Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1958 )

.
OF TEXAS
AUSTIN a~.%%-
January8j.1959
HonorableEdna ClSneroS Opinion~Ao. wi-537
CountyAttorney
winacy county Re: Are the offensesof .!%unting
Rapdvillej T6=6 at night",Art. 887, P. c.,
and “Killing a wild turkey
hen", Art. m, P-C., of
like nature for the purposeof
~enhancentent df penaltyunder
h-t. 61, P.Ic., and reLated
questione. ..':
Dear Kiss Cisneros:
In yoti requestfor en OpiniOI.f%OIW$hiS
OfftCe,@U bSYe~eSkf?d
'thefollawingqUe6tiOnS: _.
1. Under Article61 of the Penal Code, providingthat "If ft
be shown on the trial of a mi@+eawr that.thedefendant~b66 been once
befor convlcted‘ofthe Rame offense, he shall On a secand.cOnviction
receivedoublethe-punishQIe?lt prescribedfor such offense,inOrdinary
cases,and upon a third Or any subsequentconvictiowforthe'saiie offeme,
the punishmentshall be increased60 88 not to eiCeed four times the pen-
saltyin ordinarycases",are the offensesof "huntingat night" (Art$cle
887 of the Penel Code) whereinthe defendant~68 ch6rgedwith huntinga
deer at night, and'"killinga tild turkey"(ArtAle 877 of the P-1 Code)
the 6am6 offenseOr the 6ame:typeoffetieforths'purpoeee'oi~th6 ebOv6
witi 614
2. Can you also, since these are game viol&lone, con6truethe
LllegalpossessionOr use of nets (Article978~ as PeTbiDing to WillaCy
county,Texas, acts 1933, .b3ra leg., Spec. L., p. 36, Ch. 29) 86 thS.S6m6
type of offense66 the two above (inq~estion Ho. l):.fOr 6&6CtiVe prOSa-
cutimunder A'rticle 61.4
3. can game violationcases.betaken to any Justice of the
PesceIinthe County? 1' : ,.‘
Aiticle @$i~of thb P-1 Code reads as iolhnm:
"It 6bal.l be uulawfulforkany personto take;klll,
wound; Shoot at, bunt or possess,deed Or alive, any wild:
turkeyhen at any 6eammofthe year excepta6 herein,.-
sfterprovidad~ _- ._
.
HonorableEdna Clsneros,Page 2. (WU-537)
"Any person violatingany of the provision6of this
Article shall be deemedguiltyof a misdemeanor,and upon
conviction,shall be fined in any sum not less then Twenty-
Five ($25.00)Dollarsnormore than,OneHundred($lOO.CO)
Dollars."
Article887 of the Penal Code reads as follows:
"It shall be unlawfulto kill, hunt or shoot at any
wild bird, wild game bird, wild fowl, or wild game anis+
protectedby 'thisAct at any seasonof the year, between
one-halfhour after sunsetand one-halfhour before sun-
`` rise in any county in this State. Any personviolatingany
.``
provisionof this chaptershallbe deemedguiltyof a
::misdemeanor ax&upon convictionshallbe fined in any sum
not less than Twenty-Five($25.00)Dollars,nor more than
One Eundred($100.00)Dollars,and each bird or animal so
killed shall constitutea separateoffense."
Articleg78j of .thePenal Code with.regard,to Willacy
County (Acts 1933, b3ra Leg., Spec. L., p. 36,~:ch:
29; i.
I23adSE&SfOllowS:
;
%ection 1. It Shallbe unl&ul~to'use a'seine,net.
,Ortrawl or.to 'havein possesalon.~aseine, net :ortrawl in.
.oron any of the tidal waters'ofWillacyCountywestof ~'I~. .._:
'..
Padre Island;provided,howeverithatinothingoontained~in:.. ., .~
this Act shall prohibittheeuseof a cast net fortaking '~
bait. .!
