Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
HonoaableWaylor Rurrell
Dirtr$otAttorney
76th JudloialDfrtriot
It. t1eamant,toxa*
Dew sir:
gulltt to a oh8rge
rlloo la a-murder
wnt, and after hear-
smaa the punlshmellt.
rtnent*soplnlonon
rd by lndlatavmtof
h lndlotmentaoatslnr
vas ooamlttodvlth
trial o? the mm
e aourt to plead @its
the Interventionof a
or vlthoutmallae.
endnnt to waive 8 jury and
at’8 plea of guilty to a oharge
It la ruggestedthat b&ore trial of the oases you
state in open oourt, alao by vrlttenmotion, thnt the svldencre
vi11 not suatalnmurder with mallow aforethoughtend tbat the
State vlshee to abnndon that part of the lndlctment Centr
State (1913) 152 9. w 635 Cle v State (1913) id’
%‘The oourt should;oi i0-k order grMit& the
~0otion.fn thi aonneationve direot your attentionto Sville
V* State, (1929$ 25 3. w. (26) 1098, whereinthe aourt 88
-xa+
HonOrUble'BaylorRussell,page 2
'The indictmentcharged that lpmllant did vol-
untarilykill B. J. Rendrlxby shootinghim with a
For the ffrst time sinoe the passage of chap-
!%274, Act8 RegularSession 1927, redefiningthe
offeasoof nurder~ the point 18 mde thnt vhlle it
lo su??lolentunder snid act for an ladlotmentfor
;Fez,o ohurge that the lcouseddid voluutarlly
thnt in cases vherelnthe state proposrs
to aik II &lshmsat greaterthaa f5ve JOUS for the
o??on#e,the lndlotmentshouldallego that the klll-
lng was upon ulloe afore thought. . .,
II
. . .*
"Whileour presort rtatute raker murder of
every voluntarykilling,it 18 also speol?ledf.n
the statute that in every murder case the oourt
shall tell the jury that, unless the killingvas::up-
on malice aforethought,they cannot assess the pun-
lsbasntns a psrlod longer than flvo years hence It
18 plain thnt murder vlthoutmalice aforethought 18
punlrrhableby imprisonmentfor not less than two nor
8or@ than five years, vhile murder upon malice aforo-
thoughtmy be punishedby death or any period o?
Imprisonmentnot less than tvo yews. In other
vords, l? the state vlshes to seek a grsaterpenal-
ty than ?lUe years.beoauseo? the 088a06 0r 8ui00
aforethought-- aa IndispensableeE meat o? the
eahancedpenaltyunder the aev statute-- the In-
dictmentshouldallege that the killingvas upon
such ma1100 aforethought,"
The statutedefinesmurder,V.A.P.C.,Artiole 1256,
481
“Uhoevar shall voluntarilykill aay person vlth-
In this State shall be guilty of murder. Rurder
ahall be dI8tlnguIshed?ron every other 8peolsso?
homloldeby the abswce of oloumstanoes vhioh rs-
duae the offenseto nsgllgsnthorioldbor vhiob ex-
ouse or juatitythe killing.."
SSIJalso Homicide, 22 TAX., P. 572, 4 97, aad P* 628,
1 125, note 16.
.
.
410
BonorableTnylor Rassell,psgs 3
Your identicalquestionvss before the o;~t~;l~
pnrte Wagnoa (193@, _125 8. Y. (26) 572, and Bx pa
: 7z9mrT57-B. Y. (la) 892‘. In those oases the oourt per&ted
the skte to lbaadoa- t&t mrt of the l~otment vhloh vould
olassi?y the felony casm ai a capital offense, the defendants
11 than waived a Jury aad entered pleas of guilty before the trial
court vlthout a jury. The court of e?ltinalAppeals sustaiaod
the trial eoarts,
ra Turks v. Stste (W?), 165 3. WO (24) 460, a* 00
864, the OOt& Uld:
. it aov appears to bo the settledlav of
this s~a~a*tht oae lcourod of a felony less than
capitalmay, undsr his pka of guilty, valve a trial
by Jury aad his pualebaent my be fixed w tb trial
judgr,provltlodr(a) the Stat0 latroduooo ovidmoo
su??la ientto a h 0 1 1lc o wo dguilty
th8 0s the 0rr~a80
o&rpd) latl (b) no faots are reoelved in ovldeaoo
rklng lvldeat the inn00 snoo o? t& loowed, or
vhlch reasonably an& ?airly present such as an ls-
SW 0sfact. Unless the facts brlug t& oase vlth-
¶a the rule stated, the trlal judge 18 withoutau-
thority to render a dud&meat finding the aoanwd
guilty,beoatue, if the btatr ?alls to shov the guilt
0s tb loouled, no ooavlotlon can r0110v3 and, if
1 lvldeaoebe reoolved shoving the loouced to be ln-
aoooat 0s th8 orrense charged, then the plea 0s guil-
ty is supplanted by the entry or a plea of not guilty,
in vhloh event the trlsl judge 1s vlthout authority
to deterdam the guilt? of th8 8oOwody"
Yours wry truly
cz
DIvld Wuatoh
A8slstsat