OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honoaable Waylor Rurrell 

Dirtr$ot Attorney 

76th Judloial Dfrtriot 

It. t1eamant, toxa* 

Dew sir: 

gulltt to a oh8rge 

rlloo la a-murder 

wnt, and after hearsmaa the punlshmellt. 

rtnent*s oplnlon on 

rd by lndlatavmt of 

h lndlotment aoatslnr 

vas ooamlttod vlth 

trial o? the mm 

e aourt to plead @its 

the Intervention of a 

or vlthout mallae. 

endnnt to waive 8 jury and 

at’8 plea of guilty to a oharge 

It la ruggested that b&ore trial of the oases you 

state in open oourt, alao by vrltten motion, thnt the svldencre 

vi11 not suataln murder with mallow aforethought end tbat the 

State vlshee to abnndon that part of the lndlctment Centr 

State (1913) 152 9. w 635 Cle v State (1913) id’ 

%‘The oourt should; oi i0-k order grMit& the 

~0otion. fn thi aonneation ve direot your attention to Sville 

V* State, (1929 $ 25 3. w. (26) 1098, wherein the aourt 88 -xa+ 
HonOrUble 'Baylor Russell, page 2 

481 

'The indictment charged that l pmllant did voluntarily kill B. J. Rendrlx by shooting him with a 

For the ffrst time sinoe the passage of chap- 

!%274, Act8 Regular Session 1927, redefining the 

offeaso of nurder~ the point 18 mde thnt vhlle it 

lo su??lolent under snid act for an ladlotment for 

;Fez,o ohurge that the l coused did voluutarlly 

thnt in cases vhereln the state proposrs 

to aik II &lshmsat greater thaa f5ve JOUS for the 

o??on#e, the lndlotment should allego that the kllllng was upon ulloe afore thought. . ., 

II . . .* 

"While our presort rtatute raker murder of 

every voluntary killing, it 18 also speol?led f.n 

the statute that in every murder case the oourt 

shall tell the jury that, unless the killing vas::upon malice aforethought, they cannot assess the punlsbasnt ns a psrlod longer than flvo years hence It 

18 plain thnt murder vlthout malice aforet h ought 18 

punlrrhable by imprisonment for not less than two nor 

8or@ than five years, vhile murder upon malice aforothought my be punished by death or any period o? 

Imprisonment not less than tvo yews. In other 

vords, l? the state vlshes to seek a grsater penalty than ?lUe years.beoause o? the 088a06 0r 8ui00 

aforethought -- aa Indispensable e E meat o? the 

eahanced penalty under the aev statute -- the Indictment should allege that the killing vas upon 

such ma1100 aforethought," 

The statute defines murder, V.A.P.C., Artiole 1256, 

“Uhoevar shall voluntarily kill aay person vlthIn this State shall be guilty of murder. Rurder 

ahall be dI8tlnguIshed ?ron every other 8peolss o? 

homlolde by the abswce of oloumstanoes vhioh rsduae the offense to nsgllgsnt horioldb or vhiob exouse or juatity the killing.." 

SSIJ also Homicide, 22 TAX., P. 572, 4 97, aad P* 628, 

1 125, note 16. 
. 

. 

410 

Bonorable Tnylor Rassell, psgs 3 

pnrte Wagnoa (193@, _ 125 8. Y. (26) 572, and Bx pa 

Your identical question vss before the o;~t~;l~ 

‘. In those oases the oourt per&ted 

the skte to l baadoa- t&t mrt of the l~otment vhloh vould 

: 7z9mrT57-B. Y. (la) 892 

11 

olassi?y the felony casm ai a capital offense, the defendants 

than waived a Jury aad entered pleas of guilty before the trial 

court vlthout a jury. 

the trial eoarts, 

The court of e?ltinal Appeals sustaiaod 

ra Turks v. Stste (W?), 165 3. WO (24) 460, a* 00 

864, the OOt& Uld: 

. it aov appears to bo the settled lav of 

this s~a~a*tht oae l courod of a felony less than 

capital may, undsr his pka of guilty, valve a trial 

by Jury aad his pualebaent my be fixed w tb trial 

judgr, provltlodr (a) the Stat0 latroduooo ovidmoo 

su??la ient to a h0th8 11 lc o wo d guilty 0s the 0rr~a80 

o&rpd) l atl (b) no faots are reoelved in ovldeaoo 

rklng l vldeat the inn00 snoo o? t& l oowed, or 

vhlch reasonably an& ?airly present such as an lsSW 0s fact. Unless the facts brlug t& oase vlth- 

¶a the rule stated, the trlal judge 18 without authority to render a dud&meat finding the aoanwd 

guilty, beoatue, if the btatr ?alls to shov the guilt 

0s tb l oouled, no ooavlotlon can r0110v3 and, if 

1 l vldeaoe be reoolved shoving the l oouced to be lnaoooat 0s th8 orrense charged, then the plea 0s guilty is supplanted by the entry or a plea of not guilty, 

in vhloh event the trlsl judge 1s vlthout authority 

to deterdam the guilt? of th8 8oOwody" 

Yours wry truly 

cz 

DIvld Wuatoh 

A8slstsat