E.P., Matter of

• Decision Date: 20 February 1998
• Docket Number: No. 03-97-00023-CV,03-97-00023-CV
• Citation: 963 S.W.2d 191
• Parties: In the Matter of E.P.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 191

963 S.W.2d 191

In the Matter of E.P.

No. 03-97-00023-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas Austin.

Feb. 20, 1998.

Rehearing Overruled April 9, 1998.

Kameron D. Johnson, Juvenile Public Defender, Austin, for appellant.

Ronald Earle, Dist. Atty., C. Bryan Case, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., Austin, for appellee.

Before CARROLL, C.J., and JONES and KIDD, JJ.

JONES, Justice.

Following a nonjury trial, the district court of Travis County, sitting as a juvenile court, adjudicated appellant, E. P., to have engaged in delinquent conduct by committing the offense of criminal trespass by entering a habitation without consent. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 30.05 (West 1994 & Supp.1998). The court committed appellant to the Texas Youth Commission, and he perfected this appeal. In his sole point of error, appellant contends that the juvenile court improperly adjudicated him delinquent for the offense of criminal trespass because the evidence was legally insufficient to establish that appellant entered a "habitation." We will affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On October 20, 1996 at 3:37 a.m., the Austin Police Department received a complaint that one or more persons were in a vacant apartment at the Northgate Terrace Apartments. After receiving verification from the apartment manager that apartment A-3 was indeed vacant, the officers knocked repeatedly on the door and received no answer. With the manager's permission, the officers kicked open the door and entered the apartment. After a failed request for the occupants to show themselves, the officers discovered appellant and four other individuals hiding in the apartment.

Apartment A-3 was vacant at the time of the incident, but was in the process of being leased. It was part of a larger apartment complex, surrounded by approximately thirty-one other apartments. Although it was unfurnished at the time of the occurrence, the apartment had both electricity and water.

The State filed a petition alleging E.P. had engaged in delinquent conduct by committing the offense of criminal trespass by entering a habitation. ¹ After a hearing, the trial court adjudicated E.P. delinquent for having committed such offense and sentenced him to commitment to the Texas Youth Commission. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

In his sole point of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in adjudicating him delinquent for criminal trespass as alleged because the evidence failed to establish that apartment A-3 was a "habitation" under the law. We disagree.

When reviewing the legal sufficiency of evidence to determine whether the State has indeed proven an element of the offense, this Court must look at all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. In addition, in juvenile cases we apply the criminal standard of review because the State bears the same burden of proof as in criminal cases. In re M.S., 940 S.W.2d 789, 792 n. 2 (Tex.App.--Austin 1997, no writ). ²

In applying the criminal standard of review, this Court does not ask whether it believes that the evidence at trial established beyond a reasonable doubt that apartment A-3 was a "habitation." Instead, the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any reasonable trier of fact could have found that the apartment was a "habitation" beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2788-89, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); see Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 128-29 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). The trier of fact is the exclusive judge of the credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony and is free to accept or reject any or all of any witness's testimony. Adelman v. State, 828 S.W.2d 418, 421 (Tex.Crim.App.1992).

The Texas Penal Code defines "habitation" as "a structure ... that is adapted for the overnight accommodation of persons." Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 30.01 (West 1994). The controlling standard for determining whether a structure qualifies as a habitation under this definition is expressed in Blankenship v. State, 780 S.W.2d 198 (Tex.Crim.App.1989) (opinion on reh'g). The Blankenship court noted that determining whether a structure is or is not suitable for the overnight accommodation of persons is a "complex, subjective factual question fit for a jury's determination." Id. at 209. Factors to be considered include whether the structure was being used as a residence at the time of the trespass; whether the structure "contained bedding, furniture, utilities, or other belongings common to a residential structure"; and whether the structure was...