© 1999 Lang Baker
Maldonado v State998 S.W.2d 239June 30, 1999 No. 72,986 Concurring opinion by Judge Womack Links to other opinions in this case: Majority opinion by Judge Meyers Concurring opinion by Judge Price IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS NO. 72,986 VIRGILIO MALDONADO, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS ON DIRECT APPEAL FROM HARRIS COUNTY Womack, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which McCormick, P.J., and Mansfield and Keller, JJ., joined. I do not join the discussion of the two opposing lines of cases on challenges for cause, ante at ___ n.16, slip op. at 18 n.16. There was an incorrect line of cases which had created from whole cloth the notion that there were grounds of challenge for cause that were not in Article 35.16 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This line of cases began with Moore v. State, 542 S.W.2d 664 (Tex. Cr. App. 1976), and was necessary to the decision of only two or three other cases: See Allridge v. State, 850 S.W.2d 471, 484 (Tex. Cr. App. 1991); Rogers v. State, 774 S.W.2d 247, 25354 (Tex. Cr. App. 1989) (semble); Chambers v. State, 568 S.W.2d 313, 320 (Tex. Cr. App. 1978).* This short line was overruled in Butler v. State, 830 S.W.2d 125, 130 (Tex. Cr. App. 1992) (per curiam), when the Court said some past cases are disavowed. The past cases were identified in a footnote only as, For example, Moore and its progeny. Id. at 130 n.10. This was a careless way to overrule a line of cases, since the citation services can scarcely be expected to identify the progeny of Moore which have been disavowed. And the researcher who relies on disavowed cases without tracing their genealogy back to Moore will not know from the citation services that reliance is being placed on bastard progeny. But that was the state of the law books when the Court decided Mason v. State, 905 S.W.2d 570 (Tex. Cr. App. 1995). In Mason the States challenge for cause to a juror who would be unable to fully concentrate on the case if he was required to miss too much school was upheld on the basis of two of Moores progeny. See Mason v. State, 905 S.W.2d at 577 (citing Allridge v. State, supra, and Nichols v. State, supra n.*). I do not agree with the Courts assessment that, Curiously, Moore was revived after Butler, supra by Mason v. State, ante at ___ n.16, slip op. at 18 n.16. I think that the Mason Court correctly denied a point of error, mistakenly citing two of the progeny of Moore which had been overruled in a careless way. The Mason Court should have denied the point of error by holding, as the Butler Court did, that a trial judge may use the authority of Code of Criminal Procedure article 35.03 to excuse a potential juror who is found to be too distracted by personal duties to carry out the duty of a juror. Accord, Kemp v. State, 846 S.W.2d 289, 293 (Tex. Cr. App. 1992) (trial courts have inherent authority under Article 35.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, which gives them broad discretion in excusing prospective jurors on any proper basis, either with or without the prompting of counsel). If we did so today, while explicitly overruling Mason and the progeny of Moore which I have cited above, supra at ___ and n.*, slip op. at 12 and n.*, we would dispel, rather than compound, the confusion that our decisions in Butler and Mason have created. I join the judgment of the Court and the remainder of its opinion. Delivered June 30, 1999. 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.
© 1999 Lang Baker |