Court Opinion

ID: 9673249
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:09:04.026819+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:20.864348
License: Public Domain

OPINION ON REHEARING
PER CURIAM.
Appellant was convicted by a jury of the offense of murder. At appellant’s option, the trial court1 assessed punishment at thirty years’ confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal *11Justice. On original submission, in addressing appellant’s first point, we found that the trial court had committed error in allowing the State to present to the jury an extraneous bad act, in the guilt/innocence phase of the trial, pursuant to Tex.R.Crim. Evid. 404(b), because the State had failed to give appellant timely notice as required by rule 404(b). See Umoja v. State, 965 S.W.2d 3, 6 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1997, no pet. h.) We found, however, that the error was harmless pursuant to Tex.R.App. P. 44.2(a). See id. at 8. The State filed a motion for rehearing, arguing that we used the wrong harmless error standard in analyzing the error reflected in appellant’s point one. The State contends that we should have employed the harmless error standard contained in Tex. R.App. P. 44.2(b) to analyze the harm done by the admission of the extraneous bad act. We agree and we grant the State’s motion for rehearing.2
Having found that the trial court committed error, we must determine whether the error is constitutional3 or other error that could have affected the appellant’s substantial rights.4 Although rule 404(b) of the Texas Rules of Criminal Evidence and rule 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence are largely identical, the notice provisions of the two rules differ. The federal rule provides that notice may be given during trial if good cause exists for not having given pre-trial notice. See Fed. R. Evid. 404(b). Whereas the state rule requires that, upon timely request by the accused, the State give reasonable notice in advance of trial of its intent to introduce, in its case in chief, evidence of extraneous offenses other than those arising in the same transaction. See Tex.R.CRIM. Evid. 404(b).5 Obviously then the notice provision in rule 404(b) is a creature of state law, promulgated by our court of criminal appeals, and is not of constitutional dimension necessitating the application of the harmless error rule contained in rule 44.2(a) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. Therefore we apply the standard contained in rule 44.2(b) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Under rule 44.2(b) we are to disregard the error unless a substantial right is affected. Tex.R.App. P. 44.2(b). We can determine that a substantial right is affected when the error had a substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict. See King v. State, 953 S.W.2d 266, 271 (Tex.Crim.App.1997); Coggeshall v. State, 961 S.W.2d 639, 642-44 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1998, pet. filed). Since rule 44.2(b) is virtually identical to rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure,6 we may look to federal caselaw for guidance on the quantification of this rule. To make the determination of “substantial influence,” federal courts have concluded that appellate courts must review the entire record and ascertain whether the error “substantially swayed” the jury, or had a “substantial influence” on the jury’s verdict in the context of the entire case against the defendant. United States v. Blake, 107 F.3d 651, 653 (8th Cir.1997); United States v. Wilson, 107 F.3d 774, 785-86 (10th Cir.1997).
To determine the question of burden of proof with regard to rule 44.2(b), we compare it with rule 44.2(a). Rule 44.2(a), by implication, requires the beneficiary of the error in the trial court, ordinarily the State, to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt on appeal that the error did not *12contribute to the conviction or punishment. Tex.R.App. P. 44.2(a). Rule 44.2(b), however, by its very wording, applies to all other errors and does not place a burden on either party. Tex.R.App. P. 44.2(b). A sister court has recently addressed this issue and found essentially that there is no burden of proof assigned in the rule. See Fowler v. State, 958 S.W.2d 853, 866 (Tex.App.—Waco 1997, pet. granted). We believe this finding to be sound and we adopt it. No burden of proof is required, and none is assigned in the federal caselaw. See O’Neal v. McAninch, 513 U.S. 432, 436-37, 115 S.Ct. 992, 995, 130 L.Ed.2d 947, 953 (1995).
Applying the test in rule 44.2(b) to the instant case, every witness who saw the attack testified that appellant struck the deceased. The medical examiner opined that no single blow in and of itself caused the victim to die, but each wound constituted a contributing factor which, in the aggregate, caused the cerebral edema that resulted in the victim’s death. As pointed out on original submission, the defense presented in this case was essentially that appellant was guilty only of the lesser included offense of abuse of a corpse, not murder. See Umoja at 5-6. Appellant did not claim that he did not participate in the attack, and there was ample evidence that there had been prior contact between the appellant and the victim. We do not believe, in the context of the entire case against appellant, that testimony that appellant had struck the victim one month before the instant offense had a substantial or injurious effect or influence on the jury’s verdict such that appellant was deprived of a substantial right. We find that the error was harmless, and overrule point one.
Additionally, on original submission, in points six and seven, appellant challenged the entry by the trial court of an affirmative finding that a deadly weapon was used in the commission of the offense, in the judgment of conviction. See id. at 10. We agreed with appellant that the trial court erroneously entered the finding, in that he opined that the jury had made such a finding. See id. at 10; see also Fowler, 958 S.W.2d at 858. Accordingly we abated this cause to the trial court for a hearing to determine whether a nunc pro tunc order to correct a clerical error was in order, or whether the error was a product of judicial reasoning and therefore not to be disturbed. See Umoja at 10. Pursuant to our order, the trial court conducted a hearing with both parties present. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court entered written findings of fact and conclusions of law, ultimately finding that the recitation in the judgment that the jury made a deadly weapon finding was the result of a clerical error and not the product of judicial reasoning. Further, the trial court found that the judgment should be corrected nunc pro tunc to reflect that “the court affirmatively finds that the defendant used or exhibited a deadly weapon,” and that “[t]he correction of the judgment to reflect the court’s deadly weapon finding constitutes a clerical correction which requires no judicial reasoning.” The record shows that the trial court ultimately entered a nunc pro tunc order correcting the minutes of the court to reflect that the “court affirmatively finds that the defendant used or exhibited a deadly weapon, to-wit: his hand and foot during the commission of the offense or during the immediate flight therefrom.” Accordingly, because the trial court, in the instant case, was the fact-finder during the punishment phase of trial, he had the authority to make a deadly weapon finding. See Flores v. State, 690 S.W.2d 281, 283 (Tex.Crim.App.1985).7
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

. Appellant’s trial was before a visiting judge.

. Appellant argues in his motion for rehearing that rule 44.2(a) was the correct test, but that we applied it incorrectly. Because we find that rule 44.2(b) applies, we deny appellant’s motion.

. See Tex.R.App. P. 44.2(a) which provides:
If the appellate record in a criminal case reveals constitutional error that is subject to harmless error review, the court of appeals must reverse a judgment of conviction or punishment unless the court determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the conviction or punishment. Id.

. See Tex.R.App. P. 44.2(b) which provides:
Any other error, defect, irregularity, or variance that does not affect substantial rights must be disregarded. Id.

. See generally, Goode, Wellborn & Sharlot, Texas Practice-Courtroom Handbook on Texas Evidence 261 (1997).

. Rule 52(a) states: "Any error, defect, irregularity or variance which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded.” Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(a).

. We note that appellant has filed a purported appeal from the trial court’s findings in the abatement hearing. Because this cause was previously abated for just such a hearing, no final judgment was entered by this court from which appellant could appeal. There being nothing for appellant to appeal, we dismiss this attempt at appealing a post-abatement hearing ruling by the trial court for want of jurisdiction. We note that appellant may, if he chooses, file a motion for rehearing pursuant to TexR.App. P. 49.5(a), now that a final judgment is being entered.