Court Opinion

ID: 9668216
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:06:15.833773+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:43.611694
License: Public Domain

LEE, Justice,
dissenting.
The majority acknowledges that the indictment was not amended and that appellant did not fail to preserve error, yet it determines that appellant was not “egregiously harmed” by the failure to amend the indictment to include an enhancement paragraph. I disagree and, therefore, dissent.
In order to amendment an indictment, the indictment must actually be altered. Neither the motion to amend nor the granting thereof constitutes the amendment. Ward v. State, 829 S.W.2d 787, 798 (Tex.Crim.App.1992). It is well settled that the enhancement of punishment must be limited to those prior convictions actually pled. White v. State, 500 S.W.2d 529, 530 (Tex.Crim.App.1973); Moore v. State, 154 Tex.Crim. 307, 227 S.W.2d 219, 221 (1950). The Texas Constitution guarantees an accused the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him in a criminal prosecution. Tex. Const, art. I, § 10; Hilton v. State, 879 S.W.2d 74, 78 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1994, no pet.). This information must come from the face of the indictment. Ward, 829 S.W.2d at 794; Benoit v. State, 561 S.W.2d 810, 813 (Tex.Crim.App.1977); Hilton, 879 S.W.2d at 78. As in Ward, the order granting the state’s motion to amend certainly provided appellant with notice of the changes which would be made to the indictment, but it did not provide him notice of the actual charge against him. Ward, 829 S.W.2d at 794. It is a fundamental guarantee that an accused is to learn in advance of trial what he is being accused of so that he may properly prepare his defense. Id. Because the charging instrument in this case is devoid of any enhancement provisions, the state failed to provide appellant with notice of the enhancement allegation. Accordingly, I would reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand for a new punishment hearing.