Opinion

Saunders v. State

  • 172 Tex. Crim. 17
  • 353 S.W.2d 419
  • 1961 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 3541
Court
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
Filed
Nov 15, 1961
Status
Published
Author
McDonald
On the bench
Morrison, McDonald, Woodley
Cited by
9 cases
Authority
More cited than 8.2%

The opinion

*19 ON state’s motion for rehearing

McDonald, judge.

The state has directed our attention to a quoted holding in Bumpass v. State, 160 Texas Cr. Rep. 428 , 271 S.W. 2d 953 , wherein the arresting officer was asked what he did with the defendant after he was arrested, and the officer answered: “Well, I started into town with him and asked if he wanted a blood test.” The opinion continues:

“After considerable discussion between counsel and the bench, objection was sustained and the jurors were instructed not to consider that portion of the answer which related to a blood test. This alone would not reflect reversible error. Sublett v. State, 158 Texas Cr. Rep. 627 , 258 S.W. 2d 336 .”

We do not feel that the above excerpt from the opinion in Bumpass, supra, is any more than dicta. It did not control the disposition of the case. The case was reversed for the reasons stated in the opinion. It is authority only for the rule that the conduct set forth therein constitutes reversible error.

We are not here dealing with a case of a witness giving an unresponsive answer and relying solely upon that ground for reversal. We are here confronted with a prosecutor propounding a direct question and receiving an affirmative reply, and therefore deliberately getting before the jury information which he knew, or should have known, was inadmissible.

Remaining convinced that the case was correctly disposed of in the original opinion, the state’s motion for rehearing is overruled.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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