"Section2. Any.~&sc&YioLati& any provisionof ..
:.this.Act :shallbe deemed guiltyof amisdemeanorand upon,
convictionshall be fined in a sum not less than Twenty-
Five Dollars ($25.00)nor more than Two HundredDollars
.($2oa.00). ~.
.~ ~.I
.~ - ,vSebti.od
3. All .&6W6, :or..pabtE.o$.lwre, ..in.‘SO afar68 ~'.~.,: i ..
they'mayconflictwith the pXYXisiolI6 of.thisAct, he and,
the same are hereby repealed. : ~, ..
"Section4. The fact that the ownersof lsnd abutting
onthe LagunaMadre have donatedvaluabletractsoflandto
the RaymondvillePost of the AmericanLegionfor recreat-
ianalpurposesfor the benefitof the entirepublic and'that
the marine life of such waters cannotbe properlyconserved,
and that such recreatlomaladvantage6cannotbe properly
developedif seines,nets and trawls are permittedto.be
used, createan emergencyand an imperativepublicaeceeslty~
that the Constitutional Rule requiringbills be read on ':,,
. *
HonorableEdna Cisneros,Page 3. (W-537)
three separatedays be suspended,and the same is hereby
suspended,and this Act shall be in fullyforce and effect
from and after its passage,and it is so enacted."
The phrase "same offense",cm used In Article61 of the Penal
Code, which Article is quoted in full in Question1 above, means an
"offenseof like nature". ,Lenorev. -, Tex.Crim.App., I.29S.W. 2d
657 (1939).
In Andrewa v: State,.Tex.Crim.App.,228 S.W. 2d 173 (1950),
the appellantwa8 chargedh the offenseof sellingbeer on Sunday
betweenthe hours of 1 o'clock.A.M., end 1 o'clockP.M. For the pur-
pose of enhancementof the punlshm~ntas providedin Art,.61, P. C., it
was also chargedthat appellanthad been previouslyconvictedof the
offenseof possessionof liquor for the purposeof sale in a dry area.
On pages175 and 176, it ~66 stated:
"The'offensepresentlycharged,and the offenseof.
which appellantIs allegedto have been previouslycon-
@ctea.are``++hviol&+ns.of Art.~667-let seq.,Vern&*s
&IL P.'C. .)
'"rheoffense~presently
chargedagainstappellant1.8a
regulatoryme*sure. She held a licenseand, being in a
wet area, was permi$tedlegallyto sell beer at her cafe.
Sale, however,was restrictedon Sunday,a sale during-the
-ms froml.o'clockA.M. to 1 01c&ock.Pd4.beiugmade an
o.Cfense
.
"The prior offense,on the other hand, is not a re-
gulatorymeasure,but is a stat$e prohibit- sale or
possessionfor the purposeof sale.ofintoxicating iiquor,
,affedlveonly in such areas as have been declaredto be
dry areas as .are6ult of a local optiohelection.
. . .
"We ar6 unwillingto hold that such offensesq& the
same, or that they are of like character."
You State that the Defendantwas chargedwith huntinga deer ,Ft
night!.Deer of the proper Species and 86x may be hunted during 6666011
with s,valid permit. We hold, therefore,in answerto Questioq1, that
Article887,~P.C., prohibitinghuntingat night, is a regulatoryAct,
while Article877, P. C., prohibitingthe,huntingof turkey hens, is a
prohibitoryAct, and thereforethe two acts are not of like nature,
and a convictionunder eitherAct cannotbe used to enhancethe penalty
for + violationof the other Act under Article61 of the Penal Code.
-._-
. .
HonorableEdna Cisneros,Page 4. (W-537)
i In Warner v. State,Tex.Crim.App.,
42 S.W.2d 616 (1931),the
court said at page 617:'
" . . 1 we think it wrong to lay down the rule that
offensespossessingonly a single elementof samene68
are thereforethe same or of the same nature;
. a . Every rape, equallywith every murder,is based on
a necessaryassault. Ihrery bigamy and every swindling
proceedson the basic theory of fraud,but it would not
do-at all to say that these were thereforethe same
offenses,or offensesof the same nature."
