Hartfield v. State

645 S.W.2d 436
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 26, 1983
Docket59343
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 645 S.W.2d 436 (Hartfield 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
Hartfield v. State, 645 S.W.2d 436 (Tex. 1983).

Opinions

OPINION

ROBERTS, Judge.

The appellant was found guilty of capital murder, and his punishment was fixed at death. He complains that a venirewoman was excluded improperly from the jury and that his confession was received improperly.

Section 12.31(b) of our Penal Code requires that:

[438]*438“Prospective jurors shall be informed that a sentence of life imprisonment or death is mandatory on conviction of a capital felony. A prospective juror shall be disqualified from serving as a juror unless he states under oath that the mandatory penalty of death or imprisonment for life will not affect his deliberations on any issue of fact.”

The Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution are violated if Section 12.31(b) is used to exclude jurors on grounds broader than those established in the Witherspoon line of cases.1 Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 65 L.Ed.2d 581 (1980); Shippy v. State, 556 S.W.2d 246, 257 (Tex.Cr.App.) (Roberts, J., dissenting), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 935, 98 S.Ct. 422, 54 L.Ed.2d 294 (1977).

Adams v. Texas, supra, 448 U.S. at 45, 100 S.Ct. at 2526, teaches that:

“a juror may not be challenged for cause based on his views about capital punishment unless those views would prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath. The State may insist, however, that jurors will consider and decide the facts impartially and conscientiously apply the law as charged by the court.”

In the Texas scheme of special issues (V.A. C.C.P., Art. 37.071(b)), this means that a juror may be excluded either because he is not willing to accept that death may be a punishment in certain circumstances or because he is not willing and able to answer the statutory questions impartially, without conscious distortion or bias. Id. at 46, 100 S.Ct. at 2527. Yet a juror is not to be excused merely because his views about the death penalty might influence the manner in which he exercises his discretion within the guidelines permitted him under Texas law. Id. at 46, 100 S.Ct. at 2527. Section 12.31(b) may not be used to exclude jurors whose deliberations would be affected only by greater seriousness and gravity or emotional involvement, or who cannot state positively whether their deliberations would be “affected” in any way. Id. at 49-50, 100 S.Ct. at 2528-2529.

“Nor in our view would the Constitution permit the exclusion of jurors from the penalty phase of a Texas murder trial if they aver that they will honestly find the facts and answer the questions in the affirmative if they are convinced beyond reasonable doubt, but not otherwise, yet who frankly concede that the prospects of the death penalty may affect what their honest judgment of the facts will be or what they may deem to be a reasonable doubt. Such assessments and judgments by jurors are inherent in the jury system, and to exclude all jurors who would be in the slightest way affected by the prospect of the death penalty or by their views about such a penalty would be to deprive the defendant of the impartial jury to which he or she is entitled under the law.”

Id. at 50,100 S.Ct. at 2529.

The latter passage from Adams v. Texas, which we have quoted above, well describes Venire woman Hlozek in this case. Her answers to about 75 questions from the court and counsel established three things: she would not vote automatically against the imposition of capital punishment;2 her [439]*439answers to the special issues at the punishment stage of the trial would be based on the evidence; and she could not promise that she would be unaffected by her knowledge of the possible penalty.

“Q * * * The question is: Would this knowledge affect your deliberations on any issue of fact presented to you by the Court?
“A It would.
“Q Ma’am?
“A It would.
“Q That is what you said a while ago. Your answer is ‘yes’?
“A It would have to be.
“Q Let me try to make sure you understand the question. [Explanation of sentencing procedure omitted.]
“I will ask you again: With this knowledge that you now have that we have the mandatory penalty in Texas of life imprisonment or death, would this knowledge affect your deliberations on any issues of fact?
“A Yes. It would.
* ⅜ * * * *
“Q * * * Well, one of these things is going to happen, and it depends on how you answer these two questions.
“If you answer them both yes, then the Judge is going to sentence him to death — if you answer them both yes.
“If you answer either one of them no, the Judge sentences him to life in the penitentiary.
“That is the way it works. Do you understand the procedure now?
“A Yes.
“Q Now, what the prosecutor is asking you is this:
“Can you answer these questions as the law says you should and that is by the evidence that is presented before you, and not have the end result of these questions affect the way you answer them? See?
“A No.
“Q You would answer one of them so that you wouldn’t give the death penalty?. . .that he wouldn’t get the death penalty?
“See, that is what we are trying to find out.
“If you were sitting in a murder case where it was a bad murder case, like the one we talked about where you could consider the death penalty — that kind of murder, and you came down to the punishment stage and you had heard evidence that he meant to kill, would you answer that yes or no?
“A That one I would have to answer yes.
“Q You would have to answer it yes?
“And you came down and you had to decide whether or not he would be a [440]*440continuing threat to society and would probably commit violent acts in the future and you heard evidence that he would and he has, now, how would you answer that?... yes or no?
“A Yes, I guess.
“Q You would answer it yes?
“A Yes.
“Q So you would answer your questions based on the evidence, then?
“A Yes.
“Q You wouldn’t answer the second question ‘no’ to avoid giving the death penalty in that case?
“A Not if it was a real bad murder. * * ⅝ ⅝ ⅜ ⅜:

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

Related

Hartfield v. State
516 S.W.3d 57 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2017)
in Re Jerry Hartfield
442 S.W.3d 805 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014)
Hartfield v. Thaler
403 S.W.3d 234 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Hartfield, Jerry
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013
Hartfield v. Quarterman
603 F. Supp. 2d 943 (S.D. Texas, 2009)
Preston v. State
829 S.W.2d 928 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)
State v. Penix
513 N.E.2d 744 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1987)
Bridge v. State
726 S.W.2d 558 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1986)
Ex Parte Russell
720 S.W.2d 477 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1986)
Randle v. State
697 S.W.2d 13 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Roeder v. State
688 S.W.2d 856 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Burks v. Estelle
563 F. Supp. 465 (N.D. Texas, 1983)
Ex Parte Bravo
702 S.W.2d 189 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
645 S.W.2d 436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartfield-v-state-texcrimapp-1983.