Court Opinion

ID: 9762570
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:26:39.910157+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:35.551973
License: Public Domain

OPINION ON REHEARING
In its motion for rehearing, the State urges that we erred in finding that the evidence was insufficient to support the revocation of Allen’s probation and that we erred by dismissing the revocation proceeding with prejudice.
We agree that we erred by dismissing the revocation proceeding with prejudice, but we do not agree that we erred in finding that the evidence was insufficient to support the revocation of Allen’s probation. Accordingly, we grant the State’s motion for rehearing in part, and reverse and remand for further proceedings.
The State insists that we did not follow the proper standard of review and that we did not construe the evidence in a manner favorable to the trial court’s findings. We will first consider the State’s contention that we did not construe the evidence in a manner favorable to the trial court’s findings.
The only statements of fact that the State complains of are our statements of fact that Allen borrowed the car to move some belongings of his passenger and that the clothing in the car belonged to the passenger. We did not mention these facts particularly in support of our holding, but as part of the background of the case. These facts were not disputed in the State’s brief, and we did not and do not consider them as particularly important in our analysis. Accordingly, in reconsidering the question as to whether the evidence was sufficient to support the revocation of Allen’s probation, we will not consider those facts to have been established.
We next consider the State’s claim that we have not followed the proper standard of review, and that under the correct stan*741dard the evidence is sufficient to support the revocation. In our opinion we acknowledged that the burden of proof is that of the preponderance of the evidence. We agree with the State’s argument that we must determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found Allen guilty of violating his probation by a preponderance of the evidence.
As we noted in our opinion, it has been held that the State does not meet its burden in cases in which the burden is beyond a reasonable doubt in the absence of an affirmative link between the accused and the contraband he is alleged to have possessed. The issue, then, is whether the evidence is also insufficient, in the absence of such an affirmative link, to support a revocation of probation where the burden of proof is by a preponderance of the evidence. We hold that such evidence is insufficient in the absence of an affirmative link between the accused and the contraband from which the finder of fact may reasonably infer the accused’s knowledge of the presence of the contraband.
The State particularly objects to our statement that under the evidence that it was just as likely that Allen’s father or his passenger possessed the contraband, asserting that because such language has been used in the analysis of cases involving the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard, then we must have erred in using that same language in considering this case involving the “preponderance of the evidence” standard.
“Preponderance of the evidence” has been defined as the greater weight and degree of credible testimony. Davenport v. Cabell’s, Inc., 239 S.W.2d 833 (Tex.Civ.App.—Texarkana 1951, no writ). It follows that the State is required to establish Allen’s guilt by the greater weight and degree of credible testimony. If, when considering the credible testimony, it is just as likely that someone other than Allen is guilty, the State has failed to show Allen’s guilt by the greater weight and degree of credible testimony. We therefore do not find that the use of that language is inappropriate in an analysis of the evidence when the burden of proof is by a preponderance of the evidence. If that language is appropriate in a case in which the burden of proof is by a preponderance of the evidence, then it is certainly appropriate in a case in which the burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, the fact that it has been used in those cases does not mean that it is inappropriate in a case where the burden of proof is by a preponderance of the evidence. We overrule those points in the motion for rehearing that deal with our analysis of the sufficiency of the evidence.
The State also urges that we erred by ordering that the motion to revoke be dismissed with prejudice in view of the fact that the evidence to support the revocation was insufficient. The State relies on the cases of Manning v. State, 637 S.W.2d 941, 943 (Tex.Crim.App.1982) and Ex parte Byrd, 752 S.W.2d 559, 562-63 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). Having reviewed those authorities, we agree with the State’s position and sustain that point of error on rehearing.
Accordingly, we set aside our former judgment, and order that this cause be reversed and remanded for further proceedings.