Court Opinion

ID: 9778432
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 21:04:20.149868+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:08.843484
License: Public Domain

OPINION ON APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR REHEARING
We granted appellant’s leave to file motion for rehearing in order to further consider appellant’s contention that the grand jury Commissioners in Dallas County, who appoint the grand jurors, were improperly selected over a period of time. This ground of error is multifarious, and contains no citations to the record, and therefore is not in compliance with Article 40.09, Section 9, Vernon’s Ann.C.C.P. However, in the interest of justice, it shall be reviewed.
Appellant now complains that the method of selection of the grand jury Commissioners is unconstitutional, that grand jury Commissioners were not selected in compliance with Article 19.01, Vernon’s Ann.C. C.P., and that there has been discrimination in the selection of the Commissioners.
Article 19.01, supra, provides that:
“The district judge, at or during any term of court, shall appoint not less than three, nor more than five persons to perform the duties of jury commissioners, and shall cause the sheriff to notify them of their appointment, and when and where they are to appear. The district judge shall, in the order appointing such *395commissioner, designate whether such commissioners shall serve during the term at which selected or for the next succeeding term. Such commissioners shall receive as compensation for each day or part thereof they may serve the sum of Ten Dollars, and they shall possess the following qualifications:
1. Be intelligent citizens of the county and able to read and write the English language;
2. Be qualified jurors in the county;
3. Have no suit in said court which requires intervention of a jury;
4. Be residents of different portions of the county; and
5. The same person shall not act as jury commissioner more than once in the same year.”
In Castaneda v. Partida, 430 U.S. 482, 97 S.Ct. 1272, 51 L.Ed.2d 498 (1977), the Supreme Court reiterated that the Texas “key man” system for selecting grand juries is facially constitutional. See also, Carter v. Jury Comm’n, 396 U.S. 320, 90 S.Ct. 518, 24 L.Ed.2d 549 (1970); Akins v. Texas, 325 U.S. 398, 65 S.Ct. 1276, 89 L.Ed. 1692 (1945); Smith v. Texas, 311 U.S. 128, 61 S.Ct. 164, 85 L.Ed. 84 (1940). Appellant has made no showing that the selection of the Commissioners by the district judges constituted an abuse in this system, or that the system was unconstitutionally applied. See and compare Hernandez v. Texas, 347 U.S. 475, 74 S.Ct. 667, 98 L.Ed. 866 (1954). This contention is overruled.
Further, appellant has failed to show non-compliance with Article 19.01, supra. The testimony of the district judges who selected grand jury Commissioners over the years indicates nothing other than that they complied with the statute in selecting Commissioners. Appellant has failed to show otherwise. This contention is overruled.
Finally, appellant contends that he has shown discrimination against blacks, Mexican-Americans and persons between 18-21 years of age in the selection of the grand jury Commissioners. Even if Castaneda v. Partida is applicable to the selection of Commissioners as well as to the selection of the grand jurors themselves, appellant has failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination. This failure of proof is discussed in our review of appellant’s first two grounds of error in our opinion on original submission. This contention is likewise overruled.1
In our opinion on original submission, we overruled appellant’s fifth ground of error wherein he complained of the trial court excusing prospective jurors under V.T.C.A. Penal Code, Section 12.31(b), without first determining whether they were qualified under Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968). We now hold that appellant failed to preserve any error relating to this ground. Prospective jurors Arlie Holman, Linda Newman, Maurice Cantu, Patricia Morgan, Laverne Russell, Angela Brennan, Mary Annette Davis and Ollie Grindell were all excused without objection by appellant. Failure to object to the improper exclusion of veniremen waives that right and such exclusion cannot be considered on appeal. Hughes v. State, 562 S.W.2d 857 (Tex.Cr.App.1978); Shippy v. State, 556 S.W.2d 246 (Tex.Cr.App.1977); Boulware v. State, 542 S.W.2d 677 (Tex.Cr.App.1976). Error, if any, was also waived as to prospective juror Elizabeth Williams. Appellant made no attempt to show that she was qualified under Witherspoon or to show that she was excused in violation thereof. *396The record does not reflect that appellant, over any objection, was denied an opportunity to elicit her feelings concerning the death penalty. See Granviel v. State, 552 S.W.2d 107 (Tex.Cr.App.1976). Appellant cannot complain on appeal on the basis of a ground not raised in the trial court. Sloan v. State, 515 S.W.2d 913 (Tex.Cr.App.1974); Campbell v. State, 492 S.W.2d 956 (Tex.Cr.App.1973). No error is presented for review in appellant’s fifth ground of error.
Appellant’s motion for rehearing is overruled and judgment is affirmed.

. In his motion for rehearing, appellant makes reference to some exhibits and grand jury records, which he contends supply proof of his claims. Appellant’s evidence concerning his grounds of error relating to the grand jury system consisted of testimony taken in a hearing on this issue in another case. At the hearing on appellant’s motions to quash his indictment, both appellant and the State stipulated to the introduction of the testimony taken previously. There was no mention of the inclusion of exhibits or grand jury records. Thus, the only evidence before this Court consists of the testimony of the witnesses at that previous hearing; other exhibits and grand jury records do not appear in the appellate record in the instant case.