Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of December 7, 2015.

NOTE:  Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Pruett v. State, No. 02-14-00222-CR (Dec. 10, 2015) (Sudderth, J., joined by Gardner and Meier, JJ.)

Held:  Appellant was convicted of arson after he set fire to a home he owned jointly with his siblings.  The evidence was insufficient to support a deadly weapon finding because there was no threat of actual danger of death or serious bodily injury under the circumstances.  No one was in the house when the fire occurred, a neighbor used a garden hose to prevent the spread of a grass fire, and the fire had played out by the time the fire department arrived.