Court Opinion

ID: 9775860
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:11:10.746856+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:31.545627
License: Public Domain

GRANT, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent because there was no evidence that Janak was the person operating the motor vehicle. The requirement that the accused be identified as the person who committed the alleged criminal act is a fundamental safeguard in our system, so that the wrong person will not be convicted.
The arresting officer provided the only testimony attempting to identify Janak as the person driving the vehicle. He testified that he did not recognize the defendant as being the driver of the vehicle:
MR. LANTRIP: Do you recognize the driver of that vehicle in the Courtroom right now?
WITNESS: I don’t recognize him but I assume he’s sitting next to his attorney. .... [Objection]
WITNESS: No. I do not recognize him.
The majority opinion provides two firsts in Texas: (1) This will be the first time that a not guilty plea has been used to show a defendant’s guilt. (2) This will also be the first time that a pretrial stipulation has been considered as evidence to convict a defendant.
THE NOT GUILTY PLEA
The majority attempts to show an identification by the arresting officer on the basis that he was asked by the State numerous questions using the word defendant to describe the person that he arrested. The context shows clearly that the officer considered the defendant to be the person that he arrested, but he could not testify whether the person he arrested was the person who was on trial and was seated in the courtroom. The majority says that the term defendant applied to Janak because he pleaded not guilty in the case and thus identifies himself as a defendant. A plea of not guilty should be construed to be the denial of every material allegation in the indictment, including the identification of the defendant. On a plea of not guilty, it becomes the State’s duty to prove its case. Johns v. State, 155 Tex.Crim. 503, 236 S.W.2d 820 (1951). The fact that a person pleads not guilty cannot be used as any evidence against him or her at the trial. To do so would in effect make the entering of a plea an incriminatory act. A plea of not guilty is not an admission of any incriminating fact or guilt. Flores v. State, 509 S.W.2d 580 (Tex.Crim.App.1974). Therefore, Janak’s not guilty plea cannot be used by the State as evidence that he was the person driving the automobile on the date in question.
In a footnote to the majority opinion, it is suggested that once the identification is established at arraignment, no further identification is necessary. The court cites Hendrick v. State, 6 Tex. 341 (1851). In that case, the defendant was clearly identified at the trial as the person committing the alleged criminal acts. The majority also refers to 22 TExJuR.3d Criminal Law § 2404 (1982). This section refers only to arraignments. The purpose of the arraignment is to establish the correct name and identity of the person on trial. This does not establish that this defendant is guilty of committing the alleged acts. There is no question that the court in this case knew who the defendant was, the defendant knew who the defendant was, but the only witness testifying to the facts did not know who the defendant was. There must be some evidence before the jury that this defendant was the person who committed the alleged crime. The arraignment does not eliminate the necessity of an identification of the defendant as the person committing the alleged criminal acts.
*807THE PRETRIAL STIPULATIONS
There were stipulations in the record related to a speeding ticket3 and to the breath test,4 which were made at a pretrial hearing before the jury had been selected. Thus, the stipulation could not be considered as evidence upon which the jury could base its verdict. The third motion that the majority relies upon is not a stipulation at all, but a motion to reshuffle the jury panel.5
The majority relies on a not guilty plea and pretrial stipulations to convict Janak. The State is required to prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt and has failed to do so. There is no other evidence connecting Janak to the alleged offense. There is no showing that the arresting officer was aware of whom the defendant on trial was, and he admitted that he could not identify the man whom he had arrested. Where there is no evidence identifying the accused as the party who committed the alleged offense, reversal of the conviction is required. McCullen v. State, 372 S.W.2d 693 (Tex.Crim.App.1963).

. MR. OLD: At the time the Defendant was arrested on or about July 29th, 1989 he was issued a ticket for speeding, he plead (sic) guilty to that offense and that was adjudicated in that he was found guilty. I do not think there is a factual controversy as to that, is there?
MR. LANTRIP: No. I accept that.
MR. OLD: The State’s stipulation is that the ticket given on July 29th, 1989, the Defendant has been convicted of speeding in that, that act has been punished and he has been found guilty.

. MR. OLD: You are telling me I do not call my witness?
THE COURT: Yes.
MR. OLD: Your Honor, may I make an offer of proof?
THE COURT: I’m sorry?
MR. OLD: May I make an offer of proof? Your Honor, if Jay Janak were allowed to testify in this case under oath he would testify that at the time and occasion in question that he was taken to a facility operated by the State of Texas to the Department of Public Safety or through law enforcement agencies, that he appeared, he agreed to take a test, he in fact put the mouth piece of the test, the mouth piece of
the machine into his mouth and followed the Officer’s instruction at which time the Officer told him that he was not cooperating.
Mr. Janak assured that he was doing what he was told to do.
And that would include our offer of proof and that our witness cannot testify.
And may the record reflect that Mr. Jay Janak is present in Court, may it so, Your Honor?
THE COURT: Sir?
MR. OLD: May the record reflect that Mr. Janak is present here in Court?
THE COURT: Sure.

.[MR. OLD:] Now comes the Defendant, Mr. Janak by and through his attorney and would file this motion with the Court to challenge the array of the venire in that a List of Petit Jurors were furnished us by the County Clerk of Camp County, Texas listing 100 Jurors which is the official document of the court, which we will offer into evidence, it does not show the reason for approximately twelve Jurors being excused. We would like to call the Clerk in connection with the motion challenging the array and we would ask for a mistrial in this case.