Criminal Law

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Criminal Law SMU Law Review Volume 48 Issue 4 Annual Survey of Texas Law Article 13 1995 Criminal Law Chuck Miller Keith H. Cole Jr. Sandra Minderhout Griffin Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr Recommended Citation Chuck Miller et al., Criminal Law, 48 SMU L. REV. 1077 (1995) https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol48/iss4/13 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in SMU Law Review by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. CRIMINAL LAW Judge Chuck Miller* Keith H. Cole, Jr.** Sandra Minderhout Griffin*** TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SELECTED PENAL CODE PROVISIONS ............... 1080 A. REQUIREMENT OF VOLUNTARY ACT OR OMISSION ..... 1081 B. SELF D EFENSE ......................................... 1081 C. PUNISHMENTS .......................................... 1081 D. CRIMINAL HOMICIDE .................................. 1082 1. M urder ............................................. 1082 2. Capital M urder ..................................... 1082 E. K IDNAPPING ........................................... 1082 F. A SSAULT ............................................... 1082 G. SEXUAL ASSAULT ...................................... 1083 H. AGGRAVATED ASSAULT ............................... 1083 I. AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT ...................... 1083 J. INJURY TO A CHILD, ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL ................................. 1084 K. DEADLY CONDUCT .................................... 1084 L. CRIMINAL MISCHIEF ................................... 1084 M . BURGLARY ............................................ 1085 N . THEFT ................. ............................... 1085 0. BRIBERY AND CORRUPT INFLUENCE ................... 1085 P. PERJURY & OTHER FALSIFICATION .................... 1086 Q. PUBLIC INDECENCY .................................... 1086 R . WEAPONS .............................................. 1086 S. INTOXICATION AND ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE OFFENSES. 1086 1. D efinitions ......................................... 1086 2. Driving While Intoxicated ........................... 1087 3. Intoxication Assault and Manslaughter .............. 1087 T. ORGANIZED CRIME .................................... 1087 U. SELECTED HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE PROVISIONS ... 1087 1. Section 481.002(49) ................................. 1087 * B.A., J.D., Southern Methodist University; Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals. ** B.B.A., University of Texas; J.D., Southern Methodist University; Briefing Attor- ney, Court of Criminal Appeals. *** B.A., Southern Methodist University; J.D., University of Texas. Special thanks to Rob Kepple, General Counsel for the Texas District and County At- torneys Association, for permitting the use of his materials on the 1994 Penal Code changes. 1077 1078 SMU LAW REVIEW [Vol. 48 2. Revision of the Punishment Ranges, Sections 481.112 - 481.121 .......................................... 1088 a. Possession: Penalty Group 1 ................... 1088 b. Possession: Penalty Group 2 ................... 1088 c. Possession: Penalty Group 3 ................... 1089 d. Possession: Penalty Group 4 ................... 1089 e. Manufacture or Delivery: Penalty Group 1 .... 1090 f. Manufacture or Delivery: Penalty Group 2 .... 1090 g. Manufacture or Delivery: Penalty Group 3 or 4 1091 h. Possession of Marihuana ....................... 1091 i. Delivery of Marihuana ......................... 1092 II. SIGNIFICANT CASE LAW ............................... 1092 A. PRETRIAL AREAS ...................................... 1093 1. Search And Seizure ................................. 1093 a. Pen Registers and the Texas Constitution ...... 1093 2. Article 38.23, TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN., and the Attenuation of the Taint Doctrine .............. 1094 3. Fruits of a Federal Search Warrant Admissible in State Court, Though Warrant not in Compliance with Texas Code of Criminal Procedure ............. 1094 B . JEOPARDY ............................................. 1095 1. A Sua Sponte Mistrialfor Manifest Necessity does not Bar a Retrial ................................... 1095 2. No Jeopardy Bar to Lesser Included Charge After Acquittal of Greater Charge in a Non-Jury Trial .... 1095 C. INDICTMENTS AND INFORMATIONS ..................... 1096 1. Specificity Required in the Face of a Motion to Quash .............................................. 1096 2. Indictment Confers Jurisdiction, but not for Unauthorized Visiting Judges ........................ 1097 3. Correcting a Defendant's Name is not an A m endm ent ........................................ 1098 D. MOTION TO SUPPRESS HEARING ....................... 