Court Opinion

ID: 9764820
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:41:10.495667+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:01.810457
License: Public Domain

TEAGUE, Judge,
dissenting.
Notwithstanding my critical, but sound views that have been directed several times towards this Court’s decision of Almanza v. State, 686 S.W.2d 157 (Tex.Cr.App.1984) (Opinion on State’s motion for rehearing), which decision I again beseech my Breth-em on this Court to quickly, decisively, and expressly overrule before too much grass grows under it, but because the majority opinion, as it is presently written, is so ambiguous on what the issues in this cause might be that it has truly obfuscated whatever the real issues there are that might be before the Court, I am compelled to respectfully dissent.
At the time of the trial of Clarence Eugene Fain, hereinafter referred to as the appellant, V.T.C.A., Penal Code, Section 12.42(d) provided: “If it be shown on the trial of any felony offense that the defendant has previously been finally convicted of two felony offenses, and the second occurred subsequent to the first previous conviction having become final, on conviction he shall be punished by confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections for life.”
Invoking this provision of the law, the State alleged in one paragraph of the indictment that prior to the commission of the primary offense, the appellant “on the 27th day of April A.D., 1977 in the 10th Judicial District Court of Galveston County, Texas in Cause Number 34,111, ... was convicted of the felony offense of False Imprisonment,” and alleged in another, but immediately subsequent, paragraph of the indictment, that the appellant “on the 26th day of September A.D., 1972 in the 54th Judicial District Court of Me Lennan County, Texas in Cause Number 72-201-C, ... was convicted of the felony offense of Rape.”
After the jury found the appellant guilty of the primary offense, the trial court instructed the jury, inter alia, in the terms of the enhancement paragraphs that were alleged in the indictment. The jury was specifically instructed as follows:
Now, if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that prior to the commission of the [primary offense], of which you have found the defendant guilty, he was two times duly and legally convicted of a felony less than capital as follows:
(a) the felony offense of False Imprisonment in the Criminal District Court Number 34,111 of the 10th Judicial District Court of Galveston County, Texas, on the 27th day of April, 1977, styled, “The State of Texas versus Clifton Eugene Fain”; and (b) Rape in the Criminal District Court Number 72-201-C of the 54th Judicial District Court of Me Lennan County, Texas, on the 26th day of September, 1972, styled, “The State of Texas versus Clifton Eugene Fain”; and that such last named conviction of Rape, if any, occurred and the judgment thereon became final prior to the commission of the offense for which the said defendant was convicted, if he was, in Cause Number 72-201-C in the 54th Judicial District Court of Me Lennan County, Texas, and that the said convictions, if any, in said Cause Number 72-201-C for for Rape and in Cause *206Number 34,111 for False Imprisonment, as aforesaid, occurred, and that the judgments therein became final prior to the commission of the offense of Rape, for which you have found the defendant guilty; and that the defendant, Clifton Eugene Fain, is the same person who was so convicted in Cause Number 34,111 and Cause Number 72-201-C, aforesaid, then and in such event, you will find the allegations are “True” and so state your verdict in the form provided for that purpose attached to this charge. (My emphasis.)
The jury was further instructed that “Unless you so find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, or if you have a reasonable doubt thereof, then you will find that the allegations are ‘Not True,’ and you will restrict your consideration to the matter of punishment for the offense of Rape, of which you have found defendant guilty ...”
Notwithstanding the above instructions, the jury disobeyed the instructions, in particular the above underscored portion, and found as follows: “We, the jury, having found the defendant guilty of Rape, as charged in the indictment, further find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that he was, prior to the commission of the aforesaid offense of Rape, two times duly and legally convicted of a felony less than capital, as charged in the indictment in this case, and, therefore, that the allegations with respect to said prior convictions, as alleged in the indictment, are ‘True.’ ”
The appellant correctly asserted on appeal that the jury’s finding of “True” was predicated on a legal impossibility. The El Paso Court of Appeals, in a rather convoluted and disjointed opinion, treated the error as “charge error”, and held that under Almanza v. State, supra, there was “no actual, egregious harm,” and affirmed.
Today, the majority opinion follows suit, ignores the obvious, and erroneously holds, at least implicitly, that there is no conflict between what was alleged in the indictment, the jury instructions, and the jury’s finding, and affirms the judgment of the court of appeals.
Although the trial judge had the legal responsibility in this cause to see that a correct and proper charge was given the jury in this cause, see Art. 36.14, V.A.C. C.P., he did not perform his legal duty. Had he taken the time to read the above instructions to the jury, which he himself presumably prepared, see Doyle v. State, 631 S.W.2d 732, 736 (Tex.Cr.App.1982) (On State’s motion for rehearing), it is obvious to me that he would have easily observed what the court of appeals characterized as “obvious mechanical error.”
It is also obvious to me that the El Paso Court of Appeals, and now this Court, goes at great lengths to erroneously invoke the “wink wink” theory of law, which this Court refused to approve in Burkhalter v. State, 493 S.W.2d 214 (Tex.Cr.App.1973), in order to affirm the trial court's judgment of conviction.
