Court Opinion

ID: 9776073
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:18:12.893149+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:33.962277
License: Public Domain

KELLER, Judge,
concurring.
I agree with the result reached by the majority but disagree with the majority’s reliance upon Cunningham v. State, 726 S.W.2d 151 (Tex.Crim.App.1987) to dispose of the issue presented. In Cunningham, the defendant was charged with aggravated sexual assault. Id. at 151. The case was tried before the bench, and the trial court found the defendant guilty of indecency with a child by sexual contact under § 21.11(a)(1).1 Id. at 151, 151-152 n. 1. The defendant appealed, complaining that indecency with a child was not a lesser-included offense of aggravated sexual assault because the former contained an additional element: “the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.” Id. at 152. The Court of Appeals agreed and sustained the defendant’s point of error. Id. In reversing the Court of Appeals’ decision, we held that indecency with a child was a lesser-included offense under the proof in that case because the conduct offered to prove the crime of aggravated sexual assault also showed an intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire. Id. at 155.
Reliance upon Cunningham is inappropriate because that case does not involve an attempt to prosecute two offenses. The present case involves two indicted offenses while Cunningham involved an indicted offense and an unindicted offense alleged to be lesser-included. State statutory law does not preclude the prosecution of two indicted offenses arising from the same transaction even though one of the offenses may logically be a lesser-included of the other. Landers v. State, 957 S.W.2d 558, 559 n. 5 (Tex.Crim. App.1997). The extent to which the State may prosecute and convict, in a single trial, for multiple offenses that may be the “same” is a Double Jeopardy question, the outcome of which depends upon application of the test set out in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932)(focusing on the elements of the offenses) and an inquiry into the Legislature’s intent. Garrett v. United States, 471 U.S. 773, 778-779, 105 S.Ct. 2407, 85 L.Ed.2d 764 (1985); Ex Parte Kopecky, 821 S.W.2d 957, 958-959 (Tex.Crim.App.1992). Cunningham ⅛ conclusion that an offense was lesser-included based upon proof at trial appears to be contrary to precedent from the Supreme Court and this Court in that respect. See Garrett and Kopecky (cited above); see also United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. 688, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 125 L.Ed.2d 556 (1993).
Hence, the real question in the present case is whether the two offenses at issue constitute the same offense under Blockburger, and, if so, whether there is a clear Legislative intent, either from the face of the statute or from the legislative history, to impose multiple punishments. Garrett, 471 U.S. at 778-779, 105 S.Ct. 2407. A side-by-side comparison of the elements is helpful toward resolving that question:
Aggravated Sexual Assault Indecency with a Child (§ 22.021(a)(l)(B)(i) & (2)(B)) (§ 21.11(a)(1))
Intentionally or knowingly causes the penetration of the anus or female sexual organ
Engages in sexual contact (sexual contact defined as “any touching of the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of another person with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person”)
child under 14
child under 17 and not a spouse
(A spouse is excluded from the definition of “child.” § 22.021(b))
A comparison of the relevant counts in the indictment is also helpful. Count five alleged aggravated sexual assault by penetration of the female sexual organ and the anus of the child.2 Count ten alleged indecency with a child by touching her female sexual organ. *910The first question is whether the “sexual contact” element of indecency in some way requires proof of different facts than the “penetration” element of aggravated sexual assault. Penetration is certainly a form of “touching,” but it is true that the indecency statute contains a form of touching not contained in the aggravated sexual assault provision at issue: touching of the breasts. But, that form of touching is not implicated in the present case.
Further, the offenses might have been distinguished if the aggravated sexual assault count had been limited to penetration of the anus. Because the indecency count involved touching of the female sexual organ, such offenses would probably be distinct for double jeopardy purposes. See Ex Parte Goodbread, 967 S.W.2d 859, 866 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998)(Baird, J. concurring and dissenting). However, the State utilized penetration of the anus and the female sexual organ in the same count, and the prosecutor even argued to the jury that members of the jury did not have to agree on whether the anus or the female sexual organ was penetrated, so long as all members of the jury agreed that one of those events occurred. Under these circumstances, the State has alleged alternative theories of an offense and failed to elect between those theories. The result is that a jeopardy bar will occur if a jeopardy bar would be found under either theory. Goodbread, 967 S.W.2d at 860 (majority opinion). The aggravated sexual assault and the indecency counts both allege conduct concerning the female sexual organ.
