Court Opinion

ID: 9638953
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 15:59:32.623198+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:10.917969
License: Public Domain

OVERSTREET, Judge,
concurring and dissenting.
I dissent to the majority’s holding on points seven, eight, and nine, which complain about the trial court’s refusal to inform jurors, or allow appellant to inform prospective jurors, that he would have to serve 35 calendar years before becoming eligible for parole on a life sentence for capital murder.
I continue to dissent to the majority’s treatment of this issue. See, e.g., Smith v. State, 898 S.W.2d 838 (Tex.Cr.App.1995)(plurality opinion), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 843, 116 S.Ct. 131, 133 L.Ed.2d 80 (1995); Morris v. State, 940 S.W.2d 610 (Tex.Cr.App.1996), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 117 S.Ct. 2461, 138 L.Ed.2d 218 (1997). As I discussed in some detail in my dissent to Rhoades v. State, 934 S.W.2d 113, 131-44 (Tex.Cr.App.1996), in light of the United States Supreme Court’s holding in Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154, 114 S.Ct. 2187, 129 L.Ed.2d 133 (1994), I believe that the United States Constitution’s guarantees of due process required appellant’s jury be informed of the 35-year parole eligibility law.
I also note that four members of the United States Supreme Court have recently commented upon the “[p]erverse[ness]” of our death penalty scheme not letting the jury know when the defendant will become eligible for parole if he is not sentenced to death. Brown v. Texas, - U.S. -, 118 S.Ct. 355, 139 L.Ed.2d 276 (1997). I likewise find rather perverse this Court’s continued approval of keeping jurors ignorant and uninformed of such a critical legal fact when making life and death decisions as to whether the death penalty will be assessed. Capital jurors deserve to be so informed so that they can make an informed decision. Hopefully a majority of this Court will soon realize this; before the Supreme Court explicitly informs us via a myriad of our opinions being reversed.
I respectfully dissent to the majority’s discussion and holding as to points seven, eight, and nine. Otherwise, I concur in the disposition of all the other points.
PRICE, J., joins as to points 7, 8, and 9.