The opinion
Opinion issued November 27, 2018
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
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NO. 01-17-00603-CV
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TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, Appellant
V.
JOHN BRYAN MARSHALL, Appellee
On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 5
Fort Bend County, Texas
Trial Court Case No. 17-CCV-059408
CONCURRING OPINION
The result here is correct under the law; therefore, I concur in the Court’s
opinion. But the result is also unfortunate and demands a discussion of ways this
problem could be cured so that a person who may be a threat to family members and
pleads guilty to misdemeanor assault by contact cannot purchase a handgun. I write
separately to offer some suggestions.
First, prosecutors who negotiate a plea for a reduced charge of assault by
contact could make a statement on the record identifying the person against whom
the assault was committed followed by the defendant’s acknowledgement. Or
second, prosecutors, as part of the plea, could insist that the defendant acknowledge
on the record the commission of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and
resulting disqualification under federal law to purchase a handgun. This case is an
object lesson that prosecutors must consider gun-license statutes at the time of the
plea and that the Department must make a record to show that the individual is
ineligible. I urge prosecutors to consider these and other possible solutions to this
important issue.
Harvey Brown
Justice
Panel consists of Chief Justice Radack and Justices Brown and Caughey.
Justice Brown, concurring in the opinion.
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