Court Opinion

ID: 9765190
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:55:56.124357+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:06.222298
License: Public Domain

MEYERS, Judge,
dissenting.
Appellant was indicted for possession of marihuana and possession of marihuana on which no tax had been paid. He thereafter received notice from the comptroller informing him that he owed $109,546.50 in taxes and $10,954.65 in penalties. The comptroller also issued and filed a tax lien in the amount of $120,501.15 against appellant’s assets. The majority holds that the petitioner suffered no “punishment” for purposes of double jeopardy because he “neither received a final judgment of tax liability nor was permanently divested of his ownership rights in his property.” Ex parte Ward, 964 S.W.2d 617, 633 (Tex.Crim.App.1998). But a tax assessment under our provisions has the effect of an appealable judgment. This constitutes punishment for purposes of double jeopardy. I dissent.
In Stennett v. State, 941 S.W.2d 914, 917 (Tex.Crim.App.1996), we held that the controlled substances tax is a punishment subject to the prohibition of the United States Constitution against imposing it in a separate proceeding from that in which other criminal punishments for the same offense are imposed. However, Stennett did not explain what aspect of the tax constitutes punishment for double jeopardy purposes: (1) the automatic statutory imposition of the tax under § 159.101(e) of the Tax Code; (2) the assessment of the tax by the Comptroller under § 159.101(f) of the Tax Code; or (3) the payment or partial payment of the tax by the taxpayer or, in lieu thereof, a judicial proceeding resulting in a judgment against the taxpayer. Put another way, the question presented here is when is a person punished by the controlled substances tax. A survey of the applicable statutes is necessary to this determination.
*634“A tax is imposed on the possession, purchase, acquisition, importation, manufacture, or production by a dealer of a taxable substance on which a tax has not previously been paid under [Chapter 159 of the Tax Code].” Tex. Tax code ann. § 159.101(a). “A dealer shall obtain the necessary tax payment certificates before the tax becomes due as provided by Section 159.101 of this code.” Id. at § 159.102(b). The certificate must be affixed to the controlled substance. Id. at § 159.102(a). “The tax becomes due immediately when a dealer possesses, purchases, acquires, manufactures, or produces in this state or imports into this state the taxable substance on which the tax has not previously been paid.” Id. at § 159.101(c).
“The comptroller shall collect the taxes imposed by [Title 2 (State Taxation) ] except as otherwise provided by this title.” Id. at § 111.001.
When the comptroller makes an assessment under this chapter, the comptroller shall issue a determination stating the amount and that the tax collection is in jeopardy. The amount determined is due and payable immediately. A determination made under this chapter becomes final on the expiration of 20 days after the day on which the notice of the determination was served by personal service or by mail unless a petition for a redetermination is filed before the determination becomes final.
Id. at § 159.101(f). “If a determination made under this chapter becomes final without payment of the amount of the determination being made, the comptroller shall add to the amount a penalty of 10 percent of the amount of the tax and interest.” Id. at § 159.101(g). “A person having a direct interest in a determination may petition the comptroller for a redetermination.” Id. at § 111.009(a). “In a redetermination proceeding held or a judicial proceeding brought under [Chapter 159], a certificate from the comptroller that shows the issued determination is prima facie evidence of: (1) the determination of the stated tax or amount of tax; (2) the stated amount of the penalties and interest; and (3) the compliance of the comptroller with this chapter in computing and determining the amount due.” Id. at § 159.101(h). “An order or decision of the comptroller on a petition for redetermination becomes final 20 days after service on the petitioner of the notice of the order or decision.” Id. at § 111.009(d).
As for the collection of taxes, “[t]he rights, powers, remedies, liens, and penalties provided by this title are cumulative of other rights, powers, remedies, liens, and penalties for the collection of taxes provided by this title and by other law.” Id. at § 111.015. There are several means by which tax may be collected.
Before the expiration of three years after a person becomes delinquent in the payment of any amount under this title, the comptroller may seize and sell at public auction real and personal property of the person. A seizure made to collect the tax is limited only to property of the person that is not exempt from execution.
Id. at § 111.017. “All taxes, fines, interest and penalties due by a person to the state under this title are secured by a hen on ah of the person’s property that is subject to execution. The hen for taxes attaches to ah of the property of a person hable for the taxes.” Id. at § 113.001. “The state tax hen on personal property and real estate continues until the taxes secured by the hen are paid.” Id. at § 113.105(a).
If a person is delinquent in the payment of an amount required to be paid or has not paid an amount claimed in a determination made against the person, the comptroher may notify personally or by registered mail any other person who: possesses or controls a credit, bank or savings account, deposit, or other intangible or personal property belonging to the delinquent or the person against whom the unpaid determination is made, hereafter referred to as “assets”; or owes a debt to the delinquent person against whom the unpaid determination is made.
Id. at § 111.021(a). “[T]he person receiving the notice ... may not transfer or dispose of the asset or debt possessed, controlled, or owed by the person ... for a period of 60 days after receipt of the notice, unless the comptroher consents to an earher disposal.” Id. at § 111.021(d)(2).
