Ex Parte Kenneth Jannereth ( 2013 )

COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH
NO. 02-13-00498-CR
EX PARTE KENNETH JANNERETH
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FROM COUNTY CRIMINAL COURT NO. 5 OF DENTON COUNTY
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MEMORANDUM OPINION 1
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Appellant Kenneth Jannereth appeals from the trial court’s denial of his
application for writ of habeas corpus. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.072,
§ 8 (West Supp. 2013). We affirm the trial court’s order. See Tex. R. App. P.
31.3.
Jannereth was charged with criminal mischief after destroying a barrier
that a homeowners’ association had placed on a private road to block use of a
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See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.
private lake by nonresidents. Jannereth, a member of the homeowners’
association, previously had threatened to tear the barrier down. In the
indictment, the property owner was alleged to be Vaughn Petty, the president of
the homeowners’ association at the time the property was damaged. A jury
found Jannereth guilty of criminal mischief, causing damage of $50 or more but
less than $500. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 28.03(a)(1), (b)(2) (West 2011).
The trial court sentenced Jannereth to 180 days’ confinement, suspended
imposition of the sentence, and placed him on community supervision for 24
months. Jannereth appealed his conviction. We affirmed the trial court’s
judgment, and the court of criminal appeals refused Appellant’s petition for
discretionary review. Jannereth v. State, No. 02-10-00042-CR, 2011 WL
3426253, at *6 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Aug. 4, 2011, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not
designated for publication).
Jannereth then filed an application for writ of habeas corpus arguing that
his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to investigate Petty’s
ownership interest in the property. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.072,
§ 2(b)(1). Jannereth argues that because the homeowners’ association owned
the property and because there was evidence that Petty did not have standing to
be a member or president of the homeowners’ association, Jannereth was
improperly convicted of damaging the property of a non-owner. Because trial
counsel inadequately investigated Petty’s ownership interest in the property,
Jannereth asserts his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective.
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The State responded that Petty was shown at trial to be the president of
the homeowners’ association and that Jannereth had no ownership interest in the
property. The trial court, relying on the penal code’s definition of “owner,” found
that Petty was properly alleged and sufficiently proven to be the owner of the
property. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 1.07(a)(35)(A) (West Supp. 2013).
Therefore, the trial court concluded that trial counsel was not ineffective and
denied Jannereth’s application, which Jannereth now appeals. We did not
request additional briefing. See Tex. R. App. P. 31.1.
We usually review the trial court’s decision to grant or deny habeas-corpus
relief under an abuse-of-discretion standard; but if (as is true here) the issue
involves the application of law to facts and does not involve credibility
determinations, we review the trial court’s decision de novo. See Ex parte
Cummins, 169 S.W.3d 752, 755 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2005, no pet.). To
demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel, a habeas-corpus applicant must
show that (1) his counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of
reasonableness and (2) but for counsel’s deficiency, the result of the proceeding
would have been different. Ex parte McFarland, 163 S.W.3d 743, 751–52 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2005) (relying on Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104
S. Ct. 2052, 2064 (1984)).
We agree with the trial court that Petty was an owner as defined in the
penal code. Even if counsel had sufficiently investigated Petty’s ownership
interest, the evidence would have shown that at the time the property was
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destroyed, Petty was the president of the homeowners’ association. Here, the
homeowners’ association was the true owner of the property, and Petty was the
president of the association. Jannereth attempts to argue that Petty was not
properly elected and relies on the affidavit of an attorney who opines that the
deed restrictions may not have been properly amended to bring Petty’s lake
property under the auspices of the homeowners’ association.
Under Texas pleading rules, ownership may be alleged in either an actual
owner or a special owner. Byrd v. State, 336 S.W.3d 242, 251–52 (Tex. Crim.
App. 2011). Although it is the “better practice” to allege the corporate entity as
the owner, it is permissible to allege ownership in a special owner. Garza v.
State, 344 S.W.3d 409, 414 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011); see Dingler v. State, 705
S.W.2d 144, 145 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984) (recognizing allowable practice of
alleging ownership in “a natural person acting for the corporation”). “A special
owner is a person who has actual custody or control of property that belongs to
another person.” Byrd, 336 S.W.3d at 252. To eliminate the distinction between
special and actual ownership, the legislature expansively defined “owner” and
included in the definition a person who has title to the property, possession of the
property (whether lawful or not), or a greater right to possession of the property
than the defendant. See Garza, 344 S.W.3d at 413; Byrd, 336 S.W.3d at 252;
see also Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 1.07(a)(35)(A). The definition of “possession”
includes care, custody, control, or management of the property. Tex. Penal
Code Ann. § 1.07(a)(39) (West Supp. 2013). Therefore, Texas law permitted
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Jannereth’s conviction for criminal mischief where Petty was the alleged owner of
the property because Petty had possession of the property on behalf of the
homeowners’ association whether that possession was lawful or not. This result
is exactly what the legislature intended in enacting a broad definition of owner.
See, e.g., Garza, 344 S.W.3d at 412–14; Freeman v. State, 707 S.W.2d 597, 603
(Tex. Crim. App. 1986) (plurality op.). On these facts, Jannereth has not shown
the requisite prejudice—that the result of the proceeding would have been
different—in trial counsel’s alleged failure to fully investigate the legality of Petty’s
ownership interest. We conclude that the trial court correctly denied Jannereth’s
habeas-corpus application.
LEE GABRIEL
JUSTICE
PANEL: LIVINGSTON, C.J.; DAUPHINOT and GABRIEL, JJ.
DO NOT PUBLISH
Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)
DELIVERED: December 12, 2013
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