Court Opinion

ID: 9683102
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:22:32.733385+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:44.859248
License: Public Domain

ODOM, Judge
(dissenting).
Appellant contends the indictment is insufficient to charge the offense for which he was convicted. The indictment, in material part, charges appellant:
“. . . did unlawfully, carry on and about his person a pistol, said pistol having been carried in the premises located at 2000 Second Avenue, in the City of Dallas, Texas, said premises being covered by a permit and license issued under the provisions of the Texas Liquor Control Act.”
Article 483, V.A.P.C., at the time of the offense charged, provided:
“(a) Any person who shall carry on or about his person, saddle or in his saddlebags, or in his portfolio or purse any pistol, dirk, dagger, slung shot, blackjack, hand chain, night stick, pipe stick, sword cane, spear, knuckles made of any metal or any hard substance, bowie knife, switch blade knife, spring blade knife, throw blade knife, a knife with a blade over five and one half (5V2) inches in length, or any other knife manufactured or sold for the purposes of offense or defense shall be punished by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500) or by confinement in jail for not less than one (1) month nor more than one (1) year, except that if the offense is committed by a person while in any premises covered by a permit or license issued under the provisions of the Texas Liquor Control Act or at any dance where the public is invited and alcoholic beverages are openly sold, served, or consumed, he is guilty of a felony and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not less than two (2) years nor more than five (5) years.
“(b) Where the misdemeanor offense is proved under allegations constituting a felony under this Article, the misdemean- or shall be a lesser included offense.”
It will be observed that a violation of this statute is a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of a five hundred dollar fine or one year in jail unless one of the two aggravating elements be alleged and proven. The aggravating element relied upon by the State in the instant case is that in which “the offense is committed by a person while in any premises covered by a permit or license issued under the provisions of the Texas Liquor Control Act.” (Emphasis added.) Under this statute, the aggravating element must be alleged, not only to secure the greater punishment, but also to plead a felony and demonstrate from the face of the indictment that the district court had jurisdiction of the ease. Standley v. State, 517 S.W.2d 538; Wilson v. State, 520 S.W.2d 377; Article 27.08(4), V.A.C.C.P.
Appellant does not contend that the indictment fails to set forth the enhancement and jurisdictional element “in plain and intelligible words,” as required by Articles 27.09(2) and 21.02(7), Y.A.C.C.P. He contends, instead, that the language in the indictment is insufficient as a matter of law to allege the element relied upon in this prosecution, rendering it insufficient to support the conviction, which also would render it insufficient to support a prosecution in district court under Art. 27.08(4), supra.
*296Does the indictment in this case allege the aggravating element which the State sought to prove? In Nevarez v. State, 503 S.W.2d 767, an indictment for the same criminal offense here in issue alleged the defendant “did then and there carry on and about his person a pistol while in a premise covered by a permit and license under the Texas Liquor Control Act . . . (Emphasis added.) The opinion in that case pointed out that when an offense may only be committed in a certain type or class of place, it is sufficient to allege that it was committed in such a place. Compare Hodge v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 527 S.W.2d 289 (1975). However, when no such allegation is made, the charging instrument is insufficient. Shane v. State, 513 S.W.2d 579; Adams v. State, 524 S.W.2d 67 (1975).
The only allegation connecting appellant’s conduct to the premises appearing in the indictment upon which appellant was convicted is “said pistol having been carried in the premises . . . ” It does not allege that appellant was on the premises described; it does not allege when or by whom the pistol was carried on the premises; it only alleges that appellant carried a pistol, which pistol had at some time unstated by some person unstated been carried upon the described premises. Looking to the plain and obvious meaning of the charging portion of the indictment, one can only conclude that it fails to allege the aggravating circumstances relied upon for the felony conviction.
In Mesa v. State, 462 S.W.2d 600, this Court quoted the following rule of law from 1 Branch’s Ann.P.C., 2d ed., Sec. 512, p. 495, with approval: “If the-word omitted is essential to the certainty necessary in the description of the offense it cannot be supplied by intendment, and of consequence such omission is fatal to the validity of the indictment.” In the instant case, it appears the language used in the indictment is so at variance with the offense of which appellant was convicted that it must be said several words were omitted. As a consequence of such omission, the indictment fails to allege that the pistol was carried by appellant at the time alleged on the described premises. Although the indictment does allege the included misdemeanor, it does not allege the offense for which appellant stands convicted.
The majority state in conclusory fashion, “The indictment, read as a whole, alleges that appellant carried a pistol on licensed premises.”1 In doing so they violate the rule quoted above from Mesa v. State, and supply by implication facts that plainly are not alleged in the indictment. If “notice pleading” is the new law of the land, the majority should say so and overrule Mesa v. State, supra.
For insufficiency of the indictment to support the verdict and judgment of conviction, the judgment should be reversed and the cause remanded.
For these reasons I respectfully dissent.
ROBERTS, J., joins in this dissent.

. The majority also state that the indictment was “sufficient to apprise appellant of the offense under the statute.” As pointed out above, appellant has not raised any notice complaint under Articles 27.09(2) and 21.-02(7).