Court Opinion

ID: 9775727
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:08:10.754856+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:30.729026
License: Public Domain

DUNCAN, Judge,
concurring.
I think the majority opinion is absolutely correct in its analysis of V.T.C.A. Penal Code, § 19.03(a)(3). In addition to the syntactical conclusions advanced by the majority relative to the word “remuneration,” I have another, albeit less esoteric, basis for concluding that V.T.C.A. Penal Code, 19.-03(a)(3), is applicable to the facts of this case. The Texas murder for remuneration statute necessitates that the murder be committed for achieving a monetary gain. Admittedly, the usual scenario is when one hires another to kill. It seems to me, however, that it would be rather illogical to legislatively authorize the death penalty for one that hires another to kill, but exclude from that classification one that accepts the burden of killing for the purpose of gaining monetarily. In essence, the appellant simply hired herself to kill the deceased, assured in her own mind that she would monetarily benefit from her own conduct. Just because she elected to commit the murder herself, rather than depend upon another to do it, should not make her invulnerable to the death penalty. Now, she isn’t.