Court Opinion

ID: 9678377
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:18:14.892727+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:03.981280
License: Public Domain

MEYERS, Judge,
dissenting.
Article 1.27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure expressly states that where the Code “fails to provide a rule of procedure in any particular state of case which may arise, the rules of the common law shall be applied and govern.” Tex.Code Crim.Pro. Art. 1.27. As the majority notes, Texas does not have a statute which speaks directly to the issue of juror note-taking in criminal cases. Therefore, in light of Art. 1.27, this Court is bound by the common law rule on the issue, if one exists. The common law rule prohibits the practice of note-taking by jurors, particularly where the jury retains the notes during deliberations. Wharton’s Criminal Procedure, Yol. Ill, §§ 1767, 1780 (1918); Zoline’s Federal Criminal Law and Procedure, Vol. Ill, § 450a (1921); Thompson on Trials, Vol. II, § 2585 (1889).
Because juror note-taking is disallowed under the common law, and because the Code of Criminal Procedure dictates that the common law governs in cases where the Code is silent, the practice may not be sanctioned by this Court. See Tex.Code Crim.Pro. Article 1.27. I believe that the Code of Criminal Procedure and the common law are sufficiently clear to reach the conclusion that the practice of jury note-taking is prohibited in Texas. See also, Price v. State, 887 S.W.2d at 956 (Meyers, J., dissenting) (Tex.Crim. App.1994). I therefore respectfully dissent.
CLINTON, J., joins.