What the court of appeals did, and what this Court now does, is probably best understood in their obvious frustration over the fact that under this Court’s many decisions, see Littles v. State, 726 S.W.2d 26, 28 (Tex.Cr.App. 1984) (Pending on State’s motion for rehearing), the State proved exactly what it had alleged in the indictment, but because of the way in which the jury was charged, the verdict of the jury is erroneous. And yet, notwithstanding the erroneous finding by the jury, this Court affirms the judgment of conviction. In a sense, the error in the jury verdict was not caused by an “irrational jury,” cf. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), but, instead, was caused by a “run-away” jury that chose to ignore the trial judge’s instructions.
In Wilson v. State, 671 S.W.2d 524, 526 (Tex.Cr.App.1984), Judge W.C. Davis, in writing the opinion for this Court, correctly pointed out the following: “Sufficiency [of the evidence] is reviewed by comparing the evidence to the indictment as incorporated into the charge.” (My emphasis.) To put it another way: The sufficiency of the evidence is reviewed in light of the charge to the jury. Benson v. State, 661 *207S.W.2d 708 (Tex.Cr.App.1982). Also see Stephens v. State, 717 S.W.2d 338 (Tex.Cr.App.1986). In Franklin v. State, 693 S.W.2d 420, 432 (Tex.Cr.App.1985), Judge Miller of this Court, in writing that opinion for the Court, pointed out that in Benson, supra, this Court held that “[I]f the evidence did not conform to the instructions as given, then the proof was insufficient to support the only verdict of ‘guilty’ that was authorized by the charge. We held [in Benson, supra] that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations as set forth in the charge, and entered an order of acquittal.” In summary, the State was required to prove up the priors as alleged in the jury charge. Benson, supra. However, because of the way that the jury was instructed, the jury could not find what was alleged in the charge. The State, however, did not complain of the charge to the jury in the trial court, which, unquestionably, was favorable to the appellant. Thus, the State waived any question regarding “trial error” on appeal by not objecting to the charge in the trial court. Ortega v. State, 668 S.W.2d 701 (Tex.Cr.App.1983) (Opinion on original submission); Boozer v. State, 717 S.W.2d 608 (Tex.Cr.App.1984); Stephens v. State, supra.
The major problem with the majority opinion lies in its holding that the jury could not have believed the evidence of the prior convictions and their commission and, at the same time, have found that the second offense was not committed after the first became final. This is true, but the issue is not what we now know is a reality; the issue, instead, is whether, given the presumption that the jury followed the trial court’s instructions, O’Pry v. State, 642 S.W.2d 748, 765 (Tex.Cr.App.1982), it could have returned the verdict that it did. This is not jury charge error; it is more than that. To sweep the issue under “Almanza the Terrible’s” black cape, as the majority opinion does, is, in reality, doing an injustice to that terrible opinion by this Court because Almanza v. State, supra, is not even applicable to the issue before this Court.
Here, the jury was told that before it could find the enhancement allegations “True”, it had to find that the alleged prior felony conviction for the offense of rape became final prior to the commission of the same offense; a true legal impossibility. The jury was also instructed that if it did not so find it should assess the appellant’s punishment for the offense of rape. The State did not complain of this impossible legal burden that the charge placed upon it. In short, had the jury followed its instructions, it could not have rationally found the enhancement allegations “True.” When viewed in conjunction with the jury instruction, the verdict of the jury simply cannot be legally legitimatized.
To repeat, if the jury had assiduously followed its instructions, the only punishment verdict it could have returned, under the instructions from the trial judge, was to assess the appellant’s punishment at not less than 2 years nor more than 20 years and a fine not to exceed $10,000. E.g., Stephens v. State, supra.
The jury’s verdict is erroneous and must be set aside. Because the jury assessed the punishment, which verdict cannot stand, the appellant is unquestionably entitled to a new trial on both guilt as well as punishment. See, for example, Ex parte Benavidez, 696 S.W.2d 582 (Tex.Cr.App.1985); Ex parte Augusta, 639 S.W.2d 481 (Tex.Cr.App.1982); Hickman v. State, 548 S.W.2d 736 (Tex.Cr.App.1977). Is the appellant entitled to more than a new trial? Given the facts and circumstances of this cause, I would hold, in light of what this Court has stated in Carter v. State, 676 S.W.2d 353 (Tex.Cr.App.1984); Ex parte Gonzales, 707 S.W.2d 570 (Tex.Cr.App.1986); Ex parte Bullard, 679 S.W.2d 12 (Tex.Cr.App.1984), that the State is prohibited from again attempting to enhance his punishment to that provided for an habitual offender, i.e., the State has had its one fair bite to have the appellant declared an habitual offender. I would, however, also hold that the State may reprosecute the appellant for the primary offense and may assess his punishment only as provided for that offense.
For the above and foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent to the majority opinion *208failing to grant the appellant the relief he is entitled to receive under the law.