*635At any time during the last 45 days of the 60-day period as stated in Subdivision (2) of Subsection (d) of this section, the comptroller may levy upon the asset or debt. The levy shall be accomplished by delivery of a notice of levy, upon receipt of which the person possessing the asset or debt shall transfer the asset to the comptroller or pay to the comptroller the amount owed to the delinquent or to the person against whom the unpaid determination is made.
Id. at § 111.021(g). “[T]he comptroller may bring an action in the courts of this state, or any other state, or of the United States in the name of the people of the State of Texas to collect the amount delinquent together with penalties and interest.” Id. at § 111.202. “The attorney general shall bring suit in the name of the state to recover delinquent state taxes, tax penalties, and interest owed to the state.” Id. at § 111.010(a).
In addition to the administrative remedy of redetermination, a taxpayer may bring suit after making a protest payment. Id. at § 112.052. A taxpayer may sue to determine the validity of a lien. Id. at § 113.106. In a suit pertaining to the controlled substances tax, the comptroller’s certificate showing delinquency is prima facie evidence of the amount of tax, the amount of penalties and interest, the delinquency, and the comptroller’s compliance with the Tax Code in computing and determining the amount due. Id. at § 111.013.
In Stennett, we examined the Texas controlled substances tax and observed:
Texas does not impose its tax only on those who have been arrested and charged with a criminal offense. Instead, the obligation to pay the tax arises when the taxable event occurs, whether or not that event has yet come to the attention of law enforcement agencies, let alone become the subject of a criminal prosecution.
Stennett, 941 S.W.2d at 916. However, that observation was made in the context of determining whether the controlled substances tax was intended to be a punishment, as opposed to when the tax becomes a punishment. If a dealer pays the controlled substances tax through the purchase of tax payment certificates in accordance with § 159.102, then the taxpayer obviously has been punished for double jeopardy purposes under Stennett because the taxpayer paid the tax. If the dealer does not pay the tax, but possesses, purchases, acquires, imports, manufactures, or produces a taxable substance, the dealer has not been punished if there is no State action with regard to the tax other than the statutory imposition. As noted in Stennett, the taxable event may not yet have come to the attention of law enforcement officers. That means that the taxable event would not have come to the attention of the comptroller, who is charged with making a tax assessment if the tax has not been paid. Tex. Tax code ann. § 159.101(f). Therefore, there could not be any State action on the tax at that point. The question remains, when is a dealer punished by the controlled substances tax once law enforcement officials inform the comptroller that the dealer possessed a controlled substance without having paid the tax.
United States v. Sanchez-Escareno, 950 F.2d 193 (5th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 841, 113 S.Ct. 123, 121 L.Ed.2d 78 (1992), involved three cases in which defendants were arrested on separate occasions by United States Customs officials for attempting to smuggle marihuana into the United States. Each defendant was assessed a large fine and each one signed an agreement to pay the monetary penalty. None of the defendants paid the fine, and the government did not seek to collect on the promissory notes. The defendants were indicted for the criminal offenses. In all three cases the district judge dismissed the counts of importation of marihuana and possession of marihuana with intent to distribute, because the defendants were punished for double jeopardy purposes when they executed the promissory notes.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. The court observed that the government had not attempted to take anything from the defendants and the defendants’ property and liberty were unmolested and free from the exercise of sovereign power. Id. at 202. The court stated that the defendants were simply presumed to be personally obligated to the government, the holder of *636the promissory notes, unless and until they interposed a defense sufficient to relieve them of their obligations. Id. The government had the defendants execute promissory notes to obtain evidence of their indebtedness. Id. The notes did not constitute payment or satisfaction of the obligation. Id. The Fifth Circuit concluded:
Here, the government has yet to subject the defendants to trial at all or to exact any form of punishment whatsoever. Defendants are presently in the same position as someone who has been charged in two criminal proceedings, but has not yet been tried or punished in either. If the defendants actually pay the civil fines, then any subsequent criminal prosecution would be double jeopardy. See Ex parte Lange, 18 Wall. 163, 85 U.S. 163, 21 L.Ed. 872 (1873) (when defendant “fully suffered one of the alternative punishments to which alone the law subjected him, the power of the court to punish further was gone”). Likewise, if the government chooses to go forward with its prosecution of the defendants, jeopardy would attach when the jury is empaneled and sworn, as it would in any criminal case- Finally, if the government attempts to collect on the notes, jeopardy would attach when the court begins to hear evidence in that action.
Id. at 202-03.
The majority says three factors found significant by the Fifth Circuit in Sanchez-Escareno in concluding that the promissory notes did not cause jeopardy to attach are also present in the comptroller’s notice of tax assessment in the instant case:
In determining the assessment of the civil penalty did not cause jeopardy to attach, the Fifth Circuit found three factors particularly significant: (1) the promissory notes were simply “prima facie evidence” of the defendants’ indebtedness; (2) the government had informed the defendants “of a possible procedure for sidestepping the payments of these assessments,” and; (3) the promissory notes “an-tieipate[d] the need for future legal action to enforce their terms.”
