Court Opinion

ID: 9775996
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:15:36.81301+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:32.448964
License: Public Domain

OPINION ON STATE’S MOTION FOR REHEARING
ODOM, Judge.
The State insists, in its motion for rehearing, that we are not following precedent. According to its position, the requirement of Section 4 of Art. 3731a, Y.A.T.S., concerning certification of the attesting officer as the legal custodian of the official writing, was made inapplicable to enhancement cases by virtue of our decision in Lopez v. State, 171 Tex.Cr.R. 672, 352 S.W.2d 747.
The opinion in Lopez v. State, supra, provides:
“Appellant objected to the introduction of copies of the final judgment, sentence and commitment certified as being a true and full copy of the original by the deputy district clerk of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Such copies were admissible under the terms of Article 3731a, Vernon’s Ann.Rev.St., and the holding of this Court in Turley v. State, 168 Tex.Cr.R. 363, 327 S.W.2d 580, and the cases there cited. We find no reversible error in the remarks of the court made while ruling on the admissibility of such documents.”
The authority cited by the State does not do away with the requirement that the *812attesting officer be certified as the legal custodian of the official writing, nor does our decision in Turley v. State, supra. In Lopez, the defendant asserted that the introduction of copies of a federal judgment and sentence violated the prohibition against hearsay evidence. Complaint was also voiced with regard to the trial court’s comments during the introduction of the federal documents. But, the accused in that case never claimed that Art. 3731a, supra, was violated.1
Section 4 of Art. 3731a, supra, provides:
“Such writings or electronic records may be evidenced by an official publication thereof or by a copy or electronic duplication attested by the officer having the legal custody of the record, or by his deputy. Except in the case of a copy of an official writing or official electronic recording from a public office of this State or a subdivision thereof, the attestation shall be accompanied with a certificate that the attesting officer has the legal custody of such writing. . . . ” (Emphasis added.)
The wording of this statute is mandatory. The information introduced by the State to support the enhancement allegations of the indictment has not been authenticated in compliance with the mandatory requirements of this statute. The information, therefore, cannot be used to support the enhancement of the appellant’s punishment pursuant to V.T.C.A., Penal Code Sec. 12.-42(d).
The motion for rehearing is overruled.

. We have reviewed the record in Lopez v. State, supra. There is no certificate that the attesting officer in that case had the legal custody of the federal documents as required by Sec. 4 of Art. 3731a, supra. Nevertheless, error in regard to this defect was not voiced by the accused, nor was this defect noted in our decision affirming the conviction.