Court Opinion

ID: 9681113
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:44:09.953528+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:32.302686
License: Public Domain

*844CLINTON, Judge,
concurring and dissenting.
I agree with the Judge White’s plurality-opinion inasmuch as it concludes that by “character” evidence, Article 37.07, § 3(a), V.A.C.C.P., the Legislature authorized use of opinion testimony as to character. I am frankly puzzled, however, that in holding evidence of specific conduct inadmissible, in accordance with the plurality opinion handed down this day in Murphy v. State, 777 S.W.2d 44 (Tex.Cr.App.1989), he chooses to characterize that opinion as having “overruled a substantial amount of caselaw....” at 839. Though a handful of cases were “disapproved” in Murphy, by and large our opinion on rehearing was an attempt to harmonize prior caselaw insofar as possible.
Having concluded error was committed in this cause, the plurality opinion proceeds to find it harmless, relying primarily on the Court’s opinion on rehearing in Rose v. State, 752 S.W.2d 529 (Tex.Cr.App.1987). The Court would do better, in my opinion, to await disposition of certain petitions recently granted to review various courts of appeals’ application of Tex.R.App.Pro., Rule 81(b)(2) analysis to Rose error, before undertaking to rely on Rose here. At any rate, this Court should not endeavor to conduct a harm analysis in the first instance, but should remand to the court of appeals “for it to exercise the unique power and authority retained by that court under Article V, §§ 5 and 6 and other provision cited” at Juarez v. State, 758 S.W.2d 772, at 783-85 (Tex.Cr.App.1988) (Clinton, J., dissenting). See also Hammett v. State, 713 S.W.2d 102, at 107 (Tex.Cr.App.1986).
Agreeing with the plurality in its resolution of the substantive question of law we granted this petition to decide, I nevertheless dissent to its conclusion the error was harmless in this cause.