Page 41 - TPA Journal July August 2022

did then and there, with intent to defraud or harm the defense.” Additionally, the court of appeals
another, namely, Cory Nutt, make or present or use noted “discrepancies between what was in the
a governmental record, namely, a Llano Police report and what was captured on the recording
offense report, in case number 17-130, by omitting from Officer Shannon’s body camera.”
or misrepresenting facts of the arrest of Cory Nutt,
and the Defendant made or presented or used the We now turn to the question of whether the court of
governmental record with knowledge of its falsity. appeals properly held that the evidence was
The report was prepared by Officer Grant Harden, sufficient to sustain Appellant’s conviction for
and the State’s theory of the case was that when tampering with a government record. As discussed
Harden made the report, he left out all the above, a sufficiency review rests on whether the
information about Appellant going into Nutt’s evidence supports the elements of the charged
trailer. Therefore, in the State’s theory, the crime as defined by the hypothetically correct jury
tampering occurred when Appellant initialed the charge. However, in some cases, sufficiency of the
report, indicating his approval. The court instructed evidence also turns on the meaning of the statute
the jury on both felony and misdemeanor offenses under which the defendant has been prosecuted.
of tampering with a governmental record. The jury The State introduced the testimony of retired peace
charge specified that Appellant was guilty of officer Lisa Bujnoch, who testified that offense
misdemeanor tampering if he “ma[d]e or reports “should be very comprehensive” and
present[ed] or use[d] a governmental record, “should include witnesses that may or may not
namely [Officer Harden’s] Llano Police offense have information, both for the prosecutor and for
report, . . . by omitting or misrepresenting facts of the defense.” Bujnoch testified that there were
the arrest of . . . Nutt . . . with knowledge of [the disparities between what occurred on the recording
report’s] falsity.” The jury foundAppellant guilty of and what was listed in the offense report, including
misdemeanor tampering. The court of appeals not listing any witnesses or mentioning that
agreed. It held that a rational jury could have Shannon pointed her taser at Nutt, which Bujnoch
concluded that when Appellant initialed the offense said was a show of force that was required to be
report that omitted events “pertaining to the legality disclosed.
of Nutt’s arrest that Appellant himself witnessed,
he made or used a governmental record knowing Likewise, Investigator Schumacher said that there
that the report was false.” In particular, the court were omissions in Harden’s offense report and
relied on the testimony of Officers Schumacher and discrepancies between what was in the report and
Bujnoch. They had testified similarly that the what was captured on the recording from
offense report failed to mention the interaction Shannon’s body cam. He explained that there was
between Nutt and the officers while he was in his no mention of the interaction between Nutt and the
home and the fact that there was no mention of officers while he was in his home or of Appellant
Appellant entering Nutt’s home and escorting him entering Nutt’s home and escorting him out
out without a warrant and without consent. They without a warrant and without consent. Also, the
also testified that there were no witnesses listed in report listed no witnesses even though “some
the report, which Schumacher described as a civilians involved . . . witnessed the event,”
“significant” omission. The court of appeals including Britton and Schutte.
further relied on Officer Bujnoch’s testimony that
offense reports “should be very comprehensive” However, there was no testimony that anything
and “should include witnesses that may or may not included in Harden’s report was false. The first
have information, both for the prosecutor and for four paragraphs of the offense report summarized

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