Court Opinion

ID: 9678832
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:33:38.848517+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:08.316809
License: Public Domain

ANDELL, Justice,
concurring.
I concur with the majority’s resolution of the first point of error, concerning jurors receiving information from an unauthorized source. I would overrule the point of error. However, I would not analyze it under the doctrine of invited error. The majority extends the doctrine of invited error too far by including actions by a defendant alone that do not involve an action by the court. In this case, the appellant filed a motion for mistrial based on the fact that the jury had been exposed to evidence from an outside source, *256namely himself. The judge did not grant the mistrial.
Invited error is defined as: “In appellate practice, the principle of invited error is that if, during the progress of a cause, a party requests or moves the court to make a ruling which is actually erroneous, and the court does so, that party cannot take advantage of the error on appeal or review.” Black’s Law DICTIONARY 543 (6th edition)(1990).
The Court of Criminal Appeals has applied invited error when the defendant has “invited” the court to do something, the court has then done the act, and thereafter the defendant complains of the court’s action. See Kelley v. State, 823 S.W.2d 300, 302 (Tex.Crim.App.1992) (defendant requested a name change, trial court changed indictment to reflect name change, when defendant complained the name change was error, the court held any objection was waived); Capistran v. State, 759 S.W.2d 121, 124 (Tex.Crim.App.1988) (defendant requested the trial proceed on the evidence presented during an earlier trial, trial court did so, and then defendant complained on appeal the trial court erred in receiving evidence without appellant’s written consent, appellate court held objection waived); Livingston v. State, 739 S.W.2d 311, 341 (Tex.Crim.App.1987) (defendant requested a charge, the court gave the charge requested, when defendant complained the charge was error, appellate court held error was invited.); Murphy v. State, 640 S.W.2d 297, 299-300 (Tex.Crim.App.1982) (appellate court held defendant was estopped from complaining about the legality of a search when he elected to prevent any disputed fact issue from coining before jury); Cadd v. State, 587 S.W.2d 736, 741 (Tex.Crim.App.1979) (appellate court held defendant in no position to complain about the charge given because the defendant requested the charge); Holmes v. State, 140 Tex.Crim. 619, 146 S.W.2d 400, 403 (App.1940) (defendant objected to the wording of the charge, the wording was taken out, then defendant complained the wording was not in the charge, appellate court held defendant invited error and could not complain).
A review of the appellate court decisions also shows the doctrine of invited error has only been applied when there has been an “invitation” by the defendant to the court to commit error, the court does what was requested, and thereafter the defendant complains of that action. See McCray v. State, 861 S.W.2d 405, 409 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1993, no pet.) (court held defendant invited error when he rejected a defensive issue in the charge and then complained when it was not put in); Mann v. State, 850 S.W.2d 740, 742 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1993, pet. ref'd) (defendant who stipulated to evidence and told court to take judicial notice of all testimony and evidence presented at another hearing, invited trial court error and could not complain on appeal); Ex parte Hargett, 827 S.W.2d 606, 607-608 (Tex.App.—Austin 1992, pet. refd) (defendant invited error when he told the court the case could be decided on the record and then complained on appeal that he was denied an evidentiary hearing); Rivera v. State, 684 S.W.2d 174, 176 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1984, pet. ref'd) (defendant invited error when he put his own character at issue, trial court allowed in State’s evidence about his character, and on appeal defendant contends trial court erred in allowing it in).
In this case, only juror Tanner heard anything from appellant about the case. Therefore, the two other jurors’ interactions with the appellant did not prejudice him in any way, and the trial court did not err in denying the appellant’s motion for mistrial based on their testimony alone. Tanner did hear something relating to the trial but was unsure exactly what it was she heard. She could not specifically relate what she heard or how it related to the trial. Of course, information that the appellant was intoxicated or was using drugs at the time of the offense could prejudice the appellant’s case. However, Tanner agreed that she would not use the information in any way during her deliberations. She also agreed not to discuss the matter with any other juror.
I would resolve point of error one by holding that the trial court did not err in denying the appellant’s motion for mistrial because the appellant did not show how he was harmed by his discussions with the jurors.
This case should not expand the invited error doctrine to a situation that involves a *257defendant’s actions alone. The appellant did not “invite” the court to commit error and the court committed no error.
O’CONNOR and HUTSON-DUNN, JJ., join this concurrence.