Opinion

Rowe v. State

  • 276 S.W.2d 296
  • 1955 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1880
Court
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
Filed
Jan 5, 1955
Status
Published
Author
Woodley
On the bench
Morrison, Woodley, Davidson
Cited by
4 cases
Authority
More cited than 10.7%

The opinion

On Appellants Motion for Rehearing

WOODLEY, Judge.

Appellant has filed a well prepared and well reasoned brief in support of his contention that the holding of this Court in Gilderbloom v. State, 272 S.W.2d 106 , is wrong and that the entire act amending Art. 802, V.A.P.C., is invalid.

It will be observed that appellant pleaded guilty and was assessed a punishment applicable to Art. 802, V.A.P.C., prior to its amendment and, if the amending statute is invalid as a whole, this conviction woúld be upheld under the prior act.

The dissenting opinion of Judge DAVIDSON and appellant’s brief in support of his motion for rehearing are much in line with the thinking of the writer when the Gilder-bloom opinion was handed down. However, a majority of the Court agreed that the intent of the Legislature could be determined from the act, which was that the compulsory jail term portion was the prime purpose, and the provision as to commutation or probation was only incidental. The legislature would not, therefore, have failed to enact the amendment providing for a compulsory jail term though they had known that the provision for commutation was invalid.

The decision in the Gilderbloom case became final while Judge Graves was a member of the Court, and has since, been fol- . lowed by this Court and in trial courts. The writer believes that the holding as to the legislative intent should not now be overruled.

In any event, this appeal is not controlled by the soundness or unsoundness of the Gilderbloom opinion because, if the entire amendment of Art. 802, V.A.P.C. was void, nevertheless the court did not err in accepting appellant’s plea of guilty and assessing his punishment at a fine of $125.00 and 30 days in jail. Under neither theory would probation, suspension of sentence or commutation be applicable.

Appellant’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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