Court Opinion

ID: 9759320
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 00:12:13.677247+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:01.189935
License: Public Domain

BURGESS, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent to the disposition of point of error number three. Although I dissented from the majority in Huggins v. State, 795 S.W.2d 909 (Tex.App.—Beaumont 1990, pet. ref’d), I recognize its prece-dential effect.
During the punishment phase of the trial a police officer testified that on a previous occasion he approached appellant and upon confrontation appellant threw away a cocaine-filled Tylenol bottle. This incident resulted in an indictment which was ultimately dismissed. The officer’s explanation for the dismissal was that he could not prove that the bottle was the object he saw appellant toss. The state’s reason for the dismissal was insufficient evidence.
Huggins held that evidence may be offered as to any matter which the court deems relevant to sentencing, independent of prior criminal record and character or reputation evidence. Thus, any evidence which tends to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination more probable or less probable than it would be without it, is relevant under Tex.R.Crim.Evid. 401, and thus admissible under Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 37.07 § 3(a) (Vernon Supp.1990).
The trial court's decision to admit the evidence is reviewable under the standard of abuse of discretion. See Huggins at 911. Considering the offense was not only unadjudicated but was dismissed in the sound discretion of the prosecution due to the state’s inability to prove its case, I would find the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the offense.
Having found error, I must determine whether beyond a reasonable doubt the error made no contribution to the punishment assessed. Tex.R.App.P. 81(b)(2). In addition to the prior conviction for unlawful possession of stolen mail material which was alleged in the enhancement paragraph of the indictment, the state also showed that appellant had received probation in 1975 on a forgery charge and in 1985 for misdemeanor possession of marihuana. However, the prosecutor’s entire argument is centered on the facts and merits of the unadjudicated offense. Unlike the other offenses, the unadjudicated offense was identical to the current offense. This fact was argued by the state, as was the fact that it was the most recent offense. I simply cannot determine beyond a reasonable doubt that the evidence made no contribution to the punishment. I would sustain point of error three and reverse and remand for a new trial on punishment only. Since the majority does not, I respectfully dissent.