Lancon v. State

The 4th Court of Appeals applied the wrong standard in determining that factually insufficient evidence supported the convictions. Court of Criminal Appeals, No. 0182-07

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Meyers, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Keller, P.J., Keasler, Hervey, and Cochran, JJ., joined. Johnson, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Price and Holcomb, JJ., joined. Womack, J., dissented.

OPINION

Appellant, Fernando Lancon, stood trial with two co-defendants, Alfonoso Villareal and Jorge Zuniga. Appellant was convicted of one count each for murder, attempted murder, and deadly conduct. The jury assessed punishment at twenty-five years’, fifteen years’, and ten years’ confinement, respectively. Villareal was also found guilty, but Zuniga was acquitted. Appellant appealed the convictions based on factual insufficiency of the evidence to sustain his convictions, the failure of the prosecutor to disclose exculpatory evidence, and the improper admission of two photographs into evidence. The court of appeals held that it was not an abuse of discretion to admit the two photographs into evidence, and that Appellant failed to establish that it was reasonably probable that the outcome of the trial would have been different had the prosecutor made a timely disclosure of the alleged exculpatory evidence. Lancon v. State, 220 S.W.3d 57 (Tex. App. – San Antonio, 2006)(mem. op.). The court of appeals also held that the evidence was factually insufficient to support the convictions and remanded the case for a new trial. The State filed a petition for discretionary review, which we granted to consider whether the court of appeals correctly applied the factual-sufficiency standard of review. We determine that the standard was not correctly applied. We vacate the judgment of the court of appeals and remand the case for the court of appeals to consider the sufficiency of the evidence under the standard set forth in Watson v. State, 204 S.W.3d 404 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006).

Lancon v. State

The 4th Court of Appeals applied the wrong standard in determining that factually insufficient evidence supported the convictions. Court of Criminal Appeals, No. 0182-07

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