Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of February 24, 2014

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.

Crenshaw v. State, No. 02-08-00304-CR, (Feb. 27, 2014) (Meier, J., joined by McCoy, J.; Dauphinot, J., dissents with opinion).

Held: Because this court is bound by the decisions of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and because Appellant's two points on remand to this court are the same points that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has already overruled, we affirm the trial court's judgment.

Dissent: Although I disagree with it, as I understand the opinion of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in this case, the State in a DWI case is not bound by its pleading alleging loss of use, the defendant is not entitled to notice if the State instead intends to rely on a breath-alcohol level of .08 or above, and the jury charge is irrelevant.

 

In re X.J.T., No. 02-13-00176-CV (Feb. 27, 2014) (Livingston, C.J., joined by Gabriel, J.; Dauphinot, J., dissents with opinion).

Dissent: The trial court abused its discretion by admitting X.J.T.'s statement, which does not comply with Texas law, when (1) the State did not request the trial court to take judicial notice of Mississippi law, (2) the record fails to show that the trial court took judicial notice of that law sua sponte, and (3) the State failed to prove Mississippi law and that the statement was taken in compliance with that law.

 

State v. Munsey, No. 02-12-00610-CR (Feb. 27, 2014) (Walker, J., joined by Gardner and Meier, JJ.).

Held: The trial court erred by granting Munsey's motion to suppress because Trooper Timms had reasonable suspicion to believe that Munsey had violated Texas Transportation Code section 545.058(a) by illegally driving on the improved shoulder when it was not a necessary part of achieving any of the approved statutory purposes.

 

Francis v. State, No. 02-13-00075-CR (Feb. 27, 2014) (McCoy, J., joined by Dauphinot and Walker, JJ.).

Held: Transportation code chapter 547 requires a vehicle's headlights to be illuminated at night. Therefore, Appellant committed a traffic violation when he drove at 2:30 a.m. with only his vehicle's fog lights illuminated.

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