Court Opinion

ID: 9656760
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 19:59:10.20081+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:35.222850
License: Public Domain

DAUPHINOT, Justice,
concurring.
While I concur in the reasoning and result of the majority’s thoughtful and scholarly opinion, Appellant’s first point requires that we also determine an issue of first impression: ‘Who bears the burden of showing whether the grand jury indicted for the conduct upon which the petit jury based its verdict?” I would address this important issue, and because the majority does not, I write separately.
*739In Sledge v. State, the issue was addressed tangentially. Sledge v. State, 953 S.W.2d 253, 256 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). The Sledge court disposed of it by observing, “Appellant’s argument that the State obtained a conviction on unindicted offenses thus fails because there is, in this case, no reason to believe that the offenses presented to the grand jury were different from the offenses proven at trial.” Id.
The Texas Constitution provides in pertinent part, “[N]o person shall be held to answer for a [felony] criminal offense, unless on an indictment of a grand jury.” Tex. Const, art. I, § 10; see also Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 1.05 (Vernon 1997). In addressing the requisites of an indictment and the tension between constitutional requirements and legislative attempts to lessen the requirements, the court of criminal appeals has stated,
Similarly, we do not believe a reasonable construction of art. V, § 12(b) permits the conclusion that the constitutional definition of an indictment falls within the purview of art. 1.14(b) because this construction clearly leads to an absurd result. If art. V, § 12(b) subjects all requisites of an indictment to the scope of art. 1.14(b), and hence, to waiver, then we can conceive of no point at which a charging instrument is so deficient as to not constitute an indictment. Clearly, this construction of art. V, § 12(b) would permit a blank sheet of paper to suffice for a valid indictment. We do not believe the Legislature or the voters could have intended this result when approving art. V, § 12(b). Nor do we believe this construction of art. V, § 12(b) comports with the right .to an indictment guaranteed by art. I, § 10.
Cook v. State, 902 S.W.2d 471, 479 (Tex.Crim.App.1995).
The mandate is clear. Absent affirmative waiver, no person may be put to trial for a felony offense except on an indictment of a grand jury. That stated differently, the specific offense for which a person is put to trial must first have been presented to the grand jury, and the grand jury must have returned the indictment on that specific offense. There is no such thing as trial by consent in a criminal case.
Jurisdiction of the subject matter cannot be conferred by agreement; this type of jurisdiction exists by reason of the authority vested in the court by the Constitution and statutes.
Furthermore, it is well settled that a valid indictment, or information if indictment is waived, is essential to the district court’s jurisdiction in a criminal case. Unlike in civil cases where personal jurisdiction over a party may be had merely by that party’s appearance before the court, Rule 120, Vernon’s Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, criminal jurisdiction over the person cannot be conferred upon the district court solely by the accused’s appearance, but requires the due return of a felony indictment, or the accused’s personal affirmative waiver thereof and the return of a valid felony information upon complaint.
Garcia v. Dial, 596 S.W.2d 524, 527 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1980) (citations omitted).
Because the grand jury indictment is jurisdictional, a complaint that a defendant is being tried for conduct other than that upon which the indictment is based is a challenge to the very jurisdiction of the trial court. Clearly, when a defendant challenges the sufficiency of the indictment, there is no issue of fact but, rather, purely a question of law. The court of criminal appeals long voiced the rule governing burdens when the running of the statute of limitations was at issue.
*740In 28 Tex. Jur. 680, Sec. 30, on the subject of Indictment and Information, the rule is stated:
‘The state is not bound to anticipate or negative defenses on the part of the accused but if the pleading shows on its face that the prosecution is barred by the statute of limitations, facts should be alleged which avoid the statute.’
We think the rule stated is sound and should be followed and is in keeping with the mandatory provisions ... which requires that the time mentioned in an indictment be some date anterior to its presentment and not so remote that the prosecution of the offense is barred by limitation and also with the well-established rule that the burden is on the state to show that the offense was committed within the period of limitation and the accused is not required to plead limitation as a defense. Such rule has also been announced and followed in other jurisdictions.
Donald v. State, 165 Tex.Crim. 252, 306 S.W.2d 360, 362 (1957), overruled by Proctor v. State, 967 S.W.2d 840 (Tex.Crim.App.1998).
Similarly, when a defendant challenged the trial court’s jurisdiction raising the statute of limitations, if the date of the offense was not clear from the indictment, the State bore the burden of showing that trial of the offense was not barred by time limitations. See, e.g., Janecka v. State, 739 S.W.2d 813, 821 (Tex.Crim.App.1987).
In 1998, however, the court of criminal appeals held that the State does not have the burden of proving that prosecution is not time-barred unless there is some evidence that prosecution is barred by the statute of limitations. Proctor, 967 S.W.2d at 844. In that situation, the State’s burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. The court’s rationale is that the statute of limitations for bringing criminal charges is a procedural rule in the nature of a defense. Id. at 843. It was enacted for the benefit of defendants, not for the benefit of the State. Id.
Although not directly addressed in Sledge, the court of criminal appeals appears to have created a similar rule for challenging jurisdiction on the basis now before us. Whether it shifts the entire burden to the defendant or merely the burden of bringing forth some evidence is unclear. While the Sledge court did not specifically place the burden of showing the grand jury indictment is founded on the conduct presented to the petit jury, its language suggests that a defendant must, at a minimum, raise the issue by presenting evidence. The court’s language also suggests that the defendant bears the burden of proving that a different offense was presented to the grand jury. The Sledge court stated there was “no reason to believe that the offenses presented to the grand jury were different from the offenses proven at trial.” Sledge, 953 S.W.2d at 256.
Since it is unreasonable to suggest the reason would be presented by the State, we can only conclude that the defendant must produce the “reason to believe that the offenses presented to the grand jury were different from the offenses proven at trial.” Id. The question of whether there must be evidence that the indictment was based on specific conduct rather than a simple showing that evidence of that conduct was presented to the grand jury is not answered by Sledge. This question, however, is clearly answered by article I, section 10 of the Texas Constitution, which mandates trial only upon indictment. Tex. Const, art. I, § 10; see also Tex.Code CRiM. Proc. Ann. art. 1.05.
As Appellant points out, since grand jury proceedings are secret, it is difficult *741to understand how a defendant is to sustain his burden short of violating the rule of secrecy protecting grand jury deliberations. I can only conclude that the Sledge court must have contemplated some method by which a defendant would have access to sufficient aspects of grand jury proceedings to permit that defendant to sustain his or her burden. The law cannot impose an impossible burden.