1098 1. Hearsay not Admissible ............................. 1098 E. G UILTY PLEA .......................................... 1098 1. Adequacy of Admonishment Vis-A-Vis U.S. Citizenship ......................................... 1098 F. MANDAMUS ............................................ 1099 1. New Rules Liberalize when an Appellate Court will Correct a Trial Judge's Ruling by Mandamus ........ 1099 G . T RIAL ................................................. 1099 1. Jury Selection ....................................... 1099 a. Batson Error in a Capital Case ................. 1099 b. Batson Violation - Disallowing the Strike is a Proper Remedy ................................ 1099 2. Claiming Fifth Amendment Privilege not to Testify .. 1099 b. Testing Frivolity in an Informant Case .......... 1099 1995] CRIMINAL LAW 1079 3. W itnesses ........................................... 1100 a. State's Use of Perjured Testimony and Who Has to Know About It ......................... 1100 4. Presentation Of Evidence ........................... 1101 a. Publishing Written Evidence to the Jury after A dm ission ...................................... 1101 5. E vidence ........................ .................. 1101 a. Texas Rule of Criminal Evidence 404(b) - Other Crimes, Wrongs or Acts ................. 1101 i. Identity Under 404(b) ...................... 1101 b. Abuse of Discretion in Enforcing "The Rule," Texas Rule of Criminal Evidence 613 ........... 1102 c. Texas Rule of Criminal Evidence 613, the "Rule," is Mandatory, but the Harmless Error Rule A pplies ................................... 1102 d. Admissibility of Expert Testimony under Texas Rule of Criminal Evidence 702 ................. 1103 e. Hearsay Exceptions: Rule 803(8)(B) - Autopsy Report is Admissible .................. 1103 f. Amount of Corroboration Necessary for Admission of a Rule 803(24) Statement (Declaration Against Penal Interests) .......... 1104 g. Dying Declarations under Rule 804(b)(2) ...... 1104 h. Authentication of Video Tape under Rule 901.. 1105 6. Jury Instructions .................................... 1105 a. Must Limit the Definitions of Culpable Mental States Where Appropriate ...................... 1105 7. Jury Deliberations .................................. 1106 a. Reading Testimony to the Jury - How Much Should You Read? ............................. 1106 b. Reading Testimony to the Jury - Should You? 1106 8. Specific Crimes and Specialty Law .................. 1107 a. Trespassing Indictment - Alleging "Owner" instead of "Of Another" is Sufficient ........... 1107 b. "Voluntary" under section 6.01(a) of the Penal Code Relates only to Physical Actions ......... 1107 c. DWI Roadblocks are per se Unconstitutional 1107 d. Crimes of Omission - Duty to Act in a Cohabitation Abuse Situation .................. 1108 e. DWI - HGN Test Approved for Use in Court 1108 H . POST TRIAL ............................................ 1108 1. A ppeals ............................................ 1108 a. Appeal after Guilty Plea in a Negotiated (Plea Bargained) Case ............................... 1108 b. Appeal of Errors Committed after the Entry of a Non-Negotiated Plea ......................... 1109 1080 SMU LAW REVIEW [Vol. 48 c. Appellate Result when Court Reporter Has Destroyed Notes after Three Years ............. 1109 2. Probation........................................... 1110 a. Specificity Necessary when Ordering Community Service ............................ 1110 3. Restitution................................. 1110 a. Restitution to Victims not Named in Indictment Under Article 42.12, Section 11 ................ 1110 4. Article 11.07 Habeas Corpus ........................ 1110 a. Cognizability of Claims ......................... 1110 I. SELECTED U.S. SUPREME COURT CASES ............... 1111 1. Batson Extended to the State's Use of Preemptory Strikes in Criminal Matters ......................... 1111 2. Failure to Instruct Jury on the Unavailability of Parole in the Penalty Phase of a CapitalMurder Trial was Error when State Law in fact Prohibited Parole .............................................. 1111 III. ORDERING COPIES OF OPINIONS FROM THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS ...................... 1112 IV. WEEKLY OPINION SERVICE ........................... 1112 HIS Article addresses substantive criminal law. First, it discusses recent and significant amendments to the Texas Penal Code by the Texas Legislature. Most of these new amendments were effective September 1, 1994, and no case law interpreting them has yet been writ- ten. Second, this article compiles those particularly important decisions from the 1993-1994 term of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that will have a pervasive impact on the trial of criminal cases in Texas, as well as a few relevant cases from the United States Supreme
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