Morales v. State
Morales v. State
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
Because I agree with both Morales and the State that the trial court should have entered only one judgment, I respectfully dissent. I would modify the judgment entered by the trial court to reflect a single judgment with two convictions and two sentences to run concurrently.
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Gilmar Salas Morales was indicted for the offenses of aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child and was found guilty on both counts by a jury. Morales elected assessment of punishment by the trial court and the court sentenced Morales to a term of twenty years confinement for each offense with sentences to run concurrently. The court then prepared two separate judgments — one for Morales’s conviction for aggravated sexual assault and another for his conviction for indecency with a child. On appeal, Morales contends that trial court erred in entering two judgments rather than one judgment and that this error requires a new punishment hearing or, in the alternative, a reformation of the trial court’s judgment.
Morales contends that the trial court should have entered only one judgment because the State prosecuted him for two offenses arising out of the same criminal episode in a single criminal action.
Although article 42.01 permits multiple judgments under these circumstances, other problems exist with the judgments. Article 42.01 provides that sentences will be based on the information contained in the judgment. See Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 42.01 (Vernon Supp. 1998). Morales’s sentences are to run concurrently because the offenses in this case were properly joined for trial under section 3.03 of the Texas Penal Code. See Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 3.03 (Vernon 1994). Although each judgment reflects a conviction of one count of a two-count indictment, neither judgment clearly indicates that the twenty-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault and the twenty-year sentence for indecency with a child are to run
Dissenting opinion by ANGELINI, J.
. The offenses in this case were properly joined under the Texas Penal Code and thus, a single trial was appropriate. See Tex. Pen Code Ann. §§ 3.01, 3.02 (Vernon 1994).
. The reporter’s record indicates that Morales pled "not guilty” to both aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.