The most difficult question, is whether an “intent to arouse or gratify” sexual desire constitutes a fact contained in the indecency offense that is not found in the aggravated sexual assault offense. I conclude that it is not. “Intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire” is part of the definition of “sexual contact.” I find it significant that the Legislature chose to use the words “sexual contact” — denoting a lesser form of touching than “penetration” — and included the “intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire” in the definitional section. That legislative choice supports the conclusion that the “sexual desire” wording was not intended as an extra element not contained in the sexual assault statutes. Rather, the “sexual desire” language appears to be intended to denote a form of touching, short of penetration, that is sexual in nature. While it may be theoretically possible to commit the various forms of penetration proscribed without the intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire, the Legislature’s inclusion of these acts within the sexual assault statutes is a clear indication that the Legislature believed the acts to be inherently sexual in nature. But, a mere touching may not be inherently sexual, and hence, the Legislature needed to define the conduct in such a way as to indicate its sexual nature. Hence, touching the female sexual organ with the intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire is a lesser-included species of conduct of the intentional or knowing penetration of the female sexual organ.
The final question to address under a Blockbwrger analysis is the age and marital status requirements. The element “a child under age seventeen” is logically a lesser-included fact of the element “a child under age fourteen” for Blockbwrger purposes. A provision requiring proof that a child is under age seventeen does not require an additional fact than a provision that requires proof of age under fourteen. Proving that a child is under age fourteen will necessarily also prove that the child is under age seventeen. And, as noted above, both statutory provisions exclude spouses from their reach.
The next question is whether the Legislature clearly expressed an intent to inflict multiple punishments. No such clear intent appears in the language of the statutes; in fact, the language appears to indicate the contrary. The “sexual desire” language is incorporated merely as a definition of “sexual contact” a phrase that denotes a lesser amount of conduct than “penetration.” And, both statutes contain a parallel exclusion of spouses from their reach.
Hence, an examination of the legislative history would be the next step. However, the State, while arguing Blockbwrger, made no attempt to examine the legislative history. Given the complex undertaking that legislative history research presents, I am not in-*911dined to attempt such an endeavor at this juncture in the absence of such effort by the parties.3 In the absence of evidence that the Legislature intended to impose multiple punishments, the Blockburger test controls on the double jeopardy question.
The only remaining argument made by the State is that the offenses of aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child may have been committed through separate acts. The State contends that there was evidence of six different sexual assaults occurring at six different times in six different rooms. But, the State submitted counts for various offenses occurring on different dates for aggravated sexual assault and then submitted offenses for indecency with a child occurring on those same dates. The jury chose to convict on two counts that alleged the same date of occurrence while acquitting the defendant on all of the other counts. Moreover, during argument, the State explained to the jury that a finding of penetration for sexual assault necessarily entailed a finding of touching under the indecency statute. The rational conclusion based upon this record is that the State was in fact charging a violation of two different statutes for the same conduct.
Having found a double jeopardy violation, I turn next to the remedy. I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the trial court erred in submitting both counts to the jury. The State is permitted, in a single prosecution, to charge, try, submit to the jury, and obtain guilt and punishment verdicts on multiple offenses that are the “same” for Double Jeopardy purposes. Landers, 957 S.W.2d at 558 (discussing Ball v. United States, 470 U.S. 856, 105 S.Ct. 1668, 84 L.Ed.2d 740 (1985)). After the punishment verdict, the trial court (or an appellate court if necessary) should remedy the jeopardy problem by retaining the offense with the most serious punishment and by vacating all other offenses that are the “same” for Double Jeopardy purposes as the offense retained. Landers, 957 S.W.2d at 559-561. Because the Court of Appeals vacated the indecency with a child offense, which carried the lesser punishment, it acted in accordance with our decision in Landers. Henee, I agree that the Court of Appeals’ decision should be affirmed. Therefore, I concur in the judgment of the Court.
MANSFIELD, J., joins.

. All references to sections are to the Texas Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

. The jury charge alleged the different methods of penetration in the disjunctive. In argument. the prosecutor contended that the jurors did not have to agree on which method occurred but merely had to agree that at least one of the two methods occurred.

. The State asserts that "the Legislature changed the statutes governing ‘sex crimes,’ in an effort to punish certain conduct as an assault without necessitating a finding that the conduct or the motive for the conduct was sexual.” The State supplies no proof that this was indeed the Legislature's intent, other than the language of the statute. Assuming, however, that such was indeed the Legislative intent, that does not change the analysis. The statutory language indicates that the Legislature considered penetration to be inherently sexual, and hence there was no need for additional language denoting the sexual nature of the offense.