Case Name: G. G. McBRAYER, Appellant, v. STATE, Appellee
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Jurisdiction: Texas
Decision Date: 1931-06-03
Citations: 41 S.W.2d 245
Docket Number: No. 14270
Parties: G. G. McBRAYER, Appellant, v. STATE, Appellee.
Judges: 
Reporter: South Western Reporter Second Series
Volume: 41
Pages: 245–245

Head Matter:
G. G. McBRAYER, Appellant, v. STATE, Appellee.
No. 14270.
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.
June 3, 1931.
Wm. J. R. King, of Dongview, for appellant.
Lloyd W. Davidson, State’s Atty., of Austin, for the State.

Opinion:
MORROW, P. J.
The offense is the failure to support a minor child; penalty assessed at confinement in the county jail for a period of 75 days and a fine of $25.
The indictment charges a felony as defined by article 602, P. C. 1925, as amended by chapter 195, Acts of 41st Legislature (1929) Regular Session (Vernon's Ann. P. C. art. 602). As the offense is defined by article 602, supra, it is a misdemeanor. The amendment attempts to make it a felony. It was recently decided by this court in Ex parte Bill Heartsill, 38 S.W.(2d) 803, that the amendment was void in failing to comply with the constitutional provision touching the caption of the bill as set forth in article 3, § 35, Const, of Texas. In the decision mentioned, article 602, supra, as it appears in the Penal Code 1925, was held not affected by the passage of chapter 195, supra. The offense being a misdemeanor, the trial would ordinarily be had in the county court, unless it came within one of the exceptions named in article's, § 16, and article 5, § 22, of the Constitution. Whether the facts bring the case within the jurisdiction of the district court is not disclosed by the record. However, it was treated as a felony, and the appellant was convicted of a felony, as defined by chapter 195, supra, which statute was .void in failing to comply with the constitutional provisions.
The judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded.