Court Opinion

ID: 9883851
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 02:22:25.01126+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:32.202513
License: Public Domain

COHEN, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
In point of error one, appellant contends the trial judge erred by telling the venire, “I prefer the defendant to plead because it gives us more time to get things done....” In the second point of error, appellant contends the trial judge erred by telling the venire it was the defense attorney’s duty to present false testimony. I will discuss these points together.
The judge’s first statement was made as he apologized to the venire for their long wait outside the courtroom. The judge discussed another case and then stated:
The second case [this one], which we are going on, is a situation where the attorney has been speaking to his client about what does he want to do. And when you are on the button like these cases, it’s a question. Frankly, an offer has been made by the State or do I go to trial. And he has been back and forth so I finally told him I had enough of that, we are going to trial. You have been sitting out here and this is holding up my docket and I can’t get anything done until we know if we are going to trial or not.
Frankly, obviously, I prefer the defendant to plead because it gives us more time to get things done and I’m sure not going to come out here and sit. Sorry, the case went away and we were all trying to work toward that and save you time and cost of time, which you have been sitting here and I apologize about that. I told the defendant that. Like I said, I have enough of this and going to trial.
(emphasis added)
In the second statement, the judge was explaining why a defendant, although innocent, might not testify. He stated:
Because there are many reasons why defendants do not testify and I have seen many that have nothing to do with their guilt or innocence. I have seen defendants that are so nervous they could not hear the question much less respond to one. There are defendants that have speech impediments. There are defendants that, frankly, look guilty and they are not guilty and their attorney tells them I don’t think you’d make a good witness because you cannot enunciate, not really set forth what you are trying to say very well. And you will be up there and stammering and stuttering, and it probably won’t look good for you.
It’s like I tell all the juries and I get Sister Teresa and I represent her for mass murder. And she is as guilty as driven snow and the jury doesn’t know that but the defendant’s attorney knows it because she admitted it privately. What am I going to do? I am going to put Sister Teresa on the stand because nobody thinks she would tell a lie. She looks like she would be a very honest person and I can put her on the stand I could have a defendant as innocent as can be and looks guilty and I wouldn’t put her on the stand.
(emphasis added).
Finally, while explaining the presumption of innocence, the judge stated:
I can tell you in the j.0 years that this courthouse has been here, in this court*818room, several people that have come through here have been found not guilty by juries and everyone of them are here by indictment.
(emphasis added). This last statement is not complained of on appeal.
A. WAIVER
Appellant did not object to the judge’s statements. Thus, the State contends the error was waived, citing Cockrell v. State, 933 S.W.2d 73, 89 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). The Cockrell court held that objection is required to preserve error arising from improper jury argument. It did not discuss the issue before us, whether objection is required to preserve error in the trial judge’s statements to the venire. Thus, Cockrell does not control this case.
The decisions of the Court of Criminal Appeals are split on this issue. At least one holds that failure to object to this type of error constitutes waiver. Sharpe v. State, 648 S.W.2d 706, 706 (Tex.Crim.App.1983); accord Smith v. State, 959 S.W.2d 1, 28 (Tex.App.—Waco 1997, pet. ref'd); Rosales v. State, 932 S.W.2d 530, 537 (Tex.App.—Tyler 1995, review refused).
At least three Court of Criminal Appeals opinions and several from this Court state that reversal may occur even without objection because of a judge’s “fundamentally erroneous” statements. Brewer v. State, 572 S.W.2d 719, 721 (Tex.Crim.App.1978); Hart v. State, 447 S.W.2d 944, 952 (Tex.Crim.App.1969); Dempsey v. State, 387 S.W.2d 891, 893 (Tex.Crim.App.1965); Moore v. State, 907 S.W.2d 918, 923 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1995, pet. ref'd) (The concurring and dissenting justices stated they would reverse without objection if the judge’s statements constituted fundamental error); Cade v. State, 795 S.W.2d 43, 45 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1990, pet. ref'd.). All found that similar error was waived by lack of objection, unless the statements were fundamentally erroneous.
Although Justice Taft argues against it, the Court of Criminal Appeals has recently unanimously reaffirmed that, at least in regard to evidence issues, there is a doctrine of fundamental error in criminal cases. On March 1, 1998, the court reenacted Rule of Evidence 103(d), which provides:
(d) Fundamental Error in Criminal Cases.
In a criminal case, nothing in these rules precludes taking notice of fundamental errors affecting substantial rights although they were not brought to the attention of the court.
Thus, I would hold that these complaints constitute fundamental error, and therefore, they were not waived by lack of objection. See Brewer, Hart, Dempsey, and Moore, all cited above.
B. THE JUDGE’S STATEMENTS
The judge’s first statement told the jury that 1) the defendant and the State were bargaining over how appellant would plead, 2) appellant could not decide how to plead, 3) appellant was delaying things, 4) the judge wanted the defendant to plead, apparently guilty, in order to save time, and 5) the judge felt a need to apologize for the delay caused by appellant. The judge’s second statement told the jury that it was a defense attorney’s duty to present false testimony. The judge’s third statement told the jury that in 40 years, only “several” people had been found not guilty.
The trial judge is required to maintain an attitude of impartiality throughout the trial. Lagrone v. State, 84 Tex.Crim. 609, 209 S.W. 411, 415 (Tex.Crim.App.1919). The trial judge’s language and conduct carries special and heavy weight with jurors. Clark v. State, 878 S.W.2d 224, 226 (TexApp.-Dallas 1994, no pet.); Livingston v. State, 782 S.W.2d 12, 14 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1989, pet. ref'd). The judge shall not at any stage of the proceeding before the verdict make any remark calculated to convey to the jury his opinion of the case. Tex.Code Crim. P. Ann. art. 38.05 (Vernon 1979). The judge should not comment on the weight of the evidence in the jury’s presence during any stage of the proceeding. Id. The judge’s comment constitutes reversible error if it is reasonably calculated to prejudice the defendant’s rights. Sharpe, 648 S.W.2d at 706. Each of the *819judge’s statements indicated to the jury the belief that appellant was probably guilty.
