AFFIRM; and Opinion Filed February 25, 2015.
S In The
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
No. 05-13-00218-CR
DARREN DWYONE GREEN, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. 4
Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. F11-62506-K
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Justices Lang, Brown, and Whitehill
Opinion by Justice Brown
Darren Dwyone Green appeals his conviction for the offense of continuous sexual abuse
of a child. In a single issue, appellant contends the evidence is insufficient to support the
conviction because the State failed to prove he committed the sexual acts in a period of thirty
days or more. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
Appellant was indicted for intentionally or knowingly, during a period that was thirty
days or more in duration, committing two or more acts of sexual abuse against J.F., a child
younger than 14 years of age, by penetration of the female sexual organ by appellant’s finger and
by contact between appellant’s hand and J.F.’s genitals, with the intent to arouse and gratify
appellant’s sexual desire. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 21.02(a) (West Supp. 2014). Appellant
entered an open plea of guilty. A jury found appellant guilty and assessed his punishment at
forty years’ confinement.
In a single point of error, appellant contends the evidence is insufficient to support his
conviction. Appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to show he committed
two or more acts of sexual abuse. His challenge is limited to whether the evidence is sufficient
to show the acts were committed during a period of thirty days or more.
When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we consider all of the evidence in the
light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether, based on that evidence and the
reasonable inferences therefrom, a jury was rationally justified in finding guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt. Temple v. State, 390 S.W.3d 341, 360 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013); see Jackson v.
Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318–19 (1979). The jury is the sole judge of the credibility of the
witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. Temple, 390 S.W.3d at 360. The
testimony of a child victim alone is sufficient to support a conviction for continuous sexual abuse
of a child. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 38.07 (West Supp. 2014); Lee v. State, 186
S.W.3d 649, 655 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2006, pet. ref’d).
At the time of trial in February 2013, J.F. was twelve years’ old and about two weeks
away from her thirteenth birthday. She testified that appellant was her father’s cousin and she
had a “family like” relationship with him. For a few months, J.F., her mom, and her siblings
lived in an apartment with appellant and her uncle. They later moved out of that apartment into
their own apartment next door. J.F. testified that, at some point, her relationship with appellant
changed and he started doing bad things to her. J.F. described at least five occasions on which
appellant committed acts of sexual abuse against her. We do not recount the details of the acts as
they are familiar to the parties and not necessary to the disposition of this appeal.
J.F. testified that she was eleven at the time of the first act and all later acts. She said the
first act happened toward the end of July or the beginning of August. J.F. testified the next act
occurred “[m]aybe in August.” J.F. described another act of sexual abuse that occurred at the
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end of September or maybe in October. The next act occurred after Thanksgiving. J.F.
described one more act, the last one, that also occurred when she was eleven, but she did not
remember exactly when it happened. J.F.’s mother called the police after she read text messages
on J.F.’s phone describing to a friend what had happened.
On cross-examination, defense counsel asked J.F. if the first incident occurred when her
family was living with appellant or living in their own apartment. J.F. testified that they lived
next door. Defense counsel asked if it was true that J.F. did not move next door until October
and J.F. replied, “No.” On redirect, J.F. testified that the first incident occurred before the school
year started, sometime in July or August, and the last incident she remembered was in
November. She stated she knew for sure the acts started before she went back to school and
ended sometime in November.
J.F.’s mother testified that she moved in with appellant and her kids’ uncle sometime in
June and got her own place in October. A CPS worker testified that she interviewed J.F. on
November 28, 2011.
Appellant testified and denied committing any acts of sexual abuse against J.F.
Appellant maintains the evidence is insufficient because J.F. was unequivocal that the
abuse began after she moved out of appellant’s apartment and her mother testified that the move
occurred sometime in October. According to appellant, because J.F. testified that the last act was
in November, sometime after Thanksgiving, a jury could not have concluded without speculation
that the acts of sexual contact were committed over a period of thirty days or more. We disagree.
J.F. testified the first act of sexual abuse occurred in July or August and the last act she
remembered occurred in November. This testimony alone is sufficient to prove appellant
committed the acts of sexual abuse over a period of thirty days or more. While J.F.’s testimony
that she lived next door to appellant when the abuse began was inconsistent with her mother’s
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testimony that they lived with appellant until October, the jury was free to resolve those
inconsistencies in favor of the verdict. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the
verdict, we conclude the evidence is sufficient to support appellant’s conviction. We overrule
appellant’s point of error.
We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
/Ada Brown/
ADA BROWN
JUSTICE
Do Not Publish
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.
130218F.U05
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S
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
JUDGMENT
DARREN DWYONE GREEN, Appellant On Appeal from the Criminal District Court
No. 4, Dallas County, Texas
No. 05-13-00218-CR V. Trial Court Cause No. F11-62506-K.
Opinion delivered by Justice Brown. Justices
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee Lang and Whitehill participating.
Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, the judgment of the trial court is AFFIRMED.
Judgment entered this 25th day of February, 2015.
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