons iste nt ly denied co mmi t t ingany of the off enses alle ged. He testifi

ed that Cerda, not he, in

itiated the sexual

enco unt er . T he recei

vi ng bl anket got blood on it because they put it undern

eath them whi le they were hav in g sex to prot ect the bed

sheets. He does not recall when t he to il et paper holder got broken. He said h e accide ntall

y pun ched t he ho le in t he wa ll wh ile work in g out with weights. He adm itted breaki

ng the wi ndow, buttestifi

ed that he di d it i

n Jul y 1996 by thr ow ing a boxed set of Dr. Seuss b ooks t hrough i t du ring an ar gument wit h Cer da. He t est ifi ed t hat he contacted hi s l andl

ord t o get th e wi

n dow f i x ed , but h i s l an dl ord told h i m to fi x i t him self , so he just taped cardboar d over t he wi ndow. When Cerda moved out of the house in Janua ry 19 97, she took the onl y ke y wi th h er a nd so h e u se d the w i

nd ow to ge t i n a nd out of t he ho use ; he cu

t hi s h an d on t he remai ni ng gl ass wh il e passi ng through the wi

ndow. There wasa b

uc ke t un de rnea th th e w i nd ow out si de the house, consi stent with thi s use of the wi ndow. He al so test if

ie d that Cerda call

ed hi m a t wo rk ove rw helmed by the cr ying children. He did not, ho wever, accuse her o f i nf li cting the in

juries. Physical evidence

Af ter Cer da g ave her statemen t o n Jan uary 24, 1997, poli

ce wen t to t he hous e wh ere t he famil y was living

when t he incident occurred; appella nt stil l l iv ed there al one. Cerda pointed out st ains on t he windo w, car pet , a nd bla nk et t ha t she co nsid er ed blo o d. Sh e s ho we d t he m ha ir on t he do o rshe cla imed she hit wh ile be ing dr ag ge d o ut o f t he ba t hr o o m.8 The resul ts of the tests varied. The

bl anket co nt ained he r blo od and a ppe llant’s s emen, butth at is c on siste

n t w ith bo t h ver sions of t he us e o f the blanket ; t est er s did no t find glass o n t he b l an ket. Te sts

of th e b l ood on

th e wi n dow si l l di d n ot i den ti f y th e s ource . Th

e s pots on the f l oor pro ved not t o be blood and the t estable hai rs on t he door were not hers. The i n v esti ga ti on con f i rm ed th e rep orte d d ama ge to t he h ome—the b

roken to il et paper dis pe nse r , t he ho le in the w all, and t he br ok en windo w. This d amage is large ly consist ent wi th both parent s’ trial testim

ony, but does no t co nf

irm or d isprove any

of the versions. Cr edibility Though

the cr edibi

li ty of witnesses is generally im por tant , Cer da’s cred

i b i l i ty is critical beca use she is t he only

witne ss who testif

ie d to seei

ng appel la nt in fl ict th e i n j uri es . Th

e cre di b i l i ty of appe l l an t’s den i al i s a l so i m por tan t. Cer da’s credib ility . C er da’ s many vers ions o f e ve nt s c lea r ly und er cu t he rcr ed ibilit y, as d o t he numer ou s wit nesse s who t est ifi ed t hat she had diff

ic ulty tell in g the trut h. Some ev

ide nce corro borates he rt r ial t es t imo ny, how ever , a nd so me witne sses explain aw ay her fluc t uat ingve rs i on of ev en ts a s th e p rod uc t of b ei n g a b us ed b y appe l l an t. The ma ny in consi stent versions that Cerda to ld of the assaul

t are set o ut above. Suff ic e it to say that, even

between the J

anuary 1997 statement and h

er si mi la r20 00 t r ial t es t imo ny, there ar e n o t ab le diffe r en ce s. T he lac k o f gla ss o n t he r ec eiv ing bla nk et may c as t so me doubt o n he r as sertion th at sh e u se d i

t to wipe w indo w glas s o ff her face , a nd t he lack of blo od on t he carpet may cast some doubt on her ass ertion that she b le d pro fusel y; nei ther o f these i

nconsis tencies, however, bears directly

on whether appellan

t shoo k the girls.2 Instead, her cha ngein accusation prom

pted CPS to stop seekin

g to return custody to her and begi n seeki ng termi nation of her ri gh ts to al l h er ch i l dr en . H er

