Case Name: Terrance D. CARSON, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Jurisdiction: Texas
Decision Date: 1999-12-01
Citations: 6 S.W.3d 536
Docket Number: No. 1822-98
Parties: Terrance D. CARSON, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas.
Judges: in which McCORMICK, P.J., and MEYERS, PRICE, HOLLAND, WOMACK, and JOHNSON, JJ., joined.
Reporter: South Western Reporter Third Series
Volume: 6
Pages: 536–543

Head Matter:
Terrance D. CARSON, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas.
No. 1822-98.
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.
Dec. 1, 1999.
Stephanie L. Stevens, Bradford Klager, San Antonio, for appellant.
Alan E. Battaglia, Asst. Dist. Atty., San Antonio, Matthew Paul, State’s Atty., Austin, for State.

Opinion:
OPINION
MANSFIELD, J.,
delivered the opinion of the Court,
in which McCORMICK, P.J., and MEYERS, PRICE, HOLLAND, WOMACK, and JOHNSON, JJ., joined.
The question presented is whether the Fourth Court of Appeals erred in remanding this case to the trial court with instructions that a new punishment hearing be held. We hold that the Court of Appeals did err.
The Relevant Facts
A Bexar County jury found appellant, Terrance D. Carson, guilty of murder under Texas Penal Code § 19.02(b) and assessed his punishment at imprisonment for fifty years. On appeal, appellant argued that the trial court reversibly erred during voir dire in not allowing him to ask Venireman Molina whether she could consider recommending probation in a murder case not involving a mercy killing. The Fourth Court of Appeals agreed with appellant that the trial court erred, and it further agreed that the error was not harmless. Carson v. State, 986 S.W.2d 24, 29 (Tex.App. — San Antonio 1998). The Court of Appeals then affirmed the trial court's judgment with respect to appellant's conviction, vacated the trial court's judgment with respect to his sentence, and remanded the case for a new punishment hearing. Ibid. The court, citing Article 44.29(b) of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and our decision in Ransom v. State, 920 S.W.2d 288 (Tex.Crim.App.1994), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1030, 117 S.Ct. 587, 136 L.Ed.2d 516 (1996), reasoned that appellant was not entitled to an entirely new trial because (1) the trial court's error was one "affecting punishment only" and (2) appellant offered neither evidence nor argument "suggesting the trial court's erroneous restriction of his voir dire resulted in a jury biased against him on the issue of guilt." Ibid. We granted appellant's petition for discretionary review to determine whether the Court of Appeals erred in remanding the case for a new punishment hearing only.
Before this Court, appellant argues that the Court of Appeals erred in relying on Article 44.29(b) because that statutory provision, by its plain terms, authorizes a new punishment hearing only for errors made in the punishment stage of the trial. Appellant points out that the trial court's error here, made during voir dire, was not made in the punishment stage of the trial. Finally, appellant argues that the Court of Appeals erred in relying on our decision in Ransom v. State, 920 S.W.2d 288, because that was a capital murder case in which we applied Article 44.29(c), not Article 44.29(b).
In response, the State argues that voir dire is not part of the guilt/innocence stage of trial or the punishment stage of trial and that, therefore, Article 44.29 does not address the appropriate remedy for voir dire errors. The State argues further that appellate courts have inherent power to fashion appropriate remedies for the due administration of justice and that the appropriate remedy in this case is remand for a new punishment hearing only.
Analysis
Before the enactment of Article 44.29(b) in 1987, our law required that an entirely new trial be held on remand in non-capital cases if an appellate court determined that reversible error occurred at any point in the trial (including voir dire) and the jury had assessed punishment. Bullard v. State, 548 S.W.2d 13, 18 (Tex. Crim.App.1977). That was so because Article 37.07, § 2(b) and 3(c), required that the same jury both determine guilt and assess punishment. Ellison v. State, 432 S.W.2d 955, 957 (Tex.Crim.App.1968). Article 44.29(b) made a single exception to that rule. Under Article 44.29(b), retrial limited to assessment of punishment is permitted in non-capital cases if (1) an appellate court determines that reversible error occurred and (2) the error was, in the language of the statute, "made in the punishment stage of the trial."
The error in the instant case occurred during voir dire. Thus, under Article 37.07, appellant is entitled to an entirely new trial unless the error was "made in the punishment stage of the trial" within the meaning of Article 44.29(b).
Under our decision in Boykin v. State, 818 S.W.2d 782, 787 (Tex.Crim.App.1991), we must interpret unambiguous statutes literally, unless doing so would lead to absurd results. The statutory phrase "made in the punishment stage of the trial" is unambiguous, and we cannot say that interpreting it literally would lead to absurd results. Therefore, we hold that Article 44.29(b) permits retrials limited to assessment of punishment only for errors that were, literally, made in the punishment stage of the trial. Voir dire errors are not in that category.
In view of the preceding, it is clear that the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that Article 44.29(b) allowed a retrial in this case limited to assessment of punishment. The root of the Court of Appeals' error was its rebanee upon our decision in Ransom v. State, 920 S.W.2d 288. Our decision in that capital case, however, was based on Article 44.29(c), not Article 44.29(b). The two statutory provisions are worded quite differently and apply to different types of cases.
We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the case to the trial court for a new trial.
KEASLER, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which KELLER, J., joined.
. Article 44.29 provides:
(a) Where the court of appeals or the Court of Criminal Appeals awards a new trial to the defendant on the basis of error in the guilt or innocence stage of the trial or on the basis of errors in both the guilt or innocence stage of the trial and the punishment stage of the trial, the cause shall stand as it would have stood in case the new trial had been granted by the court below.
(b) If the court of appeals or the Court of Criminal Appeals awards a new trial to a defendant other than a defendant convicted of an offense under Section 19.03, Penal Code, only on the basis of an error or errors made in the punishment stage of the trial, the cause shall stand as it would have stood in case the new trial had been granted by the court below, except that the court shall commence the new trial as if a finding of guilt had been returned and proceed to the punishment stage of the trial under Subsection (b), Section 2, Article 37.07, of this code. If the defendant elects, the court shall empanel a jury for the sentencing stage of the trial in the same manner as a jury is empaneled by the court for other trials before the court. At the new trial, the court shall allow both the state and the defendant to introduce evidence to show the circumstances of the offense and other evidence as permitted by Section 3 of Article 37.07 of this code.
(c) If any court sets aside or invalidates the sentence of a defendant convicted of an offense under Section 19.03, Penal Code, and sentenced to death on the basis of any error affecting punishment only, the court shall not set the conviction aside but rather shall commence a new punishment hearing under Article 37.071 or Article 37.0711 of this code, as appropriate, as if a finding of guilt had been returned. The court shall empanel a jury for the sentencing stage of the trial in the same manner as a jury is to be empaneled by the court in other trials before the court for offenses under Section 19.03, Penal Code. At the new punishment hearing, the court shall permit both the state and the defendant to introduce evidence as permitted by Article 37.071 or Article 37.0711 of this code.
(Emphasis added.)
. All references to articles are to those in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.
. In Ransom v. State, a capital murder case, we held that "voir dire error regarding a subject that a jury would consider only during the punishment phase of the trial is 'error affecting punishment only' [within the meaning of Article 44.29(c) ], unless the defendant produces evidence showing that the error necessarily produced a jury biased against the defendant on the issue of guilt. Since no such evidence has been produced in the present case, this cause should be remanded for a new hearing on punishment in accordance with Art. 44.29(c)." 920 S.W.2d at 298.
. The question of whether the trial court erred is not before us.
. See footnote three, supra.
. See footnote one, supra.