Court Opinion

ID: 9675823
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:06:43.445114+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:40.003784
License: Public Domain

WHITE, Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent to the majority’s holding that the State (because of no objection) failed to preserve for appeal the issue of the trial court’s lack of authority to appoint a Special Master to conduct a hearing on the subject of whether appellant was harmed as a result of the trial court’s decision to overrule his motion to quash the indictment.
On original submission, this Court abated the appeal and remanded the case to the trial court. In our remand order, this Court commanded that,
“The trial court shall hold a hearing to allow appellant to more fully develop his allegation of harm.”
Janecka v. State, 739 S.W.2d 813, at 842 (Tex.Cr.App.1987). On remand, the trial *245court (instead of following this Court’s specific order) appointed a Special Master to conduct the hearing to determine if appellant could establish that he was harmed by the defect in form in the indictment.
In its motion for rehearing, the State presented the following argument in its second ground for rehearing:
“The State is aware that TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 11.07(d) authorizes a district court judge to appoint an attorney or a magistrate to hold a hearing and make findings of fact in post conviction writ proceedings. The State is also aware of Chapter 54 of the Government Code which authorizes masters, magistrates and referees for district courts in areas of family law, criminal law in Jefferson, Dallas and Tarrant Counties, civil law in Dallas County and juvenile referees/masters in Wichita and Harris Counties. However, the State is unaware of any authority allowing a Harris County district court judge to appoint an attorney as a master to hold a hearing in a case on direct appeal. Furthermore, the order of this Court in remanding the case for said hearing stated explicitly “The trial court shall hold a hearing to allow appellant to more fully develop his allegation of harm.” Janec-ka v. State, supra, at 842.
“In Herrod v. State, 650 S.W.2d 814 (Tex.Cr.App.1983), this Court allowed a defendant to challenge, for the first time on appeal, the authority of a retired district court judge to preside over a criminal trial in a county court where the record failed to reflect by what authority the regularly elected judge had been replaced. At least the presiding trial judge in Herrod had been a duly elected judge and perhaps, given enough time, it could have been shown that he did have authority to preside (though it was not reflected in the appellate record)!
“Since the hearing in the present case was conducted by a person who had no authority to preside over it, it should be considered void ab initio. If a majority of this Court determines that the remun-erator is a matter of requisite notice (and thus an element of the offense, at the option of the accused), then this Court should remand again for the trial court to follow this Court’s order and conduct a lawful hearing at which the appellant can attempt to show harm.”
Asserting reliance upon Tex.R.App.Pro. 52(a), the majority decided:
“to preserve the issue of appointment of a master, a party must specifically object to the judge making the appointment. The objection must be made at the time of the appointment or at the earliest feasible opportunity thereafter.”
Because the State failed to do so in this case, the majority held that the State waived any error in the trial court’s appointment of a Special Master. I respectfully disagree for several reasons.
First, the Adams hearing conducted by the Special Master was void ab initio because the trial court was not authorized by law to appoint a Special Master to conduct the hearing. I find that the State’s citations in support of this, which are set out above, are correct. The Special Master had no jurisdiction to preside at the hearing. For the purpose of complying with the remand order of this Court on direct appeal, it was as if no hearing had been conducted at all.
Herrod v. State, 650 S.W.2d 814 (Tex.Cr.App.1983), cited by the State, supports this conclusion. In Herrod, there was no proof that the Presiding Judge of the First Administrative District had assigned the retired district judge to preside over the hearing in county court. There was also no statutory authorization for the retired district judge to sit in such capacity without a formal order of assignment. This Court concluded that since he was not authorized to sit in that case, the proceedings which he conducted were void. Herrod, supra. In the instant case, the Special Master was also not authorized by statute, to conduct the hearing on the harmfulness of the error of notice in the indictment.
This Court has also relied upon the concept of void ab initio in analogous sitúa-*246tions.1 In Smith v. State, 406 S.W.2d 455, at 456 (Tex.Cr.App.1966), this Court discussed how a complaint which had been added to, or altered, after it was sworn to by the affiant would cause the entire proceeding thereafter to be rendered void ab initio.
