Court Opinion

ID: 9758389
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 23:26:41.666687+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:50.621742
License: Public Domain

TOM GRAY, Chief Justice,
concurring.
Don Terrell appeals his conviction for the offense of indecency with a child. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 21.11(a)(2)(A) (Vernon 2003). He was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Because the trial court did not err in denying Terrell’s motion to dismiss based on the State’s loss of evidence and because the evidence was legally sufficient to support the trial court’s finding of the enhancement paragraph to be true, I agree the judgment should be affirmed.
In his first issue, Terrell contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss because the State’s failure to preserve the audio and video tapes of Terrell’s non-custodial interview and the audio tape of the victim’s interview violates the due course of law provision of the Texas Constitution. Tex. Const, art I, § 19. Terrell relies solely on this Court’s opinion in Pena to support his argument that the Texas Constitution affords greater protection than the due process clause of the United States Constitution as it pertains to lost or destroyed evidence. Pena v. State, 166 S.W.3d 274 (Tex.App.-Waco 2005), vacated, 191 S.W.3d 133 (Tex.Crim.App.2006). But that decision was vacated by the Court of Criminal Appeals. Id.1 Terrell provides no other explanation as to why the Texas Constitution affords greater protection than the United States Constitution. And we decline to make that argument for him. See Johnson v. State, 853 S.W.2d 527, 533 (Tex.Crim.App.1992)(“We decline to pursue appellant’s Texas Constitutional arguments for him.”). Further, the Texas Supreme Court has consistently held that the due course of law provision and the due process clause are equivalent. Pena, 166 S.W.3d at 283, n. 1 (Gray, C.J., dissenting). Therefore, I will use the United States Constitutional standard as adopted in Youngblood and its progeny to evaluate Terrell’s issue. See Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 109 S.Ct. 333, 102 L.Ed.2d 281 (1988). Under this standard, Terrell must show that the State acted in bad faith when it failed to locate the audio and video tapes. Id. at 58, *349109 S.Ct. 333. However, Terrell’s counsel affirmatively stated that there was no bad faith by the State in failing to locate the tapes. I agree his first issue should be overruled.
In his second issue, Terrell argues the evidence was legally insufficient to support the trial court’s finding of “true” to the enhancement paragraph. At punishment, the State introduced, without objection, a penitentiary packet containing Terrell’s fingerprints and a judgment and sentence for Terrell’s conviction of “Aggravated Rape” in 1982. Terrell was sentenced to 30 years in prison for that offense. After both sides rested, counsel argued that Terrell was only 16 when the 1982 judgment was rendered and concluded that the State failed to prove a final conviction.
On appeal, Terrell contends that the pen packet affirmatively shows that he was 16 at the time the offense was committed, thus, the judgment is void because Terrell was too young to be convicted of the offense. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. §§ 51.02(2), 51.03(a), 51.04(a) (Vernon Supp.2006 and Vernon 2002). The State establishes a prima facie case of proof of a prior conviction by introducing copies of the judgment and sentence in each case used for enhancement and connecting them with the defendant. Johnson v. State, 725 S.W.2d 245, 247 (Tex.Crim.App.1987). Once the State properly introduces a judgment and sentence and identifies appellant with them, we presume regularity in the judgments. Id. The burden then shifts to the defendant, who must make an affirmative showing of any defect in the judgment, whether that is to show no waiver of indictment or no transfer order. Id. Terrell does not argue that the pen packet was inadmissible. He contends he was not required to do anything further because the pen packet affirmatively showed on its face that his age was 16. However, he must do more. As the Court of Criminal Appeals stated in Johnson, the defect he must show is that there was no order transferring him from Juvenile Court to District Court. Id. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 51.08 (Vernon Supp.2006). He did not make that showing. The State made its prima facie showing, and the evidence is legally sufficient to support the trial court’s finding. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). I agree Terrell’s second issue should be overruled.
I concur only in the judgment of this Court that the trial court’s judgment should be affirmed.

. The majority held this appeal waiting on their new version of Pena for over one year. Terrell does not rely on Pena II. See Pena v. State, 226 S.W.3d 634 (Tex.App.-Waco 2007, no pet. h.). Pena II need not and should not be relied upon unless its precedential value is established. Thus, I will disregard Pena II in my analysis and present as this concurring opinion the opinion I originally circulated on May 3, 2006, only editing as appropriate to make it a concurring opinion.