Court Opinion

ID: 9684113
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:46:55.241546+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:52.888506
License: Public Domain

TEAGUE, Judge,
dissenting.
It is axiomatic in our law that “where the State puts in evidence the statements of the accused party which exculpates the accused, and does not directly or indirectly disprove them, the accused is entitled to an acquittal.” Palafox v. State, 608 S.W.2d 177, 181 (Tex.Cr.App.1979), quoting from Banks v. State, 56 Tex.Cr.R. 262, 265, 119 S.W. 847, 848 (Tex.Cr.App.1909). Also see Wormley v. State, 366 S.W.2d 565, 566 (Tex.Cr.App.1963).
In this instance, the State introduced into evidence the written confession of Scott Martel Thomas, hereinafter referred to as the appellant, which stated in part that after the appellant made preparations to commit the offense of burglary of a habitation, he “Then ... changed [his] mind and decided to leave. That’s when the police came and arrested [him].” The State thus became bound by this exculpatory portion of the confession, and had the burden to disprove it.
The majority opinion holds: “Because the evidence can be interpreted to show that appellant’s abandonment of the attempt to commit burglary was due to the arrival of the police, it is not voluntary under Section 15.04(c) ...” (My emphasis.)
The fallacy with the holding is that the evidence that the Court relies upon to show that the State disproved the exculpatory portion of the statement is as consistent with the appellant’s defense of renunciation as it is with rebuttal evidence and, as such, it has no probative value whatsoever, because a rational person would be no more likely to infer that the appellant was returning or that he would return to the house than that he was leaving; therefore, the testimony the majority relies upon is consistent with the appellant’s defense of renunciation, which, because the State did not disprove the defense, renders the evidence insufficient as a matter of law. See and cf. Van Guilder v. State, 709 S.W.2d 178 (Tex.Cr.App.1985).
Furthermore, this is not a situation regarding believing or disbelieving testimony, because it was the State that introduced into evidence the appellant’s exculpatory statement, and not the appellant. The State thus became bound by the statement. The majority thus errs grievously in holding that the State “disproved the exculpatory portion of the statement by disproving *865the defense” because it was the State, and not the appellant, that presented the appellant’s defense of renunciation.
Because the State failed to sustain its burden in this cause, the conviction and the order revoking the appellant’s probation should be reversed. To the majority opinion’s upholding the conviction and the order, I respectfully dissent.
CAMPBELL, J., joins this dissent.