## Facts

- Jerry R. Rodriguez, a juvenile, was adjudicated delinquent for making bomb threats to a junior high school and was placed on probation for 12 months.
- The written probation conditions included a curfew requiring Rodriguez to be home at his listed residence between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on Friday or Saturday.
- The curfew condition contained two stated exceptions: (1) advance written permission from the probation officer, or (2) being with a relative or guardian.
- The State filed a petition to revoke probation/modify disposition alleging that Rodriguez violated the curfew on June 28, 1984.
- At the modification hearing, Officer Jim Truelove testified that he saw Rodriguez outside “Captain B’s Gameroom” in Alvin late at night; Truelove stated the time was 11:04 p.m., explaining on cross-examination that the precise time came from police department log records rather than his watch.
- Truelove also testified from personal observation that it was already dark when he arrived and that he did not leave the area until around 11:30 p.m.; he described Rodriguez as being alone.
- Rodriguez argued the “11:04 p.m.” testimony was hearsay, that the curfew condition was not a reasonable and lawful court order supporting commitment, and that there was no proof the curfew exceptions did not apply.
- The juvenile court found a curfew violation and entered an order modifying disposition, committing Rodriguez to the Texas Youth Commission until his eighteenth birthday.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was legally sufficient to support a finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Rodriguez violated curfew when the officer’s precise time reference came from police log records.
2. Whether the curfew condition in the original juvenile probation order was a reasonable and lawful court order whose violation could support modification of disposition and commitment to the Texas Youth Commission.
3. Whether the State was required to present direct evidence negating the curfew exceptions (advance written permission or being with a relative/guardian), or whether the trial court could rely on circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Texas (Houston, Fourteenth District) affirmed the order modifying disposition.
- The court held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding a curfew violation by a preponderance of the evidence.
- The court concluded that, even if the officer’s “11:04 p.m.” reference depended on log records, the officer’s independent observations supported a finding that Rodriguez was out after curfew.
- The court rejected Rodriguez’s challenge to the curfew condition, treating it as a reasonable and lawful probation requirement in a juvenile delinquency disposition.
- The court held the record supported an inference that neither exception applied, given the officer’s testimony that Rodriguez was alone and the context of the probation officer treating the incident as a violation.

## Legal Principles

- A juvenile court may modify a prior disposition (including committing the juvenile to the Texas Youth Commission) if it finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the juvenile violated a reasonable and lawful order of the court.
- Appellate review of a juvenile disposition modification is for abuse of discretion; the reviewing court considers whether the trial court acted without reference to guiding rules and principles, not whether the appellate court would have reached the same result.
- Testimony is not rendered wholly incompetent because a witness identifies a time using official log records when the witness also provides personal observations supporting the essential fact that the conduct occurred during prohibited hours.
- A trial court may rely on circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences to find that stated exceptions to a probation condition do not apply, including inferences from the juvenile’s being alone and from the way the incident was handled within probation supervision.

## Conclusion

In re Rodriguez upheld a juvenile court’s decision to modify disposition and commit Rodriguez to the Texas Youth Commission after finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he violated a curfew condition of probation. The appellate court found no abuse of discretion because the officer’s personal observations supported the conclusion that Rodriguez was out after curfew, the curfew requirement was a reasonable and lawful court order, and the record allowed the trial court to infer that Rodriguez lacked advance written permission and was not with a relative or guardian.


In re Rodriguez, 687 S.W.2d 421 (1985)