Willis v. State

790 S.W.2d 307, 1990 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 80, 1990 WL 63943
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 16, 1990
Docket155-87
StatusPublished
Cited by210 cases

This text of 790 S.W.2d 307 (Willis 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
Willis v. State, 790 S.W.2d 307, 1990 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 80, 1990 WL 63943 (Tex. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION ON APPELLANT’S AND THE STATE’S PETITIONS FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

McCORMICK, Presiding Judge.

A jury found appellant, Barry O’Neal Willis, guilty of theft for which he received a sentence of two years confinement. He appealed. The Dallas Court of Appeals reversed appellant’s conviction finding that the trial court had erred in refusing to submit in its jury charge an instruction concerning appellant’s good faith purchase. Willis v. State, 724 S.W.2d 87, 91 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1986). The lower appellate court also decided that the statutory presumption provided in Texas Penal Code Section 31.03(c)(3) was constitutional. 724 S.W.2d at 88-90. The State sought discretionary review of the Court of Appeals’ holding that appellant was entitled to the jury instruction and appellant sought discretionary review from the holding that the presumption was constitutional. We granted both petitions and now affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand the case to the Court of Appeals.

THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF TEXAS PENAL CODE, SECTION 31.03(c)(3)

Section 31.03(a) of the Texas Penal Code provides that a person commits an offense if he “unlawfully appropriates property with the intent to deprive the owner of the property.” Section 31.03(b)(2) provides that “appropriation of property is unlawful if ... the property is stolen and the actor appropriates the property knowing that it was stolen by another.” Further, Section 31.03(c)(3) creates an eviden-tiary presumption and provides that:

“[A]n actor engaged in the business of buying and selling used or secondhand personal property, or lending money on the security of personal property deposited with him, is presumed to know upon receipt by the actor of the stolen property ... that the property has been previously stolen from another if the actor pays or loans against the property $25 or more (or consideration of equivalent value) and the actor knowingly or recklessly: (A) fails to record the name, address, *309 and physical description or identification number of the seller or pledger; (B) fails to record a complete description of the property including the serial number, if reasonably available, of other identifying characteristics; or (C) fails to obtain a signed warranty from the seller or pledger that the seller or pledger has the right to possess the property. It is the express intent of this provision that the presumption arises unless the actor complies with each of the numbered (sic) requirements.”

After the evidence was presented in the guilt/innocence phase of trial, the trial court instructed the jury regarding the 31.-03(c)(3) presumption and, pursuant to V.T. C.A., Penal Code, Section 2.05, the trial court further instructed that:

“The facts giving rise to such presumption must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
“If such facts are proven beyond a reasonable doubt, you may find that the property in question ... had been previously stolen, if it had been, but you are not bound to so find.
“Even if you find that the defendant knew that the property in question ... had been previously stolen, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements of the offense, as set out on the following page, and if you have a doubt as to the existence of a fact or facts, as set out above, giving rise to such presumption, the presumption fails and you will not consider it for any purpose.”

Appellant insists that the presumption is unconstitutional regardless of the trial court’s application of Section 2.05. He relies upon Bellamy v. State, 742 S.W.2d 677 (Tex.Cr.App.1987), wherein we held that the 31.03(c)(3) presumption, as applied in that case, was unconstitutional. As applied in the case that is before us today, however, we agree with the Court of Appeals and find that the presumption is constitutional for the following reasons.

Presumptions and inferences are eviden-tiary devices and in criminal law parlance they are said to be either mandatory or permissive. The distinction between a mandatory presumption and a permissive presumption is determined by the effect that each has upon the evidence. The Supreme Court, in Ulster County Court v. Allen, 442 U.S. 140, 99 S.Ct. 2213, 60 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979), explained:

“Inferences and presumptions are a staple of our adversary system of factfind-ing. It is often necessary for the trier of fact to determine the existence of an element of the crime — that is an ‘ultimate’ or ‘elemental’ fact — from the existence of one or more ‘evidentiary’ or ‘basic’ facts. The value of these evidentiary devices, and their validity under the Due Process Clause, vary from case to case, however, depending on the strength of the connection between the particular elemental facts involved an on the degree to which device curtails the factfinder’s freedom to assess the evidence independently.” 442 U.S. at 156, 99 S.Ct. at 2224 (citations omitted).

Essentially, there are two types of mandatory presumptions: one type requires the fact finder to find an elemental fact upon proof of a particular predicate fact or facts — it does not allow the trier of fact to find otherwise (a “conclusive presumption”). The other type of mandatory presumption requires the accused to disprove the elemental fact once the predicate fact has been established (a “rebuttable presumption”). Both types of mandatory presumptions are deemed unconstitutional because they eliminate the State’s constitutionally required burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See Carella v. California, — U.S.-, 109 S.Ct. 2419, 105 L.Ed.2d 218 (1989) (per curium); Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307, 105 S.Ct. 1965, 85 L.Ed.2d 344 (1985); Connecticut v. Johnson, 460 U.S. 73, 103 S.Ct. 969, 74 L.Ed.2d 823 (1983) (plurality opinion); Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979). Justice Scalia recently opined that:

“The [Supreme] Court has disapproved the use of mandatory conclusive presumptions not merely because it conflicts with the overriding presumption of inno *310 cence with which the law endows the accused, but also because it invades the factfinding function which in a criminal case the law assigns solely to the jury. The constitutional right to a jury trial embodies a profound judgment about the way in which law should be enforced and justice administered. It is a structural guarantee that reflects a fundamental decision about the exercise of official power — a reluctance to entrust plenary powers over life and liberty of the citizens to one judge or group of judges. A defendant may assuredly insist upon observance of this guarantee even when the evidence is so overwhelming as to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
790 S.W.2d 307, 1990 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 80, 1990 WL 63943, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/willis-v-state-texcrimapp-1990.