The provisionsof Article978j, P. C., prohibitingthe u8e or
possessionof nets and seinesin the tidal waters of WlllacyCounty
west of Padre Island,is a speciallaw, which can only be violatedIn
Willacycounty. The purposeof the Act, a6 statedin Section4 thereof,
seemsto be as much for protectingrecreationaladvantageson land do- .
nated to an AmericanLegIonPost as it is for protectingmarine life.
Article 877, P. C., is a,Bener*l'lav-designed
to conserveend
increas;the stock of wild turkeysthroughoutthe entire state,by'
protectingthe femaleof the speciesfrom extermination; while we have
held above that Article887, P. C., is a regulatoryAct. 'We, therefore,
hold,In answerto question2, that Art. 9783, P. C. (Acts 1933, 43rd
Leg., Spec. L., p. 36, ch. a) is not anoffense of like natureas
eitherArt. 877, P. C., or Art. 887, P. C., and a convictionunder any
of these three offensesmay not be used to enhancethe penaltyunder
Article61, P. C., upon a subsequenttrial for:* violationof any of
the other three cited Articles.
Articles60a, 6Oa-l and &a-2.of the Code of CriminalProce-
dure (H. B. 342, Acts 48th Leg., pp. 424 - 425);'attempts
to place a
restrictionon which JusticeCourt may take jurisdictionof a misde-
meanor case by reason of where the allegedoffensewas'committedor
where the defendantlives. In AttorneyGeneral'sOpinionsNo. O-6940
,(1945)and No. v-496 (1948),it has been held that these statutesare
unconstitutional, and that a misdemeanorcomplaintmay be filed in any
precinctwithin the countywhere the offensewas committed,without
regardto the precinctin which such offensewas committed:.Inanswer
to question3, we hold that these two opinions,and the authorities
citedtherein,are applicableto all misdemeanors(includinggame law
misdemeanors) over which the JusticeCourt, by reason of,themaximum
punishmentallowedby law, baa originaljurisdiction.
1. Article877, P.C., prohibitingthe .
huntingof turkey hens, and Article887,
P. C., prohibitinghundingatnight, are
. .
HonorableE&6 Cisneros,Page 5, (W-537)
not offensesof like character.60that a
convictionof eitherof them may be tised.
upon a subsequenttrial fog &violation
of the other Articleto enhancethe
peualtyuntlerArticle61,,~. C..
2. The provisionsof Articleg78j of the
P.C., a speciallaw prohibitingthe use or
possessionof nets and seines in the tidal
waters 0f'WillacyCountywest of Padre Is-
laud, is not au offenseof like nature as
eitherArticle877, P.C., or Article887,
P.C., and a convictionunder &ny of these
three offensesmaynot be used to e&axe
the penaltyunder Article 61, P.C.; upon 6 .:I, ,’
subsequenttrial for a violationof any of
the other three cited &rticles.
3. A complaintCharginga misdemeahor.
over which a.Ju6ticeCourt has jUriSdiCt-
ion, may be filed in 6ny JusticeCourt
within the County in which the tillegefi of-
fen66 OCCUrred.
Yours very truly,
wILLwIJJ3oN
AttoraeJr,Oeueral~of
Texas
-RI&y Bug6&Flet&er
Aaaistant..
REF:aw
APPROVED:
0PIIp1GNc!cWUlTEx:~'
GeorgeP. Blackburrr,
Chdrm6n
HoughtonBrownlee,Jr.
J.ArthurSan~in ,
Fred Werkenthlu
RRVIEUED FORTHE:AlTGRNEYGEKESAL
BY:
W. V: Geppert '. .' :