Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of November 13, 2023.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Bittick v. State, No. 02-22-00283-CR (Nov. 16, 2023) (Sudderth, C.J., joined by Birdwell and Walker, JJ.).

Held:  To convict Appellant of engaging in organized criminal activity as a member of a criminal street gang, the State was required to satisfy the “individual participation in crime” requirement recognized in Martin v. State, 635 S.W.3d 672, 679 (Tex. Crim. App. 2021), to be a component of “member[ship in] a criminal street gang.”  Although Martin recognized this requirement in the context of unlawful carrying, it extends to the offense of engaging in organized criminal activity as well.  For purposes of engaging in organized criminal activity, though, the “individual participation” requirement is satisfied by evidence of the predicate crime—here, aggravated assault.  Therefore, the evidence was sufficient to sustain Appellant’s conviction for engaging in organized criminal activity by committing aggravated assault as a member of a criminal street gang.