Sommermeyer v. State

713 S.W.2d 183, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 7845
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 26, 1986
DocketNo. A14-85-00438-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 713 S.W.2d 183 (Sommermeyer 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
Sommermeyer v. State, 713 S.W.2d 183, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 7845 (Tex. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBERTSON, Justice.

Trial was to a jury on a plea of not guilty to the felony offense of driving while intoxicated; the punishment is confinement for five years and a fine of $500. Issues concern the sufficiency of the caption to an amendatory statute concerning the offense of driving while intoxicated, the validity of a prior conviction, sufficiency of the guilty verdict to authorize a felony conviction, failure of the court to grant his mistrial during jury argument and failure of the court to suppress that portion of the video tape showing appellant’s refusal to take a breath test. We affirm.

The sufficiency of the evidence is not challenged and a recitation of the facts is therefore unnecessary.

In his first ground of error appellant contends that the caption to Senate Bill 1, passed by the 1983 session of the legislature is constitutionally deficient in that it did not give sufficient notice that the amendment provided that the offense could henceforth be committed by driving “in a public place” rather than on a public road or beach.

Senate Bill 1 addressed several subjects including driving while intoxicated, involuntary manslaughter involving the use of a motor vehicle, criminally negligent homicide and allowing a dangerous driver to borrow a vehicle and amended various statutes. Omitting those portions of the caption that are irrelevant to the issue before us, the caption provided:

AN ACT
relating to offenses of driving while intoxicated, ... amending 67011-1 Revised Statutes, as amended; ....

Article 67011-1 of the Revised Statutes defined the offense of driving while intoxicated. Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 67011-1 (Vernon Supp.1986).

The recent opinion of this court in Reinsmith v. State, 703 S.W.2d 315 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist] 1985) is dispositive. There we said:

“With amendatory bills, it is settled that reference to the act or section to be amended is adequate, as long as the subject matter of the amendment is germane or reasonably related to the content of the original act. Smith v. Davis, 426 S.W.2d 827, 833 (Tex.1968). The lan[185]*185guage of the Smith decision was adopted by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Putnam v. State, 582 S.W.2d 146 (Tex.Crim.App.1979). The caption states that the bill amends Article 67011-1; this is sufficient notice that the bill should be examined for any alterations of that article. Reference by article number to the statute being amended has been held sufficient notice. Turnipseed v. State, 609 S.W.2d 798 (Tex.Crim.App.1980).” Reinsmith, 703 S.W.2d at 317.

Appellant’s first ground is overruled.

In his second ground appellant contends the court erred in failing to suppress one of his prior felony convictions for driving while intoxicated because the misdemeanor conviction alleged to make that offense a felony was defective because he had not waived his right of trial by jury in such misdemeanor case. The factual support for appellant’s contention is that the judgment of conviction in cause number 170,024 for the misdemeanor offense of driving while intoxicated did not state that appellant waived his right to trial by jury; rather it recited “no jury having been demanded.” 1 However when such misdemeanor judgment was later relied upon to elevate appellant’s subsequent driving while intoxicated offense to a felony (in cause number 299,003, alleged as one of the prior offenses in the indictment in this present case) there was no objection on the basis that the judgment was infirm on the now Samudio grounds. Samudio v. State, 648 S.W.2d 312 (Tex.Crim.App.1983).

The state, relying upon Ex parte Ridley, 658 S.W.2d 177 (Tex.Crim.App.1983), contends that failure to object when the voidable prior misdemeanor judgment was utilized in cause number 299,003 precludes a later collateral attack upon the judgment in cause number 299,003 on those grounds. Appellant recognizes this rule relied upon by the state, but contends that Ex parte Sanders, 588 S.W.2d 383 (Tex.Crim.App.1979) provides an exception to the requirement of a contemporaneous objection, and in the circumstances of this case an objection was not necessary. In Ex parte Sanders, the court of criminal appeals stated:

“Failure to object to proof of a void conviction has been held to constitute a waiver. Ex parte Gill, 509 S.W.2d 357 (Tex.Crim.App.). Where the defect which renders the conviction void has not been established as a defect of constitutional magnitude the failure of counsel to object does not constitute waiver, (citing cases).” Ex parte Sanders, 588 S.W.2d at 384.

Appellant argues the failure of counsel to object to the use of the prior voidable conviction in the 1979 trial of cause number 299,003 was not a waiver of this defect because the failure to secure a waiver of a defendant’s federal right to trial by jury was not established as a defect of constitutional magnitude until 1982 when Samudio was decided.

In Ex parte Sanders, the court speaks of a “void” conviction. The court of criminal appeals has not held, so far as we can determine, that the Samudio-type judgment is void — it merely held it was voidable on direct appeal where the record was silent on whether the appellant had waived counsel. Therefore, the requirement of an objection and the Sanders exception may not apply where we have a “voidable” instead of a “void” conviction. However, we do not believe it is essential in the case before us to decide whether on the facts before us appellant was precluded from attacking the prior conviction.

The issue under Samudio was not whether the accused was denied a trial by jury, but whether the record showed a waiver of jury trial. Appellant testified on the motion to suppress the prior conviction. On direct examination the following occurred:

“Q. Mr. Sommermeyer, referring you to Defendant’s Exhibit No. 3, which is the judgment and sentence and in[186]*186dictment in Cause No. 170,024, would you tell the Court whether or not on May the 30th, 1972, if you pled guilty to this offense of driving while intoxicated?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. At that time, Mr. Sommermeyer, would you tell the Court whether or not you affirmatively waived your right to a jury trial in open Court?
A. No, ma’am.”

On cross-examination, the following occurred:

“Q. Well, I understand that, but your lawyer asked you if you affirmatively waived your right to a jury trial, and my question is what does that mean?
A.

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713 S.W.2d 183, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 7845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sommermeyer-v-state-texapp-1986.