Court Opinion

ID: 9684355
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:54:33.087715+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:55.222675
License: Public Domain

ODOM, Judge
(concurring).
I concur in the affirmance of this case but must take exception to the dictum wherein the majority state, “after proof showing guilt of the old Code offense, the State is not placed under the necessity to offer additional proof of some offense or ‘conduct’ under the new Code which may require in and of itself proof of additional elements.” See Wright v. State, 527 S.W.2d 859, 873 (opinion by Judge Odom, concurring in part and dissenting in part, *349part VIII); Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684, 95 S.Ct. 1881, 44 L.Ed.2d 508.
In this case the State did prove the additional elements required for showing acts in violation of V.T.C.A. Penal Code Sec. 21.07 (public lewdness) authorizing the trial court to assess punishment under that provision. The dictum of the majority, however, would appear to preclude reversal even if (1) the facts showed no more than a consensual private act in violation of V.A.P.C. Art. 524 (sodomy) and V.T.C.A. Penal Code Sec. 21.-06 (homosexual conduct, class C misdemean- or, maximum punishment: $200 fine), and (2) the court, after a defendant’s election to be punished under the new Code, upon those facts assessed punishment at life imprisonment for aggravated sexual abuse under V.T.C.A. Penal Code, Sec. 21.05.
I state that the majority’s dictum would appear to preclude reversal even in the hypothetical situation because the dictum may be contradicted by the majority’s additional statement, “If several sections of the new Penal Code cover the type of offense or ‘conduct’ under the old Penal Code for which the defendant is convicted, then the applicable section of the new Code must be determined from the proof if written election to be punished [under the new Penal Code] has been made by the defendant.” The majority opinion first states the applicable punishment range “must be determined from the proof” and then states “the State is not placed under the necessity to offer additional proof.” Does the majority mean the defendant must prove that only the lesser range is appropriate? Such a procedural rule is precisely what was held unconstitutional in Mullaney v. Wilbur, supra.
The majority’s position is, at best, unclear.
I concur in the results only.