LURRIE EUGENE WHITE, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

Affirmed and Opinion filed November 29, 1989
 
 
S
In The
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
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No. 05-88-01520-CR
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LURRIE EUGENE WHITE, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
 
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On Appeal from the 292nd District Court
Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. F88-88291-NV
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O P I N I O N
Before Justices Howell, Baker, and Burnett
Opinion By Justice Baker
        A jury found appellant guilty of burglary of a habitation and assessed his punishment, enhanced by two prior convictions, at fifty-five years' confinement. In his sole point of error, appellant asserts that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of burglary of a habitation. We disagree and affirm the trial court's judgment.
        Complainant testified at trial that approximately between 2:00 to 2:15 p.m. she arrived at her home and pulled up in her driveway. She saw appellant, whom she recognized from the neighborhood, standing across the street. Appellant was standing near the passenger side of a car, and a companion was standing near the driver's side. Appellant shouted, "Hey, what's going on; how are you doing." The complainant testified that appellant had never spoken to her from across the street before and that his voice, a shout, was louder than necessary. She was momentarily detained from entering her house. After entering her home, she heard a noise and noticed a broken windowpane. She noticed that her video cassette recorder was gone and that the connections for it were laying about the floor. Her mattress had been moved off the bed, and her possessions were scattered about the dresser. A diamond pendant and two rings were missing. From about twenty feet, she saw a man running from her house through the backyard. The burglar ran across the fence, past three yards, and into the alley. The complainant ran into the front yard and saw appellant and his companion jump into the companion's car and drive away. She gave chase and saw the car stop and the burglar enter the car with the VCR. The car eventually lost her. Later that day, the police found a VCR at a pawn shop that resembled the complainant's. The complainant went to the pawn shop and verified, by comparing serial numbers, that the VCR was hers.
        The manager of the pawn shop testified that appellant came into his pawn shop on the day of the burglary and pawned the VCR. The manager filled out a pawn ticket with information including appellant's name, age, height, weight, date of birth, and address from his Texas identification card. The manager testified that although he could not presently identify the appellant as the one who pawned the VCR, the pawn shop had a standard procedure to make sure that the person who was making the pawn transaction matched the description of the person on the identification card. The pawn shop ticket was introduced into evidence. Appellant offered no evidence in his defense.
        The relevant question in this case is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Beardsley v. State, 738 S.W.2d 681, 683 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987). Burglary is proven when a person, without the effective consent of the owner, enters a habitation not then open to the public with intent to commit a theft. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 30.02(a) (Vernon 1989). The jury was charged on the law of parties so appellant could be held criminally responsible if the offense was committed by his own conduct, by the conduct of another for which he was criminally responsible, or by both. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 7.01(a) (Vernon 1974). The jury could have reached its verdict by finding beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant committed each element of the offense by acting with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense, he solicited, encouraged, directed, aided, or attempted to aid the other person to commit the offense. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 7.02(a)(2) (Vernon 1974). While an agreement between the parties to act together in common design seldom can be proved by direct evidence, reliance can be had on the actions of the parties showing, by either direct or circumstantial evidence, an understanding and a common design to do a certain act. Huff v. State, 630 S.W.2d 909, 912 (Tex. Crim. App. 1982). In determining whether an individual is a party to an offense and bears criminal responsibility, the court may look to events before, during and after the commission of the offense. Wygal v. State, 555 S.W.2d 465, 468-69 (Tex. Crim. App. 1977).
        In the case at bar, appellant shouted across the street to the complaining witness in an unusually loud voice as she was attempting to enter her home while it was being burglarized. Testimony showing that a defendant is a look-out during the commission of a burglary constitutes evidence of assistance. See Frias v. State, 376 S.W.2d 764, 765 (Tex. Crim. App. 1964). The complainant saw appellant and his companion stop to pick up the burglar carrying a VCR. The appellant went into a pawn shop on the day of the burglary and pawned a VCR, the serial number of which was traced to the complainant. The pawn shop manager filled out a ticket which included appellant's last name and other indicia of identification. He testified that he routinely compares a picture identification to the person trying to pawn the merchandise before he writes the ticket. Recent, unexplained possession of stolen property is sufficient evidence in and of itself to convict the possessor of theft. Sutherlin v. State, 682 S.W.2d 546, 549 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984). We hold that any rational trier of fact could have found all the essential elements of the crime of burglary of a habitation beyond a reasonable doubt. We overrule appellant's point of error and affirm the trial court's judgment.
 
 
 
 
                                                          
                                                          JAMES A. BAKER
                                                          JUSTICE
 
Do Not Publish
Tex. R. App. P. 90
 
881520F.U05
 
 
File Date[11-29-89]
File Name[881520F]