Sanchez v. State

32 S.W.3d 687, 2000 WL 1231159
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 20, 2000
Docket04-96-00140-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 32 S.W.3d 687 (Sanchez 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
Sanchez v. State, 32 S.W.3d 687, 2000 WL 1231159 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

*690 OPINION ON REMAND

Opinion by: JOHN F. ONION, Jr., Justice (Assigned).

This appeal was taken from a conviction for official oppression for sexual harassment. See Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 39.03(a)(3), (c) (Vernon 1994). 2 The jury found appellant, Arthur Garcia Sanchez, guilty of the class A misdemeanor 3 and assessed his punishment at confinement in the county jail for one year and a fine of $3,000. The jury, however, recommended community supervision. The imposition of the sentence was suspended. Appellant was placed on community supervision for two years subject to certain conditions.

On original submission, this Court sustained appellant’s contentions, finding that the sexual harassment provision of the statute was (1) unconstitutionally vague on its face and as applied in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and (2) unconstitutionally over broad in violation of the First Amendment to the federal constitution. See Sanchez v. State, 974 S.W.2d 307 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1998) (Sanchez I). The Court of Criminal Appeals on discretionary review found the sexual harassment statutory provision constitutional, reversed our judgment and remanded the cause for proceedings consistent with its opinion. See Sanchez v. State, 995 S.W.2d 677, 680 (Tex.Crim.App.), ce rt. denied, 528 U.S. 1021, 120 S.Ct. 531, 145 L.Ed.2d 411 (1999) (Sanchez II).

In construing Section 39.03(a)(3), (c) and finding it constitutional, the Court of Criminal Appeals discussed some of the essential elements of the offense, including some that were case-developed. The Court stated:

We express no opinion concerning whether some or all of the allegations in the indictment contain all of the elements required by the sexual harassment provision as we have construed it. The Court of Appeals may address such issues on remand if those issues are found to be properly before the court.

Sanchez II, 995 S.W.2d at 689-90 n. 11 (emphasis added).

On remand, in light of the procedure normally utilized, the parties were granted leave by this. Court to rebrief the case. See Theus v. State, 863 S.W.2d 489, 491 (Tex.Crim.App.1993).

POINTS OF ERROR

In his brief following remand, appellant raises six points of error. First, appellant contends that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to set aside the amended indictment because, in violation of the federal and state constitutions, and state statutory provisions, the indictment did not, inter alia, charge an offense. Second, appellant urged the trial court erred in overruling the same motion because the indictment did not specify what “rights, privileges, powers, or immunities” were at issue in the case. Third and fourth, appellant challenges the factual sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction. Fifth and sixth, appellant contends that *691 the trial court erred in admitting into evidence summaries of telephone records in violation of Rules 901 and 1006 of the Texas Rules of Evidence.

Prior to addressing appellant’s contentions, some background is necessary, including the statute, the indictment under which appellant was prosecuted, and the Sanchez II opinion. At this point in the appellate process, the instant case presents an out-of-the ordinary situation on remand. As recognized by the earlier quoted portion of the opinion in Sanchez II, there are some case-developed elements of the offense under section 39.03(a)(3), (c) as construed by the Court of Criminal Appeals that were not included in the indictment. Until the court spoke, the grand jury, the parties, and the trial court were not familiar with the construction to be placed on section 39.03(a)(3), (c).

THE STATUTE

The official oppression statute criminalizes certain acts by a public servant acting under the color of his office or employment. See Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 39.03 (Vernon 1994). This statute provides:

(a) A public servant acting under color of his office or employment commits an offense if he:
(1) intentionally subjects another to mistreatment or to arrest, detention, search, seizure, dispossession, assessment, or lien that he knows is unlawful;
(2) intentionally denies or impedes another in the exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power, or immunity, knowing his conduct is unlawful; or
(3) intentionally subjects another to sexual harassment.
(b) For purposes of this section, a public servant acts under color of his office or employment if he acts or purports to act in an official capacity or takes advantage of such actual or purported capacity.
(c) In this section, “sexual harassment” means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, submission to which is made a term or condition of a person’s exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power, or immunity, either explicitly or implicitly.
(d) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

(emphasis added).

INTERPRETATION OF SECTION 39.03(a)(3), (c)

Sanchez II interpreted the language of section 39.03(a)(3), (c), determined some of the elements of the offense, and held the statute constitutional. We deem it important to examine the holding in Sanchez II.

The Court of Criminal Appeals found that the text in section 39.03(c) (defining sexual harassment) could not be interpreted in accordance with the plain meaning of its language because it was ambiguous concerning which alternative was modified by the term “unwelcome”. See Sanchez II, 995 S.W.2d at 683. The Court recognized two possible interpretations-that “unwelcome” modified only sexual advances or modified the entire statutory fist including “requests for sexual favors” and “other verbal or physical conduct' of a sexual nature.” Id. at 683-84. The Court, disavowing language in State v. Edmond, 933 S.W.2d 120, 122, 127, 128 (Tex.Crim.App.1996), stated: “And while the grammatical construction for the latter interpretation is awkward, that construction is not definitely incorrect. As the sexual harassment definitions language is ambiguous, we resort to sources outside the language of the definition.” Sanchez II, 995 S.W.2d at 684.

In doing so, the Court concluded that all alternative forms of sexual harassment un *692 der section 39.03(a)(3), (c) must involve “unwelcome” conduct. See id. at 685.

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

Related

Smith v. State
309 S.W.3d 10 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Smith, Joseph Denver
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010
Eugene Mercier v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009
Christopher Vomakoyima Tita v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009
Tollett v. State
219 S.W.3d 593 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Van Lee Tollett v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007
Sanchez, Arthur Garcia
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006
Roger Gene Aubrey v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2006
Sanchez v. State
182 S.W.3d 34 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Sanchez v. State
120 S.W.3d 359 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Carroll v. State
101 S.W.3d 454 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Gabriel Flores v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003
Flores v. State
102 S.W.3d 328 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Carroll, Timothy Earl v. State
74 S.W.3d 414 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Thompson v. State
44 S.W.3d 171 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 S.W.3d 687, 2000 WL 1231159, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanchez-v-state-texapp-2000.