ri gh ts have been

termi nated. Her three older chi

ldren li ve wi th her mother an

d he r y ounge st, born

Septem b er 19 97 , l i v es wi th h er au n t. 9 Cerda h as a reputa ti on gen eral l y f or n ot t el li ng the ful

l truth. Cerda’s si

ster, her ne i ghbor, CP S w orker s, an d h er psych ol ogist a l l testi f i ed th at C er da ha s so me tr ou ble te lli ng t he t ru t h. Au st in p o lice de t ec t ive Me lvin M ar k S pa ng ler t es t ified t ha t Ce r da lied pe r sis t en t ly and in great de t ail. She lied a bou t her edu cat ional hist or y to her psycho log ist, she li ed about call

in g em ergency me dic al servi ces for i nstances of abus e, and both Cerda an d her mot her say Cer da lied w hen ac cus ing Cerda ’s father of

abuse. Cerda testif

ie d that she l

ie d when she acc used the bab

ys itter and l

ie d when she sa id s he wa s no t lying a bo ut ac cu sing t he ba bysit t er t o he lp a pp ella nt av o id ja il. 2 She s aid she t hou ght kee ping him

out o f j ail would enh anc e he r chan ces of keepi ng cu stody of

her ch i l dren. C PS ca se wor ker C un n i n gh am ca l l ed h er perhap s th

e m ost con v i n ci n g l i ar h e h as met. But there were also ma

ny witne sses wh

o t estif ie d that appell

ant abused C erda and that her v ac i l l ati on i s c on siste

n t wi th t hat abus e. Her sist er , C onnie C er da, and ne i gh bor , Oran i a C eri o, testifi ed that t hey saw bruises on Cerda. Cerio test if ied that when Cerda was o n he r sideof t he dup lex, Cerda was al

ways af raid that appel

la nt would come

home , fi nd he r not at ho me, an d b e a ng ry. Cerio’s mother, Rosa Per ez, also a neighbo r, t est ifi ed t hat she so metimes he ar d t humps ( like so meone being pus hed int o t he wa ll) so po wer ful tha t heavy wa ll hangings o n he r side o f t he du ple x w o uld move ; she d enied p laying her st er eo lou dly and pr ovo king app ellant t o ba ng o n t he wal l to get h er to quie t i t. Per ez a lso t est ifi

ed t hat when s he o nce u sed t he Rami rezes’ wa shin

g machi ne with Cerda’s per mission, appe l l an

t bec am e en raged and f orced h er to take the

clothes out b ef

ore t he wa shin g c ycle10

wascom pl ete. Social

worker Gail

Ri ce testif

ie d that abused women

wil l s ometim es act to prot ect t he irab us er s a nd ca n lo se t o uc h w it h r ea lit y.

Det ect iveSp angler , w ho t est ifi ed t hat Cer da w as a n acc omp lished liar and deni ed her acc usa t ions that he coercedher Jan uary 1997 s

tatement, testifi

ed that he thought that Ce r da fina lly told th e truth i n h er Ja nua ry statem en t. Appel lant’s credib ility . Ap pe llan t ’s ve r sio n o f t he win do w- br ea ki ng cu t s b o t h w ays on hi s credi bi li ty. Appel la nt’s brother

co nfirmed his st or y abou t t he ma nne r of the wi ndow breaki

ng. Appel la nt’s l andl ord, how ever , d enies t hat app ellant e ver informed him of the bro ken w indo w and as se rtst hat he wo uld ha ve fixe d it wit hin thr ee d ays o f learning o f it. T he fact t hat app ellant u sed t he wi nd owfor egress is co nsist ent wi th i ts b ei ng br oke n, bu t doe s n ot be ar on when or how the w i

nd ow was bro ken. Al

thoughappell

ant’s sto ry of the girls’ br o t he rpu shin g t he ir b as sine t o ff t he t ab le does not acc ount f

or the sha ki ng- related i

nj uri es, the di scre

pan cy between the i nj uri e s c au se d doe s n

ot excl ude the possi

bi li ty that both the bassi

net in ci dent and the sh

aki ng i nci dent occurred. ANALYSI S AND CONC LUSION A si def rom t he ge ne r al a nd we ll- fo un de d a t t ac ks o n C er da ’s cr ed ibilit y, appellant’s chi ef co mplaint se ems t o be t hat t he r ange of d at es she gave for t he assaul ts—Decemb er

