Court Opinion

ID: 9676999
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:40:29.568712+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:53.038177
License: Public Domain

BUTTS, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Appellant and the majority opinion rely upon cases involving one defendant, forgetting that three persons were arrested and charged with burglary of a vehicle in this case. These were not only the appellant but also his two co-defendants, William Harris and Michael Phelps. The trial court correctly submitted a jury charge on the law of parties. See, TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. §§ 7.01(a)(1); 7.02(a)(2) (Vernon 1974).
Detective Morris testified that he kept the suspect 1977 Buick under surveillance all the time it was parked at the Shamrock station.1 He also said that while he could see the upper portion of the person wearing the green shirt, he could not see his hands. That is why he failed to see anything in his hands if appellant did himself take the pink purse. Under the facts of this case, it would not be necessary that appellant be seen taking the purse.
What removes the proof from the realm of speculation is the minimal length of time that Morris constantly watched the automobile at the station and the fact that the offense occurred during those very few *97minutes, with the discovery of the stolen purse and the arrest also occurring during the same brief time span (about thirty minutes altogether). Morris saw appellant get into the parked Buick which already contained two persons who did not leave the car at any time. He saw the automobile leave and he followed it, keeping it in sight at all times. His fellow officer, Detective Lockamy, also followed, and it was he who went to the stopped Buick to seek identification and saw in plain view the pink purse. None of the three occupants had been out of sight. None had left the Buick. The appellant was wearing the green shirt. Not one of the three offered any explanation for their possession of recently stolen property — as recent as about 15 minutes at the time of arrest.
This is a circumstantial evidence case. Participation in a criminal enterprise may be inferred from the circumstances. Freeman v. State, 654 S.W.2d 450, 454 (Tex.Crim.App.1983). In determining whether an accused was participating as a party to the offense, the court may look to events before, during, and after the commission of the offense. Medellin v. State, 617 S.W.2d 229, 231 (Tex.Crim.App.1981). Mere presence at the scene will not constitute one a party; however, it is a circumstance tending to prove that a person is a party, and taken with other facts, may be sufficient to show that the accused was a participant. Id.
In the present case the jury was faced with sufficient evidence to infer that the possession of the recently stolen purse (just a few minutes prior to the arrest) was a circumstance of the guilt of the appellant, either acting alone or as a party. Neither of the three defendants offered an explanation of their possession of recently stolen property.
In viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, we should determine that any rational trier of fact could find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Freeman v. State, supra at 456-457. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). I respectfully suggest this court apply that standard of review and affirm.

. The fact that the officer lost sight of the auto under surveillance prior to its being parked at the station is of no consequence to this proof.