42 results for 'judge:"Worthen "'.
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly adjudicated defendant as a sexually violent predator, entering an order of civil commitment. The evaluating forensic psychologist diagnosed defendant with a non-exclusive form of pedophilia as well as substance abuse disorders and adult antisocial behavior, stating that he exhibits many risk factors for sexually violent conduct and re-offense. The relevant Sexually Violent Predator Act���s definition of ���behavioral abnormality��� does not require a particular diagnosis. This evidence supports the conviction. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen , Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00006-CV, Categories: Commitment
J. Worthen finds the trial court improperly denied defendant's pretrial application for writ of habeas corpus seeking a bond reduction on his charge for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The 17-year-old high school student was accompanied by his mother when he turned himself in and his bond was set at $500,000. The court abused its discretion by denying the request for bail reduction. The amount is unsupported by the evidence. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen , Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00159-CR, Categories: Assault, Bail
J. Worthen conditionally grants the relator's petition for a writ of mandamus challenging the trial court's granting of the grocery store's motion to quash the deposition of its corporate safety manager in the underlying trip-and-fall suit. The grocery store's argument that the relator is required to notice the deposition of its representative, permitting it to select whom will be deposed, does not align with the cited Texas rule of civil procedure which is meant to merely supplement ���the practice whereby the examining party designates the... official to be deposed...��� However, the relator has not shown that she lacks another remedy in relation to the denial of her motion to compel discovery. The writ is conditionally granted in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00207-CV, Categories: Due Process, Discovery, Premises Liability
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly denied the city���s plea to the jurisdiction in favor of the developers who had secured temporary certificates of occupancy in a building governed by an ordinance the city sought to pass precluding residential use. The developer���s pleadings support subject matter jurisdiction. The city���s contention that the developer���s claim for violation of the Open Meetings Act as unripe is without merit. Though, because the city had not acted on a permit application when the court denied its plea to the jurisdiction, its claim under local code governing permits was not ripe for disposition. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part and remanded.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00312-CV, Categories: Municipal Law, Property, Zoning
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly terminated the mother���s parental rights, a decision wherein the foster parents, who had been fostering the child for more than 12 months, intervened alleging that the mother���s proposed conservatorship would not be in the child���s best interest. The mother now alleges that the fosters do not have standing to intervene. At the final hearing the mother testified to meth use, that she was living with a male friend who had ���been to prison,��� had drug-related criminal history, and was recently arrested for driving without a license. The record demonstrates that awarding her custody would result in physical and emotional harm to the child. The trial court did not err in finding the intervenors had standing. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00128-CV, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Guardianship
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J. Worthen finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for burglary of a habitation. A neighbor of the victim observed the burglary in progress and later identified the perpetrators from a photographic lineup. The disputed portion of the prosecutor���s argument regarding the difference between a ���habitation��� and a ���building��� as posed by defendant on the basis that the structure did not have electricity was based on a reasonable and fair inference drawn from the totality of facts in evidence, including the victim���s testimony that his electric meter had been tampered with. Nothing suggests that the state offered the argument in bad faith. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00174-CR, Categories: Burglary, Evidence
J. Worthen finds the county court properly authorized administration of psychoactive medication to the defendant who was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to the state hospital. The treating physician testified that defendant would regain competency more quickly if the medications are administered, that the medications constitute the proper course of treatment, the benefits outweigh the risks and that the medications are in defendant���s best interest. She also testified that no alternatives were available. There was no disputed evidence that the trial court could not reasonably have resolved in favor of its ruling. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00143-CV, Categories: Commitment, Competence
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for arson with intent to damage a habitation. Evidence shows that a witness observed defendant at a vacant house after she was alerted by the sound of a shattering window. Her partner recorded defendant with a cell phone while the witness called 911. For the next five days, she saw defendant drive slowly past the house in the early afternoon. Passing motorists later saw the house burning. The combined and cumulative evidence supports that the jury was rationally justified in finding that defendant committed the arson. Though defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to prove that he used an accelerant, the state was not required to prove this. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00206-CR, Categories: Evidence, Arson
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Though there were apparent conflicts between defendant's second appointed counsel and himself, "personality conflicts" and disagreements concerning trial strategy are not valid grounds for withdrawal of counsel. No copy of a ���grievance��� allegedly filed against counsel exists in the record, and the specific allegations cannot be ascertained. The record also does not show that the trial court ruled on any speedy trial motions. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen , Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00073-CR, Categories: Assault, Weapons, Speedy Trial
J. Worthen conditionally grants the estate executor's request for a writ of mandamus challenging the trial court's denial of his motion for discovery protection in this suit brought by family members alleging breach of fiduciary duty. The trial court improperly ordered the relator to produce all categories of property, financial accounts and tax documents. The record indicates that the executor produced many documents, and the family members do not explain why they are insufficient. The family member's accountant had not reviewed all documents that were produced at the time of the hearing on the executor's motion.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00138-CV, Categories: Wills / Probate, Fiduciary Duty, Discovery
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for possession of a controlled substance. Defendant was arrested at his residence on an outstanding warrant and his girlfriend told the arresting officer that he was also in possession of meth. Further investigation produced a bag containing more than one gram of meth in the bedroom where defendant was found. Other witnesses at the residence testified that they had previously seen defendant with the bag. All evidence supports conviction. Counsel���s objections to evidence of defendant's gang membership were insufficient to preserve the argument for review, not mentioning the specific rule. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00229-CR, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Gangs
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly entered summary judgment in favor of the county which assessed taxes on the natural gas compressors which were leased to a business within that county but stored and maintained in another county. Though the tax code allows for taxation of a dealer���s ���heavy equipment inventory��� only in the county in which the inventory is based and maintained, because the lessor protested the appraisals, the protests of which were denied, the doctrine of res judicata precludes further review. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00325-CV, Categories: Administrative Law, Municipal Law, Tax