Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued – Week of March 09, 2009

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Grissam v. State,    No. 02-05-00422-CR    (Mar. 12, 2009)   (Op. on Remand)  (Gardner, J., joined by McCoy, J.; Dauphinot, J., dissents with opinion).  [Note: Both opinions are at the same link in one document.]

Held:    On remand from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the court holds that the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to support Appellant’s conviction for burglary by entering a habitation with the intent to commit theft as charged in the indictment, even though the charge’s application paragraph authorized conviction only under the alternate theory alleged by the indictment, entering a habitation and attempting to commit theft.

Dissent:    The State’s abandonment of the count alleging burglary by entering a habitation with the intent to commit theft, as demonstrated by its absence from the application paragraph in the charge and the lack of any complaint by the State regarding the count’s absence from the application paragraph, renders the evidence legally insufficient to support Appellant’s burglary conviction.

« Return to Case Summaries Home Page «