Court Opinion

ID: 9662071
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 22:58:47.003384+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:36.613107
License: Public Domain

ROBERTSON, Justice,
dissenting.
Commissioner Eversole was indicted in four separate cases for perjury. The indictments charged that his oath on various campaign expenditure reports was false. The theory of the prosecution was that over a period of time the commissioner had reported payments of almost $100,000 to himself, from his office holder account, as reimbursements for personal funds he had expended for political purposes without detailing in the reports the necessary information required by the Election Code, which required information would make the reimbursements legal; thus, his oath that the report contained all the information required by the Election Code was false and the false statement was made with knowledge of the statement’s meaning and was made with the intent to deceive.
The indictment in Cause no. 677, 981 (all indictments are identical except for dates and amounts), omitting the formal allegations, charged:
heretofore on or about July 15, 1992, in his capacity as an officeholder, namely, a County Commissioner for Harris County, Texas, did then and there personally appear before Holly L. Anawaty, a notary public, authorized by law to administer oaths, and did then and there, after being duly sworn, make, under oath, a false statement on a Candidate/Officeholder Sworn Report of Contributions and Expenditures for the period January 1, 1992, through June 30, 1992, to-wit: “I swear or affirm that the accompanying report is true and correct and includes all information required to be reported by me under Title 15, Election Code”, whereas in truth and fact the defendant did then and there fail to report all information required to be reported by the said defendant under Title 15, Election Code, [V.T.C.A. Election Code Section 253.035(h), and Section 254.031(a)(3), (4) ] in that:
that said defendant reported a reimbursement to himself in the amount $2,677.36 on the page labeled 11 of 20, and a reimbursement to himself in the amount of $1,913.23 on the page labeled 12 of 20, and a reimbursement to himself in the amount of $1,016.57 on the page labeled 13 of 20, and a reimbursement to himself in the amount of $2,768.92 on the page labeled 14 of 20, and a reimburse*427ment to himself in the amount of $3,043.06 on the page labeled 15 of 20, and a reimbursement to himself in the amount of $3,404.08 on the page labeled 17 of 20 of said report filed July 15, 1992, in Hands County, Texas,
and failed to include in said report the amount of political expenditures as represented by said reimbursements that in the aggregate exceed $50.00, the full name and address of the person to whom the expenditures were made, and the dates and purposes of the expenditures, and expenditures which were not political expenditures as represented by said reimbursements, namely the amount of such payment, the full name and address of the person to whom the payment was made, the date and purpose of the payment, and the said defendant made said false statement with knowledge of the statement’s meaning and with the intent to deceive, and said statement was required by law to be made under oath.
The majority holds that Section 254.041 of the Election Code, making it a Class C misdemeanor for one who is required to file a campaign expenditure report to knowingly fail “to include in the report information that is required” to be included, precludes the prosecution of one for perjury, even though the indictment alleges that he knowingly and with intent to deceive swears that he has included in the report all the information required to be included. I respectfully disagree. While at the close of the state’s case the evidence may be such to warrant a directed verdict of not guilty, this in my opinion, is not a valid basis for quashing an indictment. I do, however, agree with the imminent trial judge that legislative action is needed.