I n two su bs idi a ry iss ue s, a

pp e lla nt a sse rt s th a t hi s c on te nti on wa s p re se rv e d f

or a pp e a l bu t if 1 it w a s n ot, his tr ia l c ouns e l wa s ine ff e c tiv e fo r havin g fa ile d to do so . A s w e wi ll e xpla in l a te r i n th is op ini on , th e a lle g e d e rr or wa s p re se rv e d. Thus , th e re is n o b a sis fo r t he ine ff e c tiv e ne ss c la im. 

### TEXA S C OU R T OF A PPEAL S, THIR D DIST R ICT , AT AU STIN

NO. 03-04-00687- CR

Ro ge r Wa lla c e He nde r so n, A ppe lla nt

v. The State of Texas, App ellee

F ROM THE COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 3 OF WILLI AMSO N COUNTY NO. 04-3 707- 3, HO NORAB LE DON HI GGINB OTH AM, JUDGE P RESIDING

O P I N I O N A jury found appe llant Roge r Wall ac e Henderson g uilty of assa ult and assessed punishment at 150 day s’ incar cer ation. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 22.01(a )(1) (West Supp. 2005). The issue presented in this appea l is whether the tr ial court violated a ppellant’s Six th Amendment rig hts by enter ing an aff

irmative finding that “the said Def endant committed f

amily violence in the

course of committing the of fense char g ed.” We hold that it di d not and af firm the convic tion. 1 The c ourt’s finding was e ntere d in the judgme nt pursuant to code of criminal proce dure a

rticle 42.013:Th e inf or ma tio n in thi s c a us e a lle g e d th a t th e c omp la ina nt wa s a me mbe r of

a pp e lla nt’ s f a mil y 2 or househ o ld, appar ently to give appellant notice of the State’s intention to seek the aff irmative finding . The c ourt’s jury

char g e at the g uilt/i nnocenc e phase did not incorporate this a lleg ation or require a jury

finding reg ardingfamily violence i n o rd er to convict. Althoug h the jury ’s ver dict found appe llant guilty

“as c harg ed in the information,” the State doe s not contend that the jury ’s v er d i ct co n s t i tu t edan af

fi rm at i v e f

i n d i n g. 2 I n the trial of a

n offe nse under

Title 5, Penal C o de [offense s ag ainst the person], if the court deter

mines that the offe nse involved family violence, as def ined by Section 71.004, Fa

mily Code, the court shall make an af firmative f

inding of that fac t and enter

the af firmative f

inding in the judg ment of the c ase.
Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 42.013 (West Supp. 2005). Although a ppellant does not deny

that the per son he assa

ulted was shown to be a

member of

his family or household, he c ontends that the

en t ry o f t h e c o u rt ’s fa m i l y

v i o l en ce fi n d i n g v i o l at ed h i s S i x t h Am en d m en tri gh tt o a j u ry fi n d i n g, ba se d o n p ro of

be y on d a re a so na ble do ub t, o f “ [a] ny fact (othe r t ha n a pr ior c on vic tio n) wh ic h is

nece ssary to support a sentenc e excee ding the maxi mum a uthorized by

the fa cts established by

a plea of guilty or a jury

verdic t.” United States v. Book er , 5 4 3 U. S

. 2 2 0 , 2 4 4 (2 0 0 5 ) ( ci t i n g Apprendi v. New Jersey , 5 30 U. S. 4 66 , 4 90 (2 00 0) ); see also Blak ely v. W ashington , 542 U.S. 296, 301 (2004). 2 Th e Stat e arg ue s th a t a

pp e lla nt d id n ot p re se rv e thi s c on te nti on fo r a pp e a l be c a

us e he did not object to the cour t’s char g e or r equest a

jury finding on family

viole n ce. We disag ree . Appellant wa s on trial for simple misdemeanor bodily injury assault. See T e x. Pe n . Co d e A n n. § 22.01(a) (1). The complainant’s status a s a member of appellant’ s family or household was not an element of

the offe nse. B efor e sente nce w as impo s ed , ap p el lant objected to the c ourt’s stated int e n ti o n to ma

k e th e a rti c le 4 2

. 0 1 3 a f

f ir mati v e f in d in g o n th e g r o u n d th a t th e r e h a d been no jury finding . The a lleg ed er

ror wa s prese rved.3 We a g ree with our sister courts in F ort Worth a nd Dallas that no Six th Amendment

v iolation is shown. Se e Bu tle r v . S tat e , 1 6 2 S

. W

. 3 d 7 2 7 , 7 3 2 ( T e x. A p p . — F o rt W o rt h 2 00 5, pe t. g ra nte d) ; Tho ma s v . S

tat e , 150 S.W. 3d 88 7, 88 9 (T e x. Ap p. —D a lla s 200 4, pe t. re f’ d) . T he iss ue in Booke r , Blak

e ly , and Apprendiwas the tria l court’s authority to inc rea se the defe ndant’s punishment above the presumptive sente ncing rang e for the offe nse proved at trial. The fa mily violence f

inding

a t is su e here ha d n o e ff

e c t on a pp e lla nt’ s p un ish me nt i n th is c a se , a nd thu s Booke r , Blak

e ly , and Apprendi do not apply

. See Thomas , 1 50 S.W. 3d a t 88 9. Th e fa

mil y vio le nc e fi nd ingmay

be c ome
re le va nt t o s e nte nc e if a

pp e lla nt is ev e r p ro se c ute d f

or a se c on d f amil y vio le nc e a ssa

ult purs ua nt t o section 22.01(b) (2). See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 22.01(b)( 2) (West Supp. 2005). We decline to issue

a n a dv iso ry op ini on a s to wh e the r thi s hy po the tic a l futur e us e of the c ou rt ’s fi nd ingwo uld

vio la te the Six th Amendment. See B utler , 162 S.W .3d at 732.

We briefly

addre ss two m at t er s raised by J ustice Da

uphinot in her Butler

dis se nt. First, the analog y betwee n the family violence finding at issue here and the de adly wea pon finding under a rticle 42.12, sec tion 3g is inapt. See B utler , 162 S.W .3d at 733-34; Tex. Code Crim. P roc. Ann. art. 42.12, § 3g (a) (2) (West S upp. 2005). The holding in Po lk that the dea dly wea pon finding must be made by

the trier of fac t w as not ba sed on the Six th A mendment but on the lang uag e of the statute. Se e Po lk

v . S tat e , 693 S.W .2d 391, 393 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985). Second, appe llant was not placed on community

supervision, and thus the conditions of super vision refe rre d to by

J ustice Dauphinot ar e not implicated in t his case. See B utler , 162 S.W .3d at 737; Tex. Code Crim. P roc. Ann. ar t. 42.12, §§ 11(h), 14(c ) (West Supp. 2005).4 The judg ment of convic tion is affirmed.

__________________________________________ J an P. Patterson, J ustice Be fore Chief J ustice L aw, Justi ces Patter son and Pury ear Affir med Filed: Apr il 14, 2006 Pub lis h