Nathan Earl Burgess v. State of Texas, 05-14-00216-CR

Nathan Earl Burgess was charged with misdemeanor illegal dumping of litter/solid waste (>5 lbs and <500 lbs) after code officers and police found furniture, boxes, a glass-and-metal cabinet, and other debris on the front yard, sidewalk, and street of 720 Paint Creek, Murphy, Texas.
Officer Gensler issued a 24-hour notice to remove items; he returned the next day and observed more items and a U-Haul; Burgess was present and became upset, throwing items and pushing over a glass cabinet which shattered onto the sidewalk and street.
Sergeant Hermes and other officers corroborated that Burgess threw/shoved the cabinet, that broken glass covered the public sidewalk/street, and that Burgess did not clean up the debris; officers estimated the cabinet’s weight was between five and five hundred pounds.
Burgess testified the items belonged to his sons and had been placed outside by the constable during an eviction; he denied knowingly dumping or intending to break the cabinet and did not clean up the glass.
After a bench trial the court found Burgess guilty and sentenced him to 20 days’ confinement, probated for nine months; Burgess appealed asserting insufficiency of the evidence.

Issue	Burgess's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether items were "litter" or "solid waste" under statute	Items were not within statutory definitions	Photographs and testimony showed furniture, glass, boxes, and other materials fitting statutory definitions	Court held items met statutory definitions and were litter/solid waste
Whether Burgess placed/ disposed of the items	Items were placed by constable during eviction; Burgess did not dump	Officers observed Burgess throwing items and pushing over cabinet, increasing debris	Court held evidence supported that Burgess disposed of items (threw cabinet)
Whether Burgess needed possessory/ownership interest for conviction	Without ownership, §365.012(l) exclusion applies; State failed to prove possessory interest	Burgess was charged with active disposal on public areas, not merely allowing accumulation; statute doesn’t require ownership for those acts	Court held ownership not required for conviction where defendant actively disposed on public sidewalk/street
Sufficiency of evidence under Jackson v. Virginia	Evidence insufficient to prove essential elements beyond reasonable doubt	Testimony, photos, and weight estimates satisfy elements (>5 lbs, <500 lbs, illegal disposal)	Court affirmed conviction; evidence legally sufficient

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
Acosta v. State, 429 S.W.3d 621 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (applying Jackson standard in Texas)
Winfrey v. State, 393 S.W.3d 763 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (deference to factfinder on witness credibility)
Simmons v. State, 288 S.W.3d 72 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2009) (conviction for illegal dumping need not involve property ownership)