Court Opinion

ID: 9684409
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:55:59.591593+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:55.589941
License: Public Domain

DISSENTING OPINION
MORRISON, Judge.
I need not address myself to the question of the sufficiency of the warning given appellant prior to the giving by him of a statement or confession, because there is another and far more fundamental error in *308this case which should not permit an af-firmance of this conviction.
Robbery is one offense and theft is another. Facts showing theft will not support a conviction for robbery. There were a number of cases which demonstrated the distinction prior to Van Arsdale v. State, 149 Tex.Cr.R. 639, 198 S.W.2d 270. See Reese v. State, 91 Tex.Cr.R. 457, 239 S.W. 619; Harris v. State, 118 Tex.Cr.R. 597, 39 S.W.2d 888; Bryant v. State, 122 Tex.Cr.R. 385, 55 S.W.2d 1037; Flores v. State, 145 Tex.Cr.R. 134, 166 S.W.2d 706; and Alaniz v. State, 147 Tex.Cr.R. 1, 177 S.W.2d 965. Still other cases have distinguished robbery from theft from the person. See Hammond v. State, 121 Tex.Cr.R. 596, 49 S.W.2d 779; Anderson v. State, 132 Tex.Cr.R. 255, 103 S.W.2d 753; and Alsobrook v. State, 134 Tex.Cr.R. 322, 115 S.W.2d 668.
Since Van Arsdale v. State, supra, this Court has in Woods v. State, 153 Tex.Cr.R. 457, 220 S.W.2d 644; Polk v. State, 157 Tex.Cr.R. 75, 246 S.W.2d 879; Bell v. State, 167 Tex.Cr.R. 460, 321 S.W.2d 302; and Cassidy v. State, 168 Tex.Cr.R. 254, 324 S.W.2d 857; said, “In Van Arsdale v. State, 149 Tex.Cr.R. 639, 198 S.W.2d 270, we had occasion to point out that a distinction between robbery and theft from the person lies in the fact that in robbery there must exist the actual or threatened violence to the person antecedent to the robbery, which is not true of theft from the person.” Polk v. State, supra. See also Gallagher v. State, 34 Tex.Cr.R. 306, 30 S.W. 557; Johnson v. State, 35 Tex.Cr.R. 140, 32 S.W. 537; Jarrott v. State, 96 Tex.Cr.R. 239, 257 S.W. 256; and Gonzales v. State, 136 Tex.Cr.R. 469, 126 S.W.2d 492.
The majority opinion quotes this unfortunate woman as saying she was scared. Of course she was scared, because her husband had just been shot, but there is not a scintilla of evidence that there was any actual or threatened violence to her. She ran to the aid of her dying husband, and on the way set her purse down because its presence in her hand hampered her in her efforts to assist her husband. If appellant’s co-defendant took the purse from where the woman had placed it, he became guilty of theft, but certainly not robbery.
No matter how guilty this accused may be, he has a constitutional right to be tried for the offense which he committed and not another. The cases cited above are but a few in which this Court has steadfastly adhered to this principal.
I respectfully dissent to the affirmance of this conviction for the reasons stated above.
ONION, J., joins in this dissent.