### NUM BER 13-05- 0039 7-CR 

## COURT OF A PP EA LS
T H I R T E E N T H D I S T R I C T O F T E X AS
C OR P U S C H R I S T I - E D I N B U R G

HU M BER TO GA RZ A , A pp ellan t,

v . TH E ST A

TE OF T EXA S, A pp ellee.

On a p p ea l f ro m th e 37 0t h D is tr ic t C o u rt of H ida lgo C ou nt y , T exas .


## ME MOR A N D U M OP I N I ON
Be fo re C hie f J us tice Vald ez an d Ju stice s Y añ ez an d Be na v ide s M emo rand um Opin ion b y C hie f J us tice Vald ez
Appel lan t H umberto G ar z a w as indi cte d f or tw o counts of

ca pit al murde r. See T EX

. P EN AL C OD E A NN

. §§ 19.02( b) ( Ver non 200 3) , 19. 03( a) (2 ) (V er non Sup p. 2007 ). In March 2005, a j ur

y co nv ic ted G ar z a of t he les ser -i ncl uded off ense of mur der in Cou nt O ne and

ass ess ed a li fe senten ce. The jur y als o conv ic ted Gar

z a of capi tal mur der

i n C ount Tw o,T h is C o u r t a b a te d G a r z a ’s a p p e a l o f h is c o n v ic tio n f o r C o u n t O n e u n til th e c o u r t o f c r im in a l a p p e a ls 1 deci ded hi s app eal f or t he Count T wo conv i ct i on. 2 and bas ed on the j ur

y ’s ans w er s t o s peci al is sues se t fort h i n the co de of cr imi nal
pr ocedu re , t he tr ial co ur t sentenc ed Garz a to death for C ount Tw o. See T EX

. C OD E C R IM

. P ROC

. A NN

. art. 37.071 (V er non 200 6)

. Gar z a’s co nv ic ti on for Cou nt O ne w as appeal ed
to t his C our

t. Garza’s senten ce f or his conviction o f Count Two w as directly app eale d to th e cou rt of criminal app eals. Id . art. 37 .07 1, § 2(h ) ( Verno n 20 06). In his direct app eal to the cou rt 1
of cr imi nal appeal s, Gar z a r ais ed th ir

ty -t hr ee poi nts of er ro r, incl udi ng a cont enti on that t he
tr ial co urt v iol ated the feder al and s tate cons ti tuti onal pr otec ti ons ag ain st doubl e- jeo par dy by su bje cti ng hi m to mul ti ple pr osec uti ons and mult ipl e puni shment s for the s ame off ense. Gar z a v . St ate , No

. A P -7 5 , 2 1 7 , 2 0 0 8 T e x. Cr im

. A p p

. Un p u b

. L E XI S 3 4 0 , a t *1 -4 (T e x. Crim. App . Apr. 30 , 200 8). Th e T exas C o urt of Cri min al App eals sust aine d Garza’s doubl e- je o p a rd y poi nt of er ro r and hel d tha t “ [i ]t is cl ear ly appar ent fr om the face of the record th at ap pellan t w as sub jected to mu ltiple pu nishm ent s f or the sa me of f e n se in

v iolation of

the f ede ral and sta te con stitutio nal prot ecti o n s against dou ble-jeo pard y .” Id

. at * 11. Addi ti onal ly , t he c our t of c rimi nal appeal s i nst ru cte d us to cons ide r re v er si ng Gar z a’s mur der

co nv ic ti on for Cou nt O ne. Id . at *11 n.21

. W hen a defendant' s d oubl e j eopar dy ri g hts ar e v iol ated, the re medy i s t o v acat e one of the c onv ic ti ons. Bal l v. United S tates , 470 U .S. 856, 864- 65 ( 1985) ; Lander s v . St ate , 957 S. W .2d 5 58, 5 59 ( Tex . C ri m. App. 1997)

. The cour t of cr imi nal appeal s r etai ned “ the

mo st serious of

f ense ” and af

f irmed the trial court’s judgm ent and sente nce o f dea th in3

Cou nt Tw o. Beca use of t he cour t of cr imi nal appeal s’ hol din g and the s entenc e i n C ount Tw o, w e her eby

r ev er se and r ender

an a cq uit tal i n C ount One.

_________ _________ __ RO GELI O VA LDE Z Chief Justice Do not p ubl is h. T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 47 .2(b). Me moran dum Opi nio n del iv er ed and filed thi s t he 28 day

of Aug ust , 200 8. th