Mitchell v. State
Mitchell v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant was convicted of the misdemeanor offense of prostitution and the jury assessed punishment at confinement in jail for 180 days and a fine of $750.00.
Appellant’s sole ground of error is that the trial court erred in permitting the arguments of counsel to be made prior to charging the jury at the punishment phase.
The trial court failed to read the punishment charge to the jury until after the State’s closing argument. No objection was made by appellant until after the jury was charged and retired. Then appellant moved for a mistrial as follows: “... Defendant ... ask [sic] that the court declare a mistrial in that the charge was not given to the jury ... until after the lawyers had addressed the jury. It will be fatally prejudicing [sic] the rights of the defendant in this case.” The trial court overruled the motion.
Against this factual background we discuss appellant’s contention that fundamental error is shown by this record.
Appellant makes no complaint as to the language or substance of the court’s charge. Article 37.07, V.A.C.C.P., Section 3(b)
Our disposition of this case is controlled by Quinn v. State, 164 Tex.Cr.R. 125, 297 S.W.2d 157 (Tex.Cr.App. 1956), and McKenzie v. State, 450 S.W.2d 341 (Tex.Cr.App. 1969). The record does not show that the court’s reading of the punishment charge to the jury after the argument of counsel in any way injured the appellant or otherwise operated to prevent her from receiving a fair and impartial trial. Appellant’s ground of error is overruled.
. All references are to Vernon’s Annotated Code of Criminal Procedure.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.