Cryan v. State

798 S.W.2d 333, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 2785, 1990 WL 179091
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 12, 1990
DocketNo. 09-90-014 CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 798 S.W.2d 333 (Cryan 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
Cryan v. State, 798 S.W.2d 333, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 2785, 1990 WL 179091 (Tex. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

[334]*334OPINION

BURGESS, Justice.

A jury convicted appellant of misdemean- or unauthorized practice of dentistry and assessed punishment at one years’ confinement in the Angelina County Jail and a $2,000 fine. The court probated the jail term. Appellant raises six points of error.

Jim Cryan was charged with unauthorized practice of dentistry by making an impression of the mouth and gums of Billy Murphy for the purpose of aiding in the construction of false teeth. Mr. Cryan is a denturist who admitted he took the impressions of Mr. Murphy’s mouth but claimed he did so pursuant to a prescription from a medical doctor. Appellant argues that medical doctors are exempt from the laws regarding the unauthorized practice of dentistry and that he is authorized to make dentures pursuant to medical doctors’ prescribed authority.

The first two points of error complain of the following jury instruction:

You are further instructed that while physicians and surgeons are exempt from the law regulating the practice of dentistry, they may not delegate to others the making of impressions of human teeth or gums for the purpose of aiding in the construction of false teeth.

Point of error one contends the instruction is an incorrect statement of the law. The Dental Practices Act is contained in Chapter 9 of Title 71 of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas. TEX.REY.CIV.STAT. ANN. art. 4548 (Vernon 1976) provides:

No person shall practice or offer or attempt to practice dentistry or dental surgery in this State, without first having obtained a license from the State Board of Dental Examiners, as provided for in this law, provided that physicians and surgeons may, in the regular practice of their profession, extract teeth or make application for the relief of pain.

TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 4551a(3) (Vernon Supp.1990) includes as persons who shall be regarded as practicing dentistry:

(3) Any person who shall offer or undertake in any manner to prescribe or make, or cause to be made, an impression of any portion of the human mouth, teeth, gums, or jaws, for the purpose of diagnosing, prescribing, treating, or aiding in the diagnosing, prescribing, or treating, any physical condition of the human mouth, teeth, gums, or jaws, or for the purpose of constructing or aiding in the construction of any dental appliance, denture, dental bridge, false teeth, dental plate or plates of false teeth, or any other substitute for human teeth.

TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 4551b (Vernon Supp.1990) lists twelve exceptions to the definition of persons who shall be regarded as practicing dentistry. One of the exceptions is “(4) physicians and surgeons legally authorized to practice medicine as defined by the law of this state.”

Appellant argues that Article 4551b(4) excepts him from the definition of the practice of dentistry because TEX.REV.CIV. STAT.ANN. art. 4495b, sec. 3.06(d)(1) (Vernon Supp.1990), part of what is known as the Medical Practice Act, provides in part:

[A] person licensed to practice medicine shall have the authority to delegate to any qualified and properly trained person or persons acting under the physician’s supervision any medical act which a reasonable and prudent physician would find is within the scope of sound medical judgment to delegate if, in the opinion of the delegating physician, the act can be properly and safely performed by the person to whom the medical act is delegated and the act is performed in its customary manner, not in violation of any other statute, and the person does not hold himself out to the public as being authorized to practice medicine.

Appellant claims that physicians are excluded from the operation of the Dental Practices Act, and physicians are allowed to delegate the performance of medical acts, and thus he is excluded from the definition of the practice of dentistry. Appellant does not claim that his conduct comprised the extraction of teeth or application for relief of pain as described in Article [335]*3354548. Article 4551b provides specific exceptions which do not include delegatees of physicians or surgeons. Thus, while physicians and surgeons are themselves excepted from the Dental Practices Act definition of the practice of dentistry, their delega-tees are not unless such delegatee falls within one of the enumerated Article 4551b exceptions.

The instruction, however, stated that physicians and surgeons may not delegate the making of impressions of human teeth or gums for the purpose of aiding on the construction of plates of false teeth. This is a misstatement of the law because physicians, excepted from the definition of dentistry, may pursuant to Article 4495b delegate the act without themselves violating the Dental Practices Act, and may likewise delegate to a licensed dentist or anyone within the Article 4551b exception without the delegatee violating the Dental Practices Act. Thus, it was error to give the instruction. As appellant objected to giving the instruction, the question on appeal is whether the error is calculated to injure the rights of the defendant, which means there must be some harm to the accused from the error. Almanza v. State, 686 S.W.2d 157, 171 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (opinion on rehearing). Appellant does not contend that, absent the proper delegation of a physician’s authority, he is personally within any of the Article 4551b exceptions, nor is he a physician or dentist; therefore, the error was harmless. Point of error one is overruled.

Point of error two avers the instruction is an inappropriate comment on the weight of the evidence. The charge must distinctly set forth the law applicable to the case without expressing any opinion as to the weight of the evidence, summing up the testimony, or discussing the facts. TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 36.14 (Vernon Supp.1990). Here, the trial court not only denied the requested jury instruction on appellant’s alleged defense, it instructed the jury to disregard it. Appellant admitted to the conduct charged. Much of the testimony proffered, without objection, by both the state and appellant, concerned the medical practice of dispensing prescriptions for dental appliances. It is the absolute province of the jury to determine the weight of the state’s testimony and whether they think the accused has been proven guilty; any instruction which tells them they should convict or from which the jury might conclude that such was the meaning of the court would be error and harmful. Chancelor v. State, 151 Tex.Crim. 98, 205 S.W.2d 581 (1947). To point out to the jury that the court believes appellant has failed to raise his defense is a comment on the weight of the evidence that indicates the court’s opinion of the case. Although the instruction is harmless as a misstatement of the law, as a comment on the weight of the evidence some harm is shown because the charge emphasizes appellant’s attempt and failure to obtain a jury instruction on his sole defensive theory. In light of the entire record the error was calculated to injure the rights of the defendant. TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 36.19 (Vernon 1981). Point of error two is sustained.

Point of error three claims there is no evidence to support the conviction for practicing dentistry without a license.

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798 S.W.2d 333, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 2785, 1990 WL 179091, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cryan-v-state-texapp-1990.