Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of February 5, 2024.

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.

Robinson v. State, No. 02-23-00077-CR (Feb. 8, 2024) (Wallach, J., joined by Birdwell and Womack, JJ.).

Held: Appellant was required to object to preserve his argument that during voir dire, the prosecutor misstated the law regarding the burden of proof.

Karr v. State, No. 02-23-00220-CR (Feb. 8, 2024) (Wallach, J., joined by Bassel and Womack, JJ.).

Held: The trial court did not err by admitting a Department of Public Safety document identifying which offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice corresponded to Texas offenses requiring registration as a sexual offender. But the trial court erred by using one prior conviction to enhance Appellant’s offense to a second-degree felony and further erred by using a second prior conviction to enhance Appellant’s punishment to a first-degree felony. Appellant’s offense was a third-degree felony whose punishment could be enhanced to a second-degree felony. Although the punishment that the trial court assessed was within the punishment range of a second-degree felony, to ensure the integrity of the sentencing procedure, the punishment is reversed and the case is remanded to the trial court for a new trial on punishment.