Court Opinion

ID: 9663098
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:27:38.541144+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:45.614733
License: Public Domain

ROSS, Justice,
concurring.
While I agree that Steinmetz’s complaint under Article 32.01 is moot because he did not complain before indictment, I cannot agree that the indictment against him was timely. I construe Article 32.01 to mean that the term of a district court at which an indictment is presented must be the next term of that court following the accused’s commitment or admission to bail or “the prosecution, unless otherwise ordered by the court, for good cause shown, supported by affidavit, shall be dismissed....” The face of the indictment against Steinmetz shows that it was presented to the 276 th District Court of Morris County, and I would find this recitation controlling over recitations in the grand jury’s minute book. The next term of the 276th District Court after Steinmetz’s admission to bail was the February Term, 1996, and in accordance with Article 32.01, that is the term to which his indictment should have been presented. Instead, it was presented within the March-August Term of the 276th District Court, which was not timely.