© 2002 Lang Baker
Roberts v StateJune 19, 2002No. 476-99 IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS NO. 476-99 BENNIE EARL ROBERTS, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS ON STATES PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW FROM THE TWELFTH COURT OF APPEALS HENDERSON COUNTY The opinion of the Court was delivered per curiam. O P I N I O N A jury convicted Appellant of delivery of a controlled substance. The trial court sentenced him to confinement for thirty years. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, concluding that the trial court erred in conducting a jury shuffle after the conclusion of voir dire. Roberts v. State, No. 12-94-00205-CR (Tex. App. Tyler, delivered August 29, 1997). This Court remanded the case to the Court of Appeals to conduct a harm analysis. Roberts v. State, 978 S.W.2d 580 (Tex. Crim App. 1998). The Court of Appeals again reversed the conviction, citing Ford v. State, 977 S.W.2d 824 (Tex. App. Fort Worth 1998, pet. pending), and deciding that the erroneous jury shuffle defies analysis by harmless error standards, and thus cannot be proven harmless beyond a reasonable doubt under Rule 44.2. Roberts v. State, S.W.3d , slip op. at 6 (Tex. App. Tyler, No. 12-94-00205-CR, delivered February 26, 1999). The State filed a petition for discretionary review challenging the Court of Appeals conclusion that this type of error defies a harm analysis. In Ford v. State, ___S.W.3d___ (Tex. Crim. App. No. 1649-98, delivered May 1, 2002), this Court addressed the Fort Worth Court of Appeals holding that error in failing to order a jury shuffle was harmful because the appellate court was unable to measure whether the error had a substantial or injurious effect on the jurys verdict. This Court explained that the purpose of the jury shuffle is to ensure that venire members are listed in random order. Id., S.W.3d , slip op. at 5. Because applicable rules and statutes already require that panels be listed randomly from the outset, a trial judges failure to order a shuffle does not, by itself, indicate a nonrandom listing of the venire. This Court held that nothing in the record indicated that the procedures outlined in the applicable statutes and rules were disregarded or that the process of assembling a jury panel was subverted to achieve a nonrandom listing of the venire. Id. Thus, this Court concluded the error in denying the defendants request for a jury shuffle was harmless. When the Court of Appeals decided this case, it did not have the benefit of this Courts opinion in Ford. Accordingly, we grant ground one of the States petition for discretionary review, vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and remand to that court for reconsideration in light of our opinion in Ford and, if necessary, for the court to address Appellants remaining points of error. Delivered June 19, 2002 This information is made available as a free public service for your personal, non-commercial use. While every effort has been made to provide accurate material at this site, it is provided "as is" and no representations are made that it is free of mistakes or inaccuracies. This file was derived from the text posted on the web site of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, by the automatic operation of conversion software, and may contain errors. Baker's Legal Pages are a public service of Freelance Enterprises, Inc.
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