Bradley v. State

450 S.W.2d 847, 1969 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1200
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 19, 1969
Docket42313
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 450 S.W.2d 847 (Bradley v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bradley v. State, 450 S.W.2d 847, 1969 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1200 (Tex. 1969).

Opinion

OPINION

ONION, Judge.

The offense is murder with malice; the punishment, ten (10) years.

The indictment charges the appellant with the murder of her husband, James Bradley.

Appellant initially complains of the trial court’s refusal to grant her first motion for continuance based on the unavoidable absence of co-counsel.

The indictment was presented on October 5, 1967, and the record reflects that at least by October 23, 1967, appellant was represented by counsel of her own choice, Mr. Sam Wilson of Houston, Texas.

In a letter dated January 30, 1968, State Senator Tom Creighton requested the District Clerk to note his “appearance as attorney of record and co-counsel” in said cause.

On February 2, 1968, appellant’s first motion for continuance was filed and overruled. If evidence was adduced in connection with said motion it is not in the record before us. The motion was based on the prior commitment of Senator Creighton to attend a Senate Legislative Committee hearing on February 12, the date the case was set for trial.

It should be here noted that this was not a mandatory legislative continuance as required by Article 2168a, Vernon’s Ann.Civ. St 1

On the day the trial commenced (February 12) a second motion for continuance on the same ground was filed and overruled, and the trial proceeded with the appellant being represented by Mr. Wilson and Mr. David Cleveland of Mineral Wells.

*849 The record reflects that appellant was ably represented by counsel of her own choice and that her rights were fully and fairly protected. The court did not err in overruling both motions for continuance. Carrell v. State, 84 Tex.Cr.R. 554, 209 S.W. 158; Sapp v. State, 87 Tex.Cr.R. 606, 223 S.W. 459; Caraway v. State, 98 Tex.Cr.R. 119, 263 S.W. 1063; Kerr v. State, 134 Tex.Cr.R. 368, 115 S.W.2d 672; Lopez v. State, 152 Tex.Cr.R. 562, 216 S.W.2d 183; 12 Tex.Jur.2d, Continuance, Sec. 27, p. 579. See also McKnight v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 432 S.W.2d 69.

Ground of error #1 is overruled.

Next, appellant contends the court erred in refusing to quash “the venire from which the jury was chosen.” It is her contention that the jury commissioners sought to assure a “responsible” jury by systematically excluding persons over 65 years of age and women with children under 18 years of age, and that the selection was made only from a list of registered voters in violation of the requirement of Article 2110, V.A.C.S., that prospective jurors .selected be “citizens of the different portions of the county, liable to serve as jurors * * *.» Appellant specifically argues that she is a female with children under the age of sixteen years and therefore a member of the class systematically excluded.

The record does not support appellant’s contention. Only one of the jury commissioners testified and he related the commissioners were instructed as to the qualification of jurors; that they selected responsible people from different portions of the county, from “all walk of life,” both men and women from all races, and had no knowledge whether the persons selected would be called as jurors in any particular case. He did testify that he and another commissioner during the selection would inquire of each other whether there was serious illness in the family or if the “lady had “children under eighteen.” 2 There was no showing, however, that such persons were then excluded. Neither a list of the prospective jurors ñor all of the voir dire examination is in the record before us. We are in no position to pass upon appellant’s claim.

We further note that Article 33.09, Vernon’s Ann.C.C.P., provides that jury panels are to be selected and summoned in the same manner as in civil cases unless otherwise provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Article 2107, V.A.C.S., relating to the duty of jury commissioners, provides that the clerk shall furnish such commissioners with a list of those who are “exempt or disqualified from serving on the petit jury at each term.”

It is not altogether clear from the record whether the jury commissioners had more than a list of registered voters before them at the time of the selection in question, but in Smithwick v. State, 155 Tex.Cr.R. 292, 234 S.W.2d 237, it was held that the failure to furnish the last property assessment roll of the county to such commissioners did not constitute a ground for quashing special venire drawn for a murder case, since commissioners were not required to select jurors from the assessment roll. See Article 2107, supra.

Ground of error #2 is overruled.

In her third ground of error appellant complains of the trial court’s refusal to limit the exclusion of jurors who had conscientious scruples against the death penalty.

If it be appellant’s contention that there was a Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776, violation, we first observe that there is not a complete record of the voir dire examination before us. Evans v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 430 S.W.2d 502. Secondly, we note that *850 in Bumper v. North Carolina, 391 U.S. 543, 88 S.Ct. 1788, 20 L.Ed.2d 797, the Supreme Court said:

“Our decision in Witherspoon does not govern the present case, because the jury-recommended a sentence of life imprisonment.”

Such holding would be applicable here since a 10 year sentence, not the death penalty, was imposed.

If, however, it be appellant’s contention that the jury selection methods utilized resulted in a prosecution prone jury to decide the question of guilt, then attention is called to Parks v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 437 S.W.2d 554, which, relying upon Bumper and Witherspoon, was decided contrary to appellant’s contention. Appellant certainly has offered no more data than available in those cases to demonstrate that jurors not opposed to the death penalty tend to favor the prosecution in the determination of guilt.

Ground of error #3 is overruled.

We shall delay a discussion of appellant’s grounds of error #4, #5 and #6 at this point to avoid unduly lengthening this opinion.

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Bluebook (online)
450 S.W.2d 847, 1969 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bradley-v-state-texcrimapp-1969.