Barraza, Ex Parte Mauro Morris

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
• Decided: May 18, 2005
• Docket: AP-75,178
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

OF TEXAS

AP-75,178 EX PARTE MAURO MORRIS BARRAZA

ON APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

IN CAUSE NO. 0378356-B, CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT NO. 1

FROM TARRANT COUNTY

Per curiam.

O P I N I O N

This is a subsequent application for writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to Article 11.071, § 5 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, on remand from the United States Supreme Court.

On April 8, 1991, Applicant was convicted of capital murder. At punishment, the jury answered the special issues submitted pursuant to Article 37.071 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and the trial court set Applicant's punishment at death. Applicant's conviction was affirmed on direct appeal. Barraza v. State, No. 71,275 (Tex. Crim. App., delivered October 5, 1994) (unpublished), cert. denied, 514 U.S. 1097 (1995).

Applicant claims that his death sentence is unconstitutional because he was seventeen years old at the time he committed the capital murder in this case. We initially dismissed this application because it did not meet the requirements of Article 11.071 § 5 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. However, on March 1, 2005, the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution prohibit the execution of offenders who were seventeen years old at the time they committed capital murder. Roper v. Simmons, 125 S.Ct. 1183 (2005). In light of its holding, the United States Supreme Court remanded this application to this Court for further consideration.

This application now meets the requirements of Article 11.071 § 5(a)(1) of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure because the legal basis of Applicant's claim was not available to him at the time he filed his previous applications. The trial court has entered findings of fact and conclusions of law stating that Applicant was seventeen when he committed the offense in this case. We have reviewed the record and agree with the trial court's findings. Therefore, the sentence in cause number 0378356A in Criminal District Court Number 1 of Tarrant County is reformed to reflect a sentence of confinement for life in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Institutional Division.

Delivered: May 18, 2005

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