Ward, op. at 627. Similarly, the majority says here, the comptroller’s notice “is only ‘prima facie evidence’ of appellant’s indebtedness”, the notice informed appellant of a way of side-stepping payment, and the notice “antieipate[d] the need for future legal action to enforce the terms.” Id. But there are profound differences between notes in Sanchez-Escareno and a comptroller’s determination under our Tax Code. While the majority is correct in recognizing that, like the promissory notes, the comptroller’s determination is prima facie evidence of indebtedness in a suit pertaining thereto, unlike the promissory notes, the comptroller’s determination need not be the subject of a suit in order for the comptroller to collect thereon. As to the majority’s declaration that, like the promissory notes, the notice of determination “anticipated the need for future legal action to enforce its terms” and “contemplated that ... the State would be required to initiate additional legal action,” this is just not so. Id. at 627, 631. While the notice, consistent with the controlling statutes, recognizes that legal action may take place, neither the notice nor the controlling statutes provide that legal action “need” take place or that the State “is required” to take further legal action in order for the comptroller to collect.
Contrary to the situation presented in Sanchez-Escareno, under the Texas tax statutes a civil action before a judge is not a necessary predicate to the comptroller’s ability to collect the controlled substance tax, once the comptroller issues a determination. It is but one of several methods of collecting the tax. For example, the comptroller may freeze the dealer’s assets and then levy upon the assets. Tex. Tax Code ann. § 111.021. Also, a lien for taxes attaches to the property of the dealer, and it continues until the taxes are paid. Id. at §§' 113.001 and 113.105. Although there are administrative and judicial remedies available to the dealer, these are unlike the situation in Sanchez-Escareno where the government had to file a civil action to enforce the promissory notes and thereby punish the defendants civilly.
Similarly, the procedures for collecting the controlled substances tax differ from civil forfeitures. For example, a Texas peace officer may seize contraband property that is subject to forfeiture. Tex.Crim. Peoc.Code *637ann. art. 59.03. In order to acquire ownership of the property through forfeiture, the State must commence a forfeiture proceeding, which is tried in the same manner as other civil cases. Id. at art. 59.04 and 59.05. In contrast, for the State to collect the controlled substances tax there need not be any judicial proceeding nor any administrative proceeding. Moreover, any judicial proceeding is not necessarily brought by the State, although the State may seek that means of collecting the tax. Tex. Tax code ann. §§ 111.202 and 111.010(a). A taxpayer may sue to challenge the tax or the validity of the lien. §§ 112.052 and 113.106.
Analogizing to other civil or criminal matters for double jeopardy purposes, the comptroller’s determination is akin to a judgment. In other civil situations, a judgment is required as a basis for collection. In criminal situations, a judgment is required for punishment to occur. For collection of the controlled substances tax, all that is required is the comptroller’s determination. The State may then collect the tax without having to initiate any administrative or judicial proceeding. Although the State may also sue to collect the tax, that is similar to a collection suit following a civil judgment. It is not a prerequisite to collecting the tax; it is simply another tool that is available to the State. Just as the comptroller’s determination is analogous to a judgment, a petition for administrative redetermination is analogous to an appeal of a judgment. In reality, it is an appeal, as is a taxpayer’s suit protesting the tax or challenging the validity of a lien. The majority says that if appellant had requested a hearing on the tax assessment and had obtained a “final judgment of liability” then jeopardy would have “undeniably” attached in the civil proceeding. Ward, op. at 630-631. But the government has no greater ability to collect the tax after a redetermination than if no redetermination hearing is ever requested.
Because a comptroller’s determination is the functional equivalent of a judgment in other civil matters, for double jeopardy purposes a dealer who has not paid the controlled substances tax is punished when the comptroller assesses the tax by issuing a determination. Consequently, appellant was punished when the tax was assessed by the comptroller’s determination. Assuming “a prior controlled substance tax assessment requires proof of the same elements as aggravated possession of marijuana,”1 appellant’s criminal prosecution should be barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause because he has already been “punished.”
Relief should be granted.
BAIRD and OVERSTREET, JJ., join.

. We are forced to make this assumption in this case, although I am not at all convinced that it is supportable under the law and the facts. Cf. State v. Perez 947 S.W.2d 268 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). We also granted review of the following ground: whether a prior controlled substance tax assessment requires proof of the same elements as aggravated possession of marihuana. Unfortunately, this issue was not squarely raised before the Court of Appeals or addressed by that court; therefore this Court has nothing to review as to that issue and the majority properly dismisses that ground for review. Technically, the question of whether appellant is being punished twice for the same offense or the same conduct ought be addressed first. If we are not dealing with two separate offenses here, it doesn’t matter at what point jeopardy attaches — that question becomes a mere academic exercise.