Arias v. State

503 S.W.3d 523, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 10087, 2016 WL 4772352
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 14, 2016
DocketNo. 04-15-00753-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 503 S.W.3d 523 (Arias v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arias v. State, 503 S.W.3d 523, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 10087, 2016 WL 4772352 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

Karen Angelini, Justice

Omar Benitez Arias was charged by indictment with sexual assault of a child pursuant to section 22.011(a)(2)(C) of the Texas Penal Code.1 He filed a motion to quash the indictment, arguing that section 22.011(a)(2)(C) is unconstitutional on its face and as applied. After the trial court denied his motion to quash, Arias pled guilty to the lesser-included offense of attempted sexual assault and, pursuant to a plea-bargain agreement, was sentenced to five years deferred adjudication community supervision. The trial court then certified that Arias had the right to appeal the trial court’s ruling on his motion to quash the indictment. Arias now appeals.

AS-APPLIED CHALLENGES

In the trial court, Arias filed a motion to quash the indictment arguing that section 22.011 violated his due process and equal protection rights under the' Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. His first argument centered on the fact that the Penal Code does not criminalize all sexual activity between adults' and persons younger than seventeen years of age. Arias emphasized that sections 21.11 and 22.011 allow children younger than seventeen but older than fourteen years of age to consent to sexual activity with an adult who is “not more than three years older than the victiin.” See Tex. Penal Code Ann. §§ 21.11, 21.011 (West 2011).2 Thus, Arias stressed that the Texas Penal Code “does not prohibit consensual sexual activity between children and adults, but only between some children and some adults.” (emphasis in original). According to Arias, he was thus being treated differently than other adults, and because there was no legitimate state interest in treating him differently from these Other adults, his constitutional rights were violated. Additionally, Arias argued that his substantive due process rights were violated because consensual sexual relationships were fundamental liberty interests, which are subject to strict scrutiny review. According to Arias, because section 21.011 is not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest, it is unconstitutional. He makes [527]*527both of these equal protection and substam tive due process arguments in the first issue of his appellate brief, arguing that section 22.011(a)(2)(C) is unconstitutional on its face and as applied.

■Arias’s second argument in his motion to quash centered on section 21.011 not requiring actual knowledge of a child’s age as an element of the offense or allowing for mistake of fact regarding a child’s age to be a defense to the offense. Arias argued that because section 21.011 did not require actual knowledge of a child’s' age or allow for a mistake-of-fact defense, his equal protection and due process rights were violated under the Constitution. Arias makes these same arguments in the second issue of his appellate brief, arguing that section 22.011 is unconstitutional on its face and as applied.

No evidentiary hearing was held on Arias’s motion to quash. The State argues that because there was not an evidentiary hearing, Arias did not meet his burden in making an “as applied” challenge to section 21.011. The appellate record reflects that Arias stipulated to the allegations contained in the indictment with a slight amendment to reflect that the crime was “attempted.” The amended language stipulated to by Arias stated that “on or about the 10th day of November, A.D. 2012, .,. [Arias] did then and there attempt to intentionally and knowingly cause the sexual organ of a child then and there younger than seventeen (17) years of age, namely [K.N.], to contact the mouth of the said defendant.” (emphasis added). The indictment also reflected that Arias’s date of birth is May 22, 1988. Thus, the stipulated evidence shows that at the time of the offense, Arias was twenty-four years of age.

With regard to Arias’s first issue, he has met his burden to-present the issue of an as-applied, challenge to section 22.011, “The-burden rests upon the individual who challenges a statute to establish its unconstitutionality.” Peraza v. State, 467 S.W.3d 508, 514 (Tex.Crim.App.2015). “When reviewing the constitutionality of a statute, we commence with the presumption that such statute is-valid and that the Legislature has not acted unreasonably or arbitrarily in enacting the statute.” Id. (citations omitted). “We must seek to interpret a statute such that its constitutionality is supported and upheld.” Id. Thus, a “reviewing court must make every reasonable presumption in favor of the statute’s constitutionality, unless the contrary is clearly shown.” Id. Thus, Arias has the burden of bringing forth facts showing that section 21.011(a)(2)(C) is unconstitutional as applied to him. See id.

The. record shows that Arias was prosecuted under section 21.011(a)(2)(C) and that he was twenty-four years old at the time of the offense. His first issue centers on the fact that due to section 22.011(e)’s affirmative defense, he is being treated differently than other similarly-situated adults. The affirmative defense under section 22.011(e) applies only when the child is fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen years of age. See Tex. Penal Code § 22.011(e)(2)(B)(I) (West 2011). Thus, for the affirmative defense to be applicable, the actor must be not more than three years older than a fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen year-old. See id.- § 22.011(e)(2)(A) (West 2011). Therefore, the class of persons Arias claims are treated differently from him in violation of his constitutional rights can be identified from the record-persons not more than three years older than a fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen year-old. We conclude Arias did bring forth stipulated, facts from which this court can consider his “as-applied” constitutional argument.

However, with regard to Arias’s second issue, no evidence in the appellate record [528]*528relates to this as-applied challenge. There is no evidence regarding the facts surrounding Arias’s belief of the child’s age or the mistake of fact he held. There are no facts from which we can analyze his second issue’s as-applied challenge. Thus, with respect to his second issue, we will consider only his facial challenge.

In his first issue’s as-applied challenge, Arias brings both equal protection and substantive due process arguments. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that no State “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” U.s. Const, amend XIV. This requirement “is essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike.” Schlittler v. State, 488 S.W.3d 306, 316 (Tex.Crim.App.2016). “In general, legislation is presumed to be valid and will be sustained if the classification drawn by the statute is rationally related to a legitimate state interest.” Id. “This general rule gives way, however, when a statute contains a suspect classification, such as one pertaining to race, alienage, or national origin, or whenever a statute contains a classification that ‘impinge[s] on personal rights protected by the Constitution.’ ” Id. (quoting City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr.,

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Bluebook (online)
503 S.W.3d 523, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 10087, 2016 WL 4772352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arias-v-state-texapp-2016.