15 through 17—do not

ma tch up wi th the dates the docto rs’ exa mi nations in dic ated—Decemb er 11 at th e l ate st, he argues, acco rding to t he pediatric radi ologist’s anal ysi s of the bone scan of Vanessa’ s ribs . Fi rs t, we no t e t ha t t he St at e is no t he ld t o p ro ve a s pec ifi

c da t e, so long as t he da

te provedis ant er ior t o t he pr ese nt ment of the i ndi ctmen t and wi thi n the statutory

l i m i tation peri od. See11

Te x. Co de Cr im. Pro c. Ann. art . 21 .02 (6) (West 198 9); Scoggan v . State , 799 S.W.2 d 679, 6 80 n .3 (T ex. Crim. App. 199 0); Thomas v . State , 753 S.W.2d688, 69 3 (Tex . Cri m . App. 1988 ). Appe llant argues the me dic al

testim ony s hows the assaul

ts occurred no l

ater tha n D ecem ber 11. Furth

er, Dr. Anglin, whi l e adm

i ttin g tha t the rad i ologi st ha d m ore exper ie

nce, ne vertheless esti

ma ted that cal cif i ca ti on co ul d b eg in e ig ht da ys after i nj ury; by that measure, the rib

fractures could h

ave occurred as la te as Decem

ber 13. Both dates precede the in dictment an

d are withi

n the l im itations period. See Tex . Code Cri

m . Proc. A

nn . art. 12.01 (We st Supp . 2002) . Furth er, even if Vane ssa’ s ribs were broken no l ater tha n D ec em be r 11 , th at doesnot rule o ut a la t er sha kin g a ss au lt o n bo t h g irls . T he blo o d in Va ne ss a’ s e yes ind ica t ed an as sa ult involvingsevere s

haki ng occurrin

g withi n a week of

Decem ber 19. The breaksin

her ri bs i ndicated an as sa ul t i n v ol v i n g s qu ee zi

n g oc cu rri n g s l i gh tl y b ef oreth at. Var iatio ns in the swe lli ng in Vanessa’s br ain in dic ated more than one ass aul t o ccurred in

a three-we ek

pe ri od . I t is c o nsis t en t wit h t his evi dence to fi nd that Vaness a was sev

erely in jured b y b ei ng sh aken b y a ppella nt when and as C erda t est ifi ed w hile allowing f

or th e p oss i b i l i ty t hat ot her injuries we re infl icte d in uncha rg ed a ssau lts by unna me d per so ns. V alerie’ s bra in swelling and t he bloo d in her eyes ar e co nsist ent wit h t he con cl us i on that she wa s also sha ken b y a ppella nt when and as C erda testifi

ed. The f

in din g that appellant’s shaki

ng of b ot h gi

rls i nf li cted serious bodi

ly in jury is supported by thei

r brai n i nj uries alone wi th out reg ard to w

h eth er th e ri b i n j uri es werei n f l i cte d i n th e s am e a ss aul t. We con cl ude tha t the ve rdi ct w i ths tan dsappl i ca ti on of the stan

dard of revi ew. We can reverse f or factual i

nsuf fi ci ency o nly i f the ve rdi ct i s s o con

trar y to the ove rwh el m i ng we i gh t of t he evi den ce as to b e c l ea

rl y wrong a n d u n j us t, a n d w e c an

n ot re j ec t a f ac t f i n der’ s cre di

b i l i ty12

de term i na ti on unless the reco rd cl earl

y re ve al s a d

i f f eren t resul t is appropri ate. See Cle

wis , 922 S.W.2d at 129 ; Johnson , 23 S.W .3d at 7 -9 . Al

th oug h th e rec ord

con tai n s e v i den ce th at u n derc uts Cerda ’s cr edibility and

contradicts the verdi

ct, we cannot conclude that the record clearl

y requi res a different re sult or t hat t he evide nce c ont ra ry t o t he ve r dic t o ve rwh elms th e ev i den ce su pp orti n g i t. The dis t r ict co ur t co uld find , no t wit hst an din g C er da ’s r ep ut at io n fo rmen da cit y a n d re cord of contrad i ctory acc usa t ions , th at Cerda

wa s te l l i ng the truth when sh e te sti f i ed tha t ap pe l l an t sh ook t he irch ildr en vio len t ly en o ug h t o inflic t se r io us bo di ly inju ry.

W e ov er rul e b oth poi n ts o f er ror a n d a f f i rm th e j udgm

en t.

Mack Ki dd, Justice Be f ore J us ti ce s K i dd, Ye akel

an d Pa tters on Af fi rmed File d: February

14, 2002 Do No t Publis

h