The Court of Criminal Appeals has held that when a prosecutor made a statement like the judge’s second statement in this case, the harm was too great to be cured by an instruction to disregard. In Bell v. State, 614 S.W.2d 122, 123 (Tex.Crim.App.1981), the prosecutor told the jury:
Mr. Scheve [defendant’s counsel] is a criminal defense lawyer. He doesn’t have the same duty I do. He represents the criminal. His duty is to see that his client gets off even if it means putting on witnesses who are lying.
Mr. Scheve: Your honor, we object to that.
The Court: I sustain the objection. That is not his duty. It is not his duty to put on any witness that he knows is lying.
Mr. Scheve: And furthermore, I would ask for a mistrial.
The Court: I’ll deny the mistrial. I have instructed the jury that that’s not a correct statement of the law.
(emphasis added).
The Court of Criminal Appeals did not hesitate to reverse. Its entire opinion occupied one column of one page. It stated:
The effect of this argument was to instruct the jury that only prosecuting attorneys seek to uphold truth and justice whereas defense counsel have a license to use any means to mislead the jury (all citations omitted). By his argument, the prosecutor was striking at the appellant over the shoulders of his counsel in an attempt to prejudice the jury against appellant. The argument was improper and the trial court’s instruction to disregard was not sufficient to remove the prejudice it created. The trial court erred in overruling the appellant’s motion for mistrial.
Id. at 123.
Reversal was required in Bell even though the judge’s instruction to disregard was immediate (even before any request was made), sharp, and repeated. The judge’s statements here were at least as prejudicial as the prosecutor’s statement in Bell1, and they were more prejudicial than those in the majority’s cases. See Smith, 959 S.W.2d at 28 (Judge read former Rule of Criminal Evidence 610, barring leading questions); Sharpe, 648 S.W.2d at 706 (The judge said, “Nobody expects you to be intellectually dishonest, but the law does infer compromise as far as you feel like that is the right thing to do.”); Rosales, 932 S.W.2d at 537 (statements not described).
C. WAS THE ERROR HARMFUL?
We are dealing here with error of constitutional magnitude, the right to be tried before an impartial tribunal. Thus, the standard of review is that in Tex. Rule App. P. 44.2(a), “... the Court of Appeals must reverse a judgment of conviction ... unless the court determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the convic-tion_” But see Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510, 535, 47 S.Ct. 437, 445, 71 L.Ed. 749 (1927) (“No matter what the evidence was against him, he had the right to have an impartial judge.”); Ward v. Village of Monroeville, 409 U.S. 57, 61-62, 93 S.Ct. 80, 83-84, 34 L.Ed.2d 267 (1972). (Trial de novo does not cure harm arising from trial before judge who was not neutral.)
The case law gives little guidance in how to determine harm from this particular type of error. I believe we should consider the entire record, with special attention to the strength of the evidence. If the evidence was so overwhelming that a guilty verdict was inevitable even without the erroneous remarks, I would affirm. If a guilty verdict was not inevitable, I would reverse.
The only issue at trial was whether appellant knew the person he assaulted was a police officer. The officer testified the assault occurred at 3:48 a.m. as he approached appellant, who was bent over inside a car burglarizing it, in an area that was “poorly lit and could be considered dark.” The police officer was alone and in uniform. The officer approached silently, and when he was two feet behind appellant, the officer pointed his pistol, shined his flashlight, and ordered ap*820pellant not to move. Significantly, the officer testified he did not identify himself as a •police officer. He testified that appellant “jerked out of the car and charged smack into” him. The struggle was on, and they continued struggling to the ground several times, during which time the officer’s gun discharged and appellant was shot.
When apprehended, appellant told the arresting officer that the “damn cop shot me for no reason” and that he was only trying to get away from the officer, not to hurt him, and that the officer had no right to shoot him. Appellant admitted these statements, but said he did not know until after breaking free that he had fought a police officer. He said that as he fled, hid, and saw numerous police ears chase him, he realized that he must have fought a police officer.
The evidence shows that (1) the fight occurred at a dark place, (2) all or mostly at a distance of an arm’s length or less, (3) with the combatants not separating until appellant fled, that is, until after the assault was complete, and (4) the police officer testified he did not tell appellant he was an officer. This suggests that a guilty verdict was not inevitable. That conclusion is supported by the fact that the jury deliberated on appellant’s guilt one hour and 39 minutes, which was longer than it took the State to present its case and almost as long as the entire ease. During its deliberations, the jury sent the judge two notes, the first asking for all photographic evidence and the second asking for the definition of “resisting arrest.” Given this record, I cannot conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that these errors did not contribute to the conviction.
If, as Justice Taft contends, the correct standard of review for harm in this case is Tex.R.App. P. 44.2(b), I would reach the same conclusion. That rule provides that in criminal cases, “Any other (i.e., non-constitutional) error, defect, irregularity or variance that does not affect substantial rights must be disregarded.” I believe the judge’s comments in this case affected substantial rights that are protected by statute, art. 38.05 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and by previously cited case law. The application of that body of law to this body of evidence would justify reversal under either part of rule 44.2.
I would sustain points of error one and two, reverse the judgment, and remand the cause.
Opinion joined by Justices O’CONNOR, WILSON and ANDELL.

. In contrast to the facts in Bell, the statements here came from the judge, not the prosecutor, there were three statements, not one, and there was no instruction to disregard.