Hoitt v. State

30 S.W.3d 670, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 7118, 2000 WL 1577556
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided October 24, 2000·No. 06-00-00048-CR·Published·Cited by 40 cases

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice ROSS.

Bryan Roland Hoitt was charged with intentionally and knowingly causing bodily injury to an elderly individual, 1 enhanced by a prior felony conviction. 2 He entered a plea of not guilty, but was found guilty by the jury of the lesser included offense of recklessly causing injury to an elderly individual, a state jail felony. 3 The court assessed his punishment and sentenced him to eighteen months’ confinement in a state jail, without credit for time served, and ordered that his sentence “run consecutively with two prior convictions.”

The record reveals that late one evening Hoitt broke into the home of Sidney Pool, knocked Pool down, demanded “sweet milk,” carried him outside, and sat on top of him demanding keys to a pickup truck. Pool’s brother Moody heard the commotion from next door and came to Sidney’s aid. Moody was able to get Hoitt off of his brother, and Hoitt fled toward a neighboring home. Sidney testified that he received two cuts to his hand and was sore for several days afterward.

In his first point of error, Hoitt contends that the State improperly amended the indictment to add an enhancement paragraph alleging a prior conviction for *673 forgery. The indictment contains a handwritten enhancement paragraph. Hoitt contends, and the State concedes, that the indictment was altered sometime after the grand jury presented it on December 11, 1998. The State filed a motion to amend the indictment on April 7, 1999, which was granted the same day. The State never read the enhancement paragraph at the punishment phase.

Tex.Code CRiM. PRoc. Ann. art. 28.10(c) (Vernon 1989) provides as follows:

An indictment or information may not be amended over the defendant’s objection as to form or substance if the amended indictment or information charges the defendant with an additional or different offense or if the substantial rights of the defendant are prejudiced.

Hoitt contends that his substantial rights were prejudiced because the grand jury was not allowed to screen the enhancement paragraph. The effect of the change, he contends, was to increase the offense from a third degree felony to a second degree felony. See Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 12.42(a)(3) (Vernon Supp.2000); Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 22.04(a)(3), (f) (Vernon Supp.2000). The punishment range for a third degree felony is two to ten years’ confinement and a fine not to exceed $10,000.00. The punishment range for a second degree felony is two to twenty years’ confinement and a fine not to exceed $10,000.00. Tex. Pen.Code Ann. §§ 12.33, 12.34 (Vernon 1994). Thus, he maintains, the State had “carte blanche” to determine the punishment range at trial.

However, the amendment in this case is a nullity because the jury convicted Hoitt of the lesser included offense of recklessly causing injury to an elderly individual, a state jail felony. Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 12.35 (Vernon 1994) provides:

(a)Except as provided by Subsection (c), an individual adjudged guilty of a state jail felony shall be punished by confinement in a state jail for any term of not more than two years or less than 180 days.
(b) In addition to confinement, an individual adjudged guilty of a state jail felony may be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.
(c) An individual adjudged guilty of a state jail felony shall be punished for a third degree felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(1) a deadly weapon ... was used or exhibited during the commission of the offense or during immediate flight following the commission of the offense, and that the individual used or exhibited the deadly weapon or was a party to the offense and knew that a deadly weapon would be used or exhibited; or
(2) the individual has previously been finally convicted of any felony:
(A) listed in Section 3g(a)(l), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(B) for which the judgment contains an affirmative finding under Section 3g(a)(2), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure.

Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 12.42(a) (Vernon Supp.2000) provides in relevant part:

(1) If it is shown on the trial of a state jail felony punishable under Section 12.35(a) that the defendant has previously been finally convicted of two state jail felonies, on conviction the defendant shall be punished for a third-degree felony.
(2) If it is shown on the trial of a state jail felony punishable under Section 12.35(a) that the defendant has previously been finally convicted of two felonies ... on conviction the defendant shall be punished for a second-degree felony.
(3) If it is shown on the trial of a state jail felony punishable under Section 12.35(c) ... that the defendant has been once before convicted of a felony, on conviction he shall be punished for a second-degree felony.

*674 Hoitt’s conviction did not involve a deadly weapon, the enhancement offense alleged (forgery) is not listed in Tex.Code Crim. ProC. Ann. art. 42.12, § 3g(a)(l) (Vernon Supp.2000), and the judgment did not contain an affirmative finding under Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 42.12, § 3g(a)(2) (Vernon Supp.2000). Therefore, even if the amendment was improper, it was harmless error because the offense for which the jury found Hoitt guilty was one punishable under Section 12.35(a) and could not be enhanced with a single prior felony conviction. In addition, the trial court assessed punishment within the range for a state jail felony and recited in its judgment that there was no plea to the enhancement allegation and that no findings on enhancement were made.

Further, Hoitt failed to timely object to the amendment of the indictment and therefore did not preserve error. An amendment is an alteration to the face of the charging instrument that affects the substance of the charging instrument. Eastep v. State, 941 S.W.2d 130, 132 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). An amendment can be accomplished by physical interlineation of the original indictment or by incorporating into the record, at the direction of the trial court and with the knowledge and affirmative assent of the defense, an amended version of a photocopy of the original indictment. Riney v. State, 28 S.W.3d 561, 2000 Tex.Crim.App. LEXIS 88 (Tex.Crim.App.2000).

The record does not reveal when the indictment was actually amended, i.e., whether it was before trial, on the day of trial, or at trial. Under the facts of this case, however, the issue of when the indictment was amended is ultimately immaterial.

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Hoitt v. State, 30 S.W.3d 670, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 7118, 2000 WL 1577556 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

30 S.W.3d 670 (Hoitt v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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