Court Opinion

ID: 9653110
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 17:38:56.426675+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:56.410618
License: Public Domain

*65OPINION
DIAL, Justice.
This is an appeal from a conviction for delivery of cocaine of less than 28 grams. TEX.REV.CIY.STAT.ANN. art. 4476-15 § 4.02(b)(3)(D) (Vernon Supp.1985) (Controlled Substances Act). The accused was found guilty in a jury trial, and the jury assessed punishment at confinement for fifteen years and one day.
The first ground of error concerns the trial court excusing a juror and permitting the eleven remaining jurors to reach a verdict rather than grant a motion for mistrial.
After the jury had been selected and sworn, the State called its first witness. While the witness was on cross-examination, a juror sent a written note to the court. The juror disclosed for the first time that she had been on the grand jury that indicted the defendant.
The State or the defense may challenge a juror for cause if he served on the grand jury which found the indictment of the accused. TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC. ANN. art. 35.16(a) (Vernon Supp.1985). This is a ground of challenge which may be waived. Id. Neither side waived the disqualification of the juror.
The defense instead moved for a mistrial, which was overruled by the court. The trial court found the juror to be disabled from sitting in the cause and allowed the proceedings to continue with eleven jurors.
TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 36.29 (Vernon Supp.1985) provides that when a juror dies or is disabled from sitting at any time before the charge of the court is read to the jury, the remainder of the jury shall have the power to render the verdict. The determination as to whether a juror is disabled under article 36.29 is within the discretion of the trial court. However, the language of the article and the cases which interpreted it limit its application to those cases where the juror was physically or mentally impaired in some way, or all the parties consented to trying the case with just eleven jurors. Carrillo v. State, 597 S.W.2d 769, 771 (Tex.Crim.App.1980).
Here, the juror was neither physically nor mentally impaired. Neither party consented to continue the case with just eleven jurors. The accused, instead, insisted on a mistrial. The preferred procedure in these circumstances is for the court to advise the accused that the trial will continue without discharging the juror unless the accused either agrees to continue with eleven jurors or asks for a mistrial. Depending on the accused’s election, the court then should grant a mistrial or continue with eleven jurors. Id.
In the present case the court erred in failing to grant the mistrial. Ground of error one is sustained.
The second ground of error complains of the trial court limiting the jury argument to ten minutes for each side.
The trial court is vested with broad discretion in regulation of the duration of argument to the jury. Hernandez v. State, 506 S.W.2d 884, 886 (Tex.Crim.App.1974). Matters to be considered in the exercise of this discretion are the quantity of the evidence, conflicts in the testimony, and the complexity of the issues. The statement of facts in the present case is very abbreviated. It contains some testimony of the first witness, the colloquy concerning the disqualified juror, and the defense attorney’s jury summation. We cannot ascertain from the statement of facts the number of witnesses called or if any conflicts arose in the testimony. We know that the defense called four witnesses on a bill of exception, but apparently the defense called no witnesses before the jury. According to the judge’s docket sheet, the entire testimony lasted only one and one-half hours including the attorney’s opening statement. After the State rested, the defense rested, and evidence was closed.
Where the record does not contain a complete transcription of the court reporter’s notes, a defendant is not entitled to relief on matters that concern the presence or absence of conflicting evidence and *66the development of defensive issues. We recognize that ten minutes is a very brief time to argue a felony case to a jury. Reviewing the record in a light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling, Dubois v. State, 164 Tex.Crim.R. 557, 301 S.W.2d 97, 101 (1957), cert. denied, 356 U.S. 921, 78 S.Ct. 705, 2 L.Ed.2d 717 (1958), we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in limiting the jury argument. The second ground of error should be overruled.
For the reason above stated the judgment of the trial court is reversed and the cause is remanded.
TIJERINA, J., concurs.