In Heath v. State, 817 S.W.2d 335 (Tex.Cr.App.1991), a trial court assessed a sentence which was not authorized by statute. This Court held that the sentence and judgment were therefore void. The proceedings which were held, even though they were entered into pursuant to a plea bargain in which the defendant agreed to accept the sentence, were abrogated. This Court reversed the defendant’s conviction and remanded the cause to the trial court for new proceedings upon the indictment. See, also Levy v. State, 818 S.W.2d 801, 802 (Tex.Cr.App.1991) (In which the sentence assessed against the defendant was held to be void); and Fullbright v. State, 818 S.W.2d 808, 809 (Tex.Cr.App.1991) (In which a prior conviction used for enhancement was found to be void).
In the instant case, the majority does not reach the merits of the State’s argument that the Special Master’s hearing was void ab initio. Instead, the majority holds that it need not reach the merits of that argument because the State failed to preserve the issue by an objection. In light of the facts that the defendant in Herrod did not raise that issue at the “earliest feasible opportunity” (He raised no objection or complaint at his trial. Herrod, 650 S.W.2d, McCormick’s dissent, at 818), and that the defendants in Heath, Levy and Fullbright, failed to object to the propriety of their sentence at any time during the proceedings before the trial court, it appears that this Court has held in the past that it is not necessary to argue at trial that a proceeding is void in order to preserve that issue.
However in the instant case, the majority has decided that it was necessary for the State to object at the “earliest feasible opportunity” in order to preserve the issue of the Special Master’s jurisdiction to conduct the hearing. The only visible distinction between the instant case, and Herrod, Heath, Levy and Fullbright is the identity of the party making the argument: in the instant case, the State is arguing the proceeding was void; whereas in Herrod, Heath, Levy and Fullbright, the respective defendants were arguing their proceedings were void. This is not a valid distinction. The majority should consistently apply the law in the instant case in the same manner that this Court applied it in Herrod, Heath, Levy and Fullbright. I find the double standard which the majority has created in the instant case is unjustified and unacceptable.
Second, the actions of the trial court in appointing the Special Master to conduct the hearing directly contravenes the order of this Court. In remanding the instant case for appellant to develop proof in support of his allegation that he was harmed by the failure of the indictment to give him notice of the identity of the remúnerator, this Court ordered the trial court to hold a hearing. Janecka, 739 S.W.2d, at 842. This order commanded the trial court himself to conduct the said hearing so that he could listen to the evidence and make the findings of fact and conclusions of law that he personally considered to be appropriate. His unauthorized delegation of this responsibility to a Special Master violated the order of this Court. As of this date, the trial court has still not complied with the order of this Court. This, alone, is a sufficient reason for this Court to remand the instant case to the trial court for him to comply with our order to conduct the hearing.
*247Third, the majority set a contemporaneous trial objection requirement for the State to meet whenever they discover that a proceeding is void. (Since the majority has not distinguished, or overruled, Her-rod, Heath, Levy and Fullbright, I assume they do not intend for their contemporaneous trial objection requirement to apply to defendants but only to the State.). I find this requirement to be impractical and unworkable. The trial court’s unauthorized appointment of the Special Master in the instant case was an administrative action. This type of action often takes place outside the courtroom and within the offices of a judge, away from the presence of the State and the defendant. There is often no opportunity for a contemporaneous objection by either party. The “earliest feasible opportunity” standard concocted by the majority invites an arbitrary, ad hoc approach to determining whether or not the State has preserved error. I find it to be wholly unacceptable.
I would sustain the State’s ground for rehearing, and remand this cause to the trial court for proceedings consistent with our original, and as yet unsatisfied, order. This Court should be consistent in its rulings or at least overrule prior case law. Recently we have decided at least three cases which hold that when a trial court is not authorized by law to act, there need not be an objection to the contrary, and also that the act is void.2 I dissent to the aggressive and assertive majority’s decision to overrule the motion for rehearing.
McCORMICK, P.J., and BENAVIDES, J., join this dissent.

. Cf. Reyes v. State, 753 S.W.2d 382 (Tex.Cr.App.1988), and cases cited therein (in which this Court held that TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 32A.02, the Texas Speedy Trial Act, was unconstitutional and void ab initio. This Court stated that the statute was void from its inception and could not provide a basis for any right or relief. It could not justify or support any act performed under it.); see, also, Jefferson v. State, 751 S.W.2d 502 (Tex.Cr.App.1988); Stevenson v. State, 751 S.W.2d 508, at 508-509 (Tex.Cr.App.1988); Sanchez v. State, 751 S.W.2d 514, at 515 (Tex.Cr.App.1988); and Forte v. State, 759 S.W.2d 128, at 138 (Tex.Cr.App.1988).

. Heath v. State, 817 S.W.2d 335; Levy v. State, 818 S.W.2d 801; and Fullbright v. State, 818 S.W.2d 808.