Court Opinion

ID: 9774072
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:08:08.359987+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:01.634618
License: Public Domain

TREVATHAN, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent in part. In his first point of error, appellant contends that the *498evidence is insufficient to support his conviction because the State failed to offer any evidence in support of appellant’s plea of guilty. I agree with appellant’s contention.
A conviction cannot be based on a plea of guilty unless “the [S]tate ... introduce[s] evidence into the record showing the guilt of the defendant.” Tex.Code CRim.P.Ann. art. 1.15 (Vernon 1977) (Emphasis added).
The transcript contains a document titled “Waiver of Constitutional Rights, Agreement to Stipulate, and Judicial Confession.” The document alleged that appellant
intentionally and knowingly by the use of physical force and violence and by threatening the present use of force and violence against [the complainant] ... cause[d] the penetration of the female sexual organ of the complainant by placing his sexual organ in the female sexual organ of the complainant and without the consent of the complainant.
The document further stated that appellant confessed that the allegations were true. The document was filed with the court and bears what appears to be appellant’s signature. However, the document was not introduced or admitted into evidence.
The record reflects that the State offered no evidence at the hearing where appellant offered his plea. The trial court did not enter a conviction at that hearing. At the hearing on punishment, the only evidence offered by the State was State’s exhibit one. The record reflects that State’s exhibit one was a letter from the complainant's father urging the trial court to sentence appellant to a term in prison. The State failed to introduce the document, “Waiver of Constitutional Rights, Agreement to Stipulate, and Judicial Confession. Compare Potts v. State, 571 S.W.2d 180, 182 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1978) (judicial confession affirmed in court by appellant was sufficient to support conviction); Miles v. State, 486 S.W.2d 326, 326 (Tex.Crim.App.1972) (defendant’s affidavit, which admitted allegations of indictment and was admitted into evidence, was sufficient to support conviction); Elliott v. State, 768 S.W.2d 351, 353 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1989, no pet.) (“Written Waiver and Consent to Stipulation of Testimony, Waiver of Jury, and Plea of Guilty,” which was offered into evidence, was sufficient to support conviction).
The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure clearly requires the State to introduce evidence into the record. Tex.Code CRiM. P.Ann. art. 1.15. Evidence is “[a]ny species of proof ... legally presented at the trial of an issue.” Black’s Law Dictionary 498 (5th ed. 1979). Since the State failed to introduce the document at either of the hearings, it is not evidence.1 I would find that the State failed to offer any evidence in support of appellant’s plea of guilty; therefore, the evidence is insufficient to support appellant’s conviction.
Appellant urges this Court to reconsider the issues addressed in Ex parte Martin, 747 S.W.2d 789 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). Ap*499pellant contends that if the State fails to introduce any evidence to support a conviction based on appellant’s plea of guilty, appellant is entitled to an acquittal.
In Martin, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that a defendant was not entitled to acquittal if the State failed to introduce sufficient evidence to support his conviction based on a plea of guilty. 747 S.W.2d at 792-93. However, a majority of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later relied on Martin and held that a defendant who entered a guilty plea is not entitled to an acquittal when the State failed to introduce sufficient evidence to support his conviction. Bender v. State, 758 S.W.2d 278, 280-81 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). This Court, as an intermediate court of appeals, must follow the law declared by the highest courts of this State. Southwick v. State, 701 S.W.2d 927, 929 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1985, no pet.). When the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has declared the law on an issue, this Court must follow its declaration. Id.; cf. Abdnor v. Ovard, 653 S.W.2d 793, 793 (Tex.Crim.App.1983) (intermediate court of appeals erred in applying its own standard that was in conflict with standard announced by Court of Criminal Appeals). Therefore, I would decline to reconsider the issue already addressed by the Court of Criminal Appeals.
I would reverse appellant’s conviction and remand the cause for further proceedings.

. The cases upon which the majority relies are distinguishable from the present case. In those cases, the record indicated that the evidence, although never formally admitted into evidence, was presented to the trial court and considered by it. See Ex parte Reagan, 549 S.W.2d 204, 205 (Tex.Crim.App.1977) (warrant was not formally introduced or admitted into evidence, but it was treated by trial court and parties as if it had been admitted); Killion v. State, 503 S.W.2d 765, 766 (Tex.Crim.App.1973) (written stipulations were treated by court and parties as if they had been admitted into evidence although they were never formally introduced or admitted); Kissinger v. State, 501 S.W.2d 78, 79 (Tex.Crim.App.1973) (while judge never formally stated confessions were admitted into evidence, State offered them into evidence, and parties treated them as if they were admitted); Richardson v. State, 475 S.W.2d 932, 933 (Tex.Crim.App. 1972) (although exhibits were never formally offered or admitted into evidence, judge asked if he could read them, and appellant's counsel agreed); Voelkel v. State, 629 S.W.2d 243, 246-47 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1982) (cigarette case was never offered or admitted into evidence, but it was referred to and discussed by parties on several instances), aff’d, 717 S.W.2d 314 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). In contrast, in the present case, the “Waiver of Constitutional Rights, Agreement to Stipulate, and Judicial Confession" was never referred to by the State, appellant, or the trial court at either the hearing at which appellant entered his plea or the hearing at which the trial court entered appellant’s conviction and sentenced him. Therefore, not only was the document never formally introduced or admitted into evidence, it was not presented to the trial court and treated by the parties and the court as if it had been admitted.