Court Opinion

ID: 9674791
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:35:29.148382+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:29.683236
License: Public Domain

MILLER, Judge,
concurring.
In the instant cause, the Court of Appeals held that the amendments to the indictment could be entirely disregarded as “mere surplusage” which contained no matters of substance within the meaning of Art. 28.10, V.A.C.C.P. Thus, the Court concluded, since the amendments concerned only matters of form and appellant made no objection to same, the objection was waived. Howard v. State, 650 S.W.2d 460 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th] 1982).
The appellant argued in his petition for discretionary review, however, that the addition of the words “to wit: a shotgun” to the indictment concerned matters of substance and could not be waived. We granted appellant’s petition on that issue.
Accordingly, the problem having been thus delineated, resolution initially should hinge on a determination involving the traditional “form versus substance” rationale addressed in Burrell v. State, 526 S.W.2d 799 (Tex.Cr.App.1975). The majority opinion espousing, without citation of authority, a “legal nullity” theory to resolve the problem inherent in this case plows new ground where no plowing is necessary. In the past when the courts have talked about amendments to an indictment, that term encompassed both additions and deletions to the indictment. The time honored “form versus substance” rationale applies whether the amendment concerns additions or deletions, but the concurring opinion’s “legal nullity” rationale apparently proposes a different rule for additions. (Surely it cannot be argued that substantive deletions from an indictment prior to a jury’s verdict or a court’s judgment can be treated as a “legal nullity”. See Burrell, supra.) Relegating the “form versus substance” rationale to indictment trial amendments that are deletions and creating a new rule of “legal nullity” for indictment trial amendments *527that are additions is unnecessary. The time honored rule works quite well regardless of whether the amendment is an addition or a deletion. The majority opinion blithely ignores the complications it creates for future amendment cases.
Accordingly, although I agree with the result reached by the majority, I cannot agree with the perfunctory reasoning used to reach this result. We should address the issue presented: did the amendments concern matters of substance, and if so, must the appellant’s conviction be reversed because of this substantive amendment.
Certainly, the addition of the phrase “such act committed amounting to more than mere preparation that tended but failed to effect the commission of the offense intended” was not essential to allege the offense of attempted capital murder, since the original indictments sufficiently alleged facts to show that element of the offense. Hall v. State, 640 S.W.2d 307 (Tex.Cr.App.1982). The addition of the phrase was merely repetitious.
It is also clear that the addition of the phrase “to wit: a shotgun” was not essential to allege the offense. The indictments alleged appellant attempted to kill the complainant by shooting him “with a gun.” The original description of the weapon as a gun was a sufficient allegation of the means. Dickson v. State, 134 Tex.Cr.R. 22, 113 S.W.2d 528 (1938). A shotgun is a “gun.” See Dickson, supra; Nelson v. State, 573 S.W.2d 9 (Tex.Cr.App.1978). By agreeing to add the phrase “to wit: a shotgun,” the State was agreeing to plead more specifically than required. Nelson, supra.
Accordingly, the original indictments were sufficient to allege the offenses and were not fundamentally defective. The additional phrases were unnecessary.
That fact alone, however, does not justify the Court of Appeals’ conclusion that the amendments concerned only matters of form and thus can be disregarded as sur-plusage. The general rule is that unnecessary words or allegations may be rejected as surplusage if they are not descriptive or explanatory of that which is legally essential to the validity of the indictment. Burrell, supra. See also Davis v. State, 532 S.W.2d 626 (Tex.Cr.App.1976). It is well settled, however, that if the indictment makes unnecessary allegations descriptive of the identity of the offense charged, the State must prove such allegations. Franklin v. State, 659 S.W.2d 831 (Tex.Cr.App.1983); Brasfield v. State, 600 S.W.2d 288 (Tex.Cr.App.1980) (opinion on rehearing); Burrell, supra at 802-803.
In this instance, the phrase “to wit: a shotgun” was descriptive of that which was legally essential to the validity of the indictments, i.e., the means, and if originally alleged in the indictments could not have been treated as surplusage and, as such, disregarded. See Brasfield, supra; and Burrell, supra. See and cf. Davis, supra. Consequently, contrary to the impression left by the holding of the Court of Appeals, if the language in question had been originally included in the indictment, the State could not have deleted the phrase as mere surplusage and would have had the burden of proving the allegation.
In this instance, however, we are confronted by a different situation. The descriptive allegation was added to the indictment during the trial before the court. The record reflects this addition was made not only with the consent of appellant’s counsel, but at his request. Appellant asks this Court to hold he is entitled to a reversal when his counsel invites the trial court to commit the error by requesting an untimely, unnecessary, and harmless amendment to a legally sufficient indictment. I agree with the majority that we should decline to do as appellant requests, not by pretending that the amendments never occurred, as the majority does, but by holding that the error committed was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
The requested amendment was made during a trial before the bench on appellant’s plea of guilty. The amendment was unnecessary and was not made in an improper effort to cure a defective indictment. See Rutherford v. State, 74 Tex. Cr.R. 617, 169 S.W. 1157 (1914). The State *528proved each of the allegations, even those added by amendment. See Franklin, supra; and cf. Davis, supra. The amendment had no effect on the outcome of appellant’s trial and the appellant was in no way harmed.
Accordingly, I believe we should directly address the issues presented by the appellant and correct the erroneous language contained in the Court of Appeals’ opinion. I object to the majority’s failure to do this. Nevertheless, since I would also affirm the judgment of the trial court, I concur in the opinion of the majority.
CLINTON, J., joins.