Cody v. State

548 S.W.2d 401, 1977 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1035
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 23, 1977
Docket52061
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 548 S.W.2d 401 (Cody 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
Cody v. State, 548 S.W.2d 401, 1977 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1035 (Tex. 1977).

Opinion

OPINION

GREEN, Commissioner.

In a trial before a jury, appellant was convicted of the misdemeanor offense of driving while intoxicated. Punishment was assessed by the court at a fine of fifty dollars and thirty days in jail, the jail time being probated for a period of six months.

We note that the order of the court assessing the punishment and setting forth the terms of probation erroneously recites that the appellant “pleaded guilty to the information herein, waived trial by jury, and submitted this cause to the COURT .. ” The record establishes that the trial was before a jury on a plea of not guilty, and that the verdict of guilty was returned by the jury. The order is reformed to reflect those facts.

The State’s contention that this appeal is moot and should be dismissed because the record reflects that appellant has paid the fine and court costs assessed by the court is without merit. Fouke v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 529 S.W.2d 772, relied upon by the State, may be distinguished from the present case, in that in Fouke the sole punishment was a fine of $25.00 and court costs, and the fine and costs were paid voluntarily. This Court said that:

“The appeal is moot because the appellant has voluntarily paid the fine and costs assessed; he voluntarily elected to satisfy the judgment; there is nothing from which to appeal. It has long been the rule in this state that the voluntary payment of the fine in a misdemeanor case renders the appeal from the judgment in that case moot,” citing a number of eases.

In each of the cases cited as authority for this statement, the punishment assessed *403 had been fully satisfied, so that there was nothing remaining from which to appeal.

In the instant case, the record reflects that the fine and costs were paid after a writ of commitment was issued ordering the arrest of appellant “and him safely keep until such fine and costs, amounting to 104.-30 Dollars, are fully paid and discharged by law . . .” The court’s docket sheet contains the order for the writ of commitment entered September 10, 1975, and both the docket entry and the copy of the writ included in the transcript show that execution was stayed until September 10, 1975, “when defendant shall be arrested unless fine and court costs sooner satisfied.” A certificate of the sheriff contained in the record reflects that the fine and court costs were paid September 12, 1975. Under the circumstances, we do not consider this to reflect a voluntary payment.

Additionally, appellant has not elected to satisfy the punishment of thirty days in jail probated for six months. He timely gave notice of appeal from the court’s order. The collateral legal consequences of the unsatisfied punishment are not minimal, as were those in Fouke v. State, supra. See Ex parte Langston, 510 S.W.2d 603, Tex.Cr.App.; Ex parte Burt, 499 S.W.2d 109, Tex.Cr.App.

We conclude that the appeal is not moot.

In his second ground of error, appellant contends that the court reversibly erred in admitting in evidence the results of a breathalyzer test and permitting the jury to consider the same in its deliberation. He contends that there is no evidence that the chemicals used in such test were the correct chemicals or used in the proper proportion to insure an accurate test.

Officer Bryan testified that about 9:15 p. m. on January 25, 1975, he arrested appellant following a one-car accident and charged him with driving a motor vehicle upon a public highway while intoxicated. Officer Bryan testified that in his opinion appellant was under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Appellant testified that during that evening he had drunk two cans of beer, but denied being intoxicated. As rebuttal evidence, the State placed Officer Gene Green on the stand. Green testified that he had successfully completed a course in the instruction and operation of “the breathalyzer instrument” conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety and that he was a certified breathalyzer operator, having been certified by the Department of Public Safety. He stated that at 10:00 p. m. on January 25th he administered the test on appellant, using a control ampule furnished by the Department of Public Safety. He related the eight step procedure he used, and a copy of the check list styled “Texas Department of Public Safety, Breathalyzer Operational Check List for Harlan Cleere Cody” was admitted in evidence. He was then permitted to testify that the test showed 0.13% alcohol, over appellant’s objection, as follows:

“Your Honor, we will object to him giving any results of the test for the reason he is not qualified to give it, the State not having laid the predicate, or explaining that he knows the compounding of the chemicals, that they were compounded correctly, or that he understands and knows how the test works, and then in support of the objection we would cite to the court the cases of Hill versus State, and French versus State.”

Prior to the answer of the result of the test, appellant asked to take him on voir dire, but his request was refused by the court, and, after the above objection was overruled, the witness answered as above stated.

On cross-examination of Green, the following proceedings occurred:

“By Mr. Wood (appellant):
“Q Do you know what kind of chemicals are used in connection with the breath test?
“MR. WAAGE (State): Your Honor, I believe that he has stated that he is not qualified to testify about those chemicals.
“COURT: I overrule the objection, counsel is not bound by his answers on direct examination.
*404 “Q Do you know what kind of chemicals are used in the breath—with the breathalyzer machine?
“A No, sir.
“Q Do you know what the machine purports to measure?
“A I have a table, but, no, sir, not by— no, sir, this is something that the chemist teaches and this is something that he works out; no.
“Q So-
“A —In other words, I could read it out of a book but that is it.
“Q But you would be just taking the word of the book then as to what that is?
“A Right, uh-huh. No, I don’t know. “Q So far as the result that you testified that the machine gave, are you saying that you don’t know what that means, as far as what it measures?
“A It is thirteen hundredths point alcohol in his blood per—I don’t know.”

On redirect, he testified:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Dulin, Bryant Edward
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2021
Reynolds II, Jerry Glenn
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006
Reynolds v. State
204 S.W.3d 386 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Garcia, Alfredo Jaramillo v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003
Henderson v. State
14 S.W.3d 409 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Oscar Henderson v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000
Hernandez v. State
819 S.W.2d 806 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Gifford v. State
793 S.W.2d 48 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1990)
Lewis v. State
737 S.W.2d 857 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Hewitt v. State
734 S.W.2d 745 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Garcia v. State
726 S.W.2d 231 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Martin v. State
724 S.W.2d 135 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Harrell v. State
725 S.W.2d 208 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1986)
Moseley v. State
696 S.W.2d 934 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Mullan v. State
668 S.W.2d 427 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Isaacks v. State
646 S.W.2d 602 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Beck v. State
651 S.W.2d 827 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Holmes v. State
634 S.W.2d 762 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1982)
Turpin v. State
606 S.W.2d 907 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1980)
Jones v. State
602 S.W.2d 132 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
548 S.W.2d 401, 1977 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1035, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cody-v-state-texcrimapp-1977.