Clewis v. State

OPINION ON APPELLANT’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW MALONEY, Judge.

Appellant was convicted of burglary of a building, and the Fifth Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction. Clewis v. State, 876 S.W.2d 428 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1994). In his sole ground for review, appellant contends that the court of appeals erred in refusing to review the evidence to determine whether it was factually sufficient to sustain his conviction. See Stone v. State, 823 S.W.2d 375 (Tex.App.—Austin 1992, pet. ref'd, untimely filed). Specifically, appellant avers that the evidence was factually insufficient to show that he knowingly and intentionally entered the budding.

The court of appeals held that Texas constitutional and statutory provisions grant and authorize courts of appeals to exercise “appellate jurisdiction to review fact questions.” Clewis, 876 S.W.2d at 430. The courts of appeals do not possess “fact-finding authority,” but may “ ‘unfind’ a fact determination that the jury has found or failed to find.” Id. at 430-31. The court of appeals further held that the correct standard of review for factual sufficiency of the elements of the offense in noncapital cases is the Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), standard: “whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to [*129] the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 319, 99 S.Ct. at 2789; Clewis, 876 S.W.2d at 437.