Court Opinion

ID: 9679093
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:40:31.914961+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:33:48.720204
License: Public Domain

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
MEADE F. GRIFFIN, Special Judge.
With the exception of appellant’s ground of error No. 2, I agree with the Court’s majority opinion delivered December 11, 1968.
I disagree with this Court’s opinion in disposing of ground of error No. 2, for the following reasons:
In this case the only evidence of want of consent by the owner to appellant’s taking the television set, the subject of the theft, was that admitted, over appellant’s objection, by virtue of a stipulation, as follows: “It is agreed and stipulated by and between the Defendant, Counsel for the Defendant, and Counsel for the State, that if Mr. J. M. Soliz [the alleged owner and possessor] were present in Court and testifying * * * he would testify * * * ” Then were stipulated the material facts as to possession and want of consent on the date of the alleged offense and that the witness would testify that the store he operates is a part of a corporation doing business in Texas which owns the stock in the store. Defendant’s counsel then states: “I might have missed this part of the stipulation, but our stipulation was that if the Store Manager were to appear that that would be his, that would be his testimony, but we are not, we are not stipulating to the truthfulness of it, only that he would so testify.” The .Court then said, “All right, all right” and “That the stipulation will be accepted.” *384The defendant was then asked if he would agree and stipulate personally that Mr. Soliz would so testify if he were here, and the defendant answered only, “Yes, sir.” The State’s Attorney then stated: “Judge, with that stipulation, the State will rest its case at this time.” The above is all the stipulation and all the evidence on want of consent.
Article 1.15 C.C.P., after providing that “No person can be convicted of a felony except upon the verdict of a jury duly rendered and recorded,” provides that under the conditions therein set out a defendant in all felony cases, less than capital, “upon entering a plea” may waive his right to a trial by a jury in writing. Here I would point out that this language, “upon entering a plea,” is different from the language of old Art. 12 C.C.P. in effect prior to the adoption by the Legislature of the C.C.P. in 1965. Old Art. 12 provided as a prerequisite to the waiver of a trial by a jury that a defendant in all felony cases, less than capital, must enter a plea of “guilty” or of “nolo contendere.” All of us will recall the careful study given to the revision of the old C.C.P. by a distinguished committee of thirty members; the report of that committee to the Legislature ; the introduction of a bill in the 1963 Legislature which would have enacted the Committee’s final report as a new C.C.P.; the changes made by the Legislature prior to the final passage of the proposed C.C.P.; the veto by the Governor of the bill submitted to him because it did not correspond with the bill actually voted upon and passed by the Legislature; the introduction and passage of the 1965 C.C.P., and the signing of this bill by the Governor. In view of this history, I am unable to say that when the Legislature omitted the requirement that a defendant enter a plea of “guilty” or of “nolo contendere” prior to being permitted to waive a jury trial in felony cases less than capital, and provided for such waiver by a defendant “upon entering a plea,” it was not the Legislative intent to make Art. 1.15 apply to all felony cases less than capital, when a defendant enters a plea of “guilty,” or of “nolo contendere,” or of “not guilty.” (All emphasis herein is that of the writer.)
Old Art. 12 C.C.P. required the State, where the plea was “guilty,” to introduce evidence showing the guilt of the defendant, and that no person charged be convicted on his plea of “guilty” without sufficient evidence to support the same. It contained no language which in any manner mentioned “stipulation” or “stipulated testimony.”
Article 1.15 of the present C.C.P. contains the first sentence above substantially as set out in old Art. 12, with the exception that there is not a word about a plea of “guilty.” Instead, the language is: “(a)nd in no event shall a person charged be convicted upon his plea without sufficient evidence to support the same.” Old Art. 12 and present Art. 1.15 provide for the proof which must be made by the State before a defendant may be convicted in a trial before the Judge, and without a jury. The Legislature, in both instances, was very careful to safeguard the rights of a defendant who had waived a jury trial — an Anglo-Saxon cornerstone in the administration of justice— and who was to be tried by the trial Judge. Old Art. 12, applying only in “guilty” or “nolo contendere” cases, was not in great detail. Article 1.15, applying in all cases less than capital, was more detailed and placed a greater burden on the State as to admissible evidence than had Art. 12.
Article 1.15 is clear and precise; it was an innovation in criminal procedure, and the Legislature was careful to set out in simple language the requirements of stipulated testimony. If the State was to avoid the right the defendant has to be confronted by, (Art. 1, Sec. 10, Texas Constitution Vernon’s Ann.St.) and to cross-examine, the witnesses against him; Barber v. Page, 390 U.S. 719, 88 S.Ct. 1318, 20 L.Ed. 2d 255, the State must follow the procedure set forth in Art. 1.15 C.C.P. as a condition precedent to using testimony in a trial be*385fore a Judge. Knowing the provision of Art. 12, the Legislature added certain requirements the State must follow to use “substituted” testimony, and particularly when the evidence is stipulated. Art. 1.15 provides: “The evidence may he stipulated if the defendant in such case consents in writing, in open court, to waive the appearance, confrontation, and cross-examination of witnesses, and further consents to the introduction of testimony by affidavits, written statements of witnesses, and any other documentary evidence in support of the judgment of the court. Such waiver and consent must be approved by the court in writing, and be filed, with all of such evidence, in the file of the papers of the cause.”
Just prior to the sentence above quoted, Art. 1.15 provides: “(p)rovided, however, that it shall be necessary for the State to introduce evidence into the record showing the guilt of the defendant and said evidence shall be accepted by the court as the basis for its judgment and in no event shall a person charged be convicted upon his plea without sufficient evidence to support the same.” It is contended by appellant that the language “without sufficient evidence to support the same” modifies and is applicable only to the preceding words “upon his plea” and therefore if a defendant pleads “not guilty” the “sufficient evidence” must be evidence to support the “not guilty” plea. To so construe this language is to cause a conflict in the language “(i)n no event shall a person charged be convicted upon his plea” and the language “without sufficient evidence to support the same.” If there must be sufficient evidence to support the plea of “not guilty” then there never can be a conviction. To give effect to the provision “(s)hall a person charged be convicted” it must be held the phrase “without sufficient evidence to support the same” applies and modifies the “conviction” and not the plea. (Thomas v. State, 129 Tex.Cr.R. 628 (1936) 91 S.W.2d 716; 53 Tex.Jur.2d 157; 165 and authorities therein cited.)
Again, the exact point we have here is the sufficiency of the stipulation as provided for by the last two sentences of Art. 1.15. If the stipulation is sufficient there is sufficient evidence to support the conviction, if the stipulation is not in accord with the legal requirements of Art. 1.15 then there is insufficient evidence to support the conviction.
The State failed to comply with Art. 1.15 C.C.P.; therefore, Soliz’ testimony was not admissible. This being true, the State failed to prove want of consent of Soliz to the taking of the television set by the defendant. Therefore, the case must be reversed and remanded.
The cases of Zulpo v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 415 S.W.2d 650 and 415 S.W.2d 653, and Smith v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 416 S.W.2d 425, are not in point and have no relevancy to the case at bar. In each of these cases the plea was one of “Guilty” and in each of these cases, the stipulation and waiver was in writing in open court, and by express language waived appearance, confrontation, and cross-examination of witnesses. We have no such case before us.
Appellant’s motion for rehearing is granted. The judgment of the trial court is reversed and the cause remanded.
MORRISON and ONION, JJ-, join in this opinion.
DISSENTING OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
WOODLEY, P. J., and BELCHER, J., respectfully dissent for the reasons set out in the majority opinion affirming this conviction.