Snippets

Civil and Criminal

by Judge Bob McCoy g County Criminal Court No. 3

Co-Editor Judge Carey Walker, County Criminal Court No. 2

ASK JUDGE BOB

Judge Bob, are there cases concerning the adoption of dogs from rescue operations?

Sure, consider the dachshund named Sally/Teensie/Lexi Lou adopted from Dusty Puddles Dachshund Rescue and discussed in Hunsaker v. Richardson, 610 S.W.3d 151, 152 (Tex. App.— Eastland 2020).

Moses

Noah

MOSES’ AND NOAH’S MONTHLY PARAPROSDAKIAN

(a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently humorous)

Your argument is sound, just sound, lots of sound.

DANES’ QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love and loyalty. They depart to teach us about loss. —Eric Jong, “a Woman’s Best Friend”

CRIMINAL ITEMS OF INTEREST

1. Criminal Intent

A person’s intent to commit an offense may be established by circumstantial evidence and may be inferred from the person’s acts, words, and conduct, as well as from the surrounding circumstances. Crawford v. State, 562 S.W.3d 106 (Tex. App.— Corpus Christi 2018).

2. Witnesses

Even when attempting to demonstrate bias or motive against another party, “the right of the defendant to cross-examine the witness, or impeach him with extrinsic evidence, is limited by the trial court’s authority to preclude, among other things, confusion of the issues, harassment, endangerment to the witness, needless delay, and the admissibility of highly prejudicial, repetitive and irrelevant or marginally relevant evidence.” Kelso v. State, 562 S.W.3d 120 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2018).

3. Firearms

control, or custody of the firearm, but also that he was conscious of his connection with it and that he possessed it knowingly. Swapsy v. State, 562 S.W.3d 161 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2018).

4. Search Warrants

Where the search warrant sought is for blood evidence to prove intoxication, the magistrate typically must determine probable cause exists that a blood test would provide evidence showing appellant was intoxicated. Whether the facts stated in the affidavit establish probable cause depends on the totality of the circumstances. Evidence of intoxication may include, for example, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, or the odor of alcohol on the breath. Islas v. State, 562 S.W.3d 191 (Tex. App.— Houston [14th Dist.] 2018).

5. Confrontation Clause

“Statements made to police during contact initiated by a witness at the beginning of an investigation are generally not considered testimonial.” For this reason, 911 calls initiated to summon police assistance are generally nontestimonial because they are a “cry for help” or “the provision of information enabling officers to end a threatening situation.” Hernandez v. State, 562 S.W.3d 500 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2017).

6. Sentencing

As a general rule, a trial court’s sentence will not be disturbed if that sentence is within the statutory range of punishment for the offense in question because such a sentence complies with the objectives of the penal code. Jackson v. State, 562 S.W.3d 717 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2018).

7. Trier of Fact

The trier of fact is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses and of the strength of the evidence. The trier of fact may choose to believe or disbelieve any portion of the witnesses’ testimony. McCombs v. State, 562 S.W.3d 748 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2018).

CIVIL ITEMS OF INTEREST

1. Plea to the Jurisdiction

A plea to the jurisdiction is a dilatory plea; its purpose is “to defeat a cause of action without regard to whether the claims asserted have merit.” Such a plea challenges the trial court’s jurisdiction over the subject matter of a pleaded claim. Fort Bend Appraisal Dist. v. Church, 611 S.W.3d 443, 447 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2020).