State v. Colyandro
State v. Colyandro
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
delivered the opinion of the Court
Charged with conspiracy to violate certain provisions of the Election Code, John Dominick Colyandro, James Walter Ellis, and Thomas Dale Delay moved to quash the charges. They contended that the State failed to allege an offense based on our prior decisions implicitly holding that the offenses defined in Title 4 of the Penal Code, which includes the criminal conspiracy statute, do not apply to offenses defined outside the Penal Code. The trial judge agreed and quashed the charges. The State appealed, and the Third Court of Appeals, bound by our prior holdings,
I. Procedural Background
In 2005, two Travis County grand juries presented indictments charging Colyan-dro, Ellis, and Delay with, among other things, conspiracy to violate the Election Code. In the thud count of an indictment returned by a grand jury to the 147th Judicial District Court on September 13, 2005, Colyandro and Ellis were charged with conspiracy to make an unlawful political contribution in violation of Texas Penal Code Section 15.02 and Sections 253.003(a), 253.094(a), and 253.104 of the Election Code on or about September 13, 2002. An indictment returned on September 28, 2005, to the 147th Judicial District Court charged Colyandro, Ellis, and Delay with conspiracy to make an unlawful political contribution in violation of Section 15.02, Penal Code, and Election Code Sections 253.003, 253.094, and 253.104 on or about September 13, 2002. Finally, a two-count indictment was returned on October 3, 2005, to the 403rd Judicial District Court. The first count of the indictment, which presented two charges, alleged in part that Colyandro, Ellis, and Delay conspired to make an illegal political contribution to a candidate for the Texas House of Representatives in violation of Section 15.02 of the Penal Code and Subchapter D of Chapter 253 of the Election Code “on or about and between the sixth day of September, A.D., 2002, and the fourth day of October, A.D., 2002[J”
Colyandro, Ellis, and Delay moved to quash these charges, contending that they did not allege an offense under Texas law. Relying on our decisions in Moore v. State
In Moore, the appellant was convicted in 1975 under the newly-enacted 1974 Penal Code of “attempting to obtain a controlled substance by fraud.”
*872 we cannot agree that the Legislature in enacting the Controlled Substances Act ... made such omission with the knowledge that the new Penal Code (effective four months after the Controlled Substances Act) would make the necessary provisions for making any attempt to violate any provisions of the Controlled Substances Act a criminal offense.8
Less than five months later, in Baker, we held that the Penal Code’s criminal conspiracy statute did not apply to the Controlled Substances Act.
We reaffirmed Moore and Baker in subsequent cases: Ex parte Lopez,
Shortly after the Moore-Baker line of cases was issued, the Legislature added Section 4.011 to the Controlled Substances Act in 1981.
Countering the arguments of Colyandro, Ellis, and Delay, the State argued that Moore and Baker are distinguishable because they addressed the Controlled Substances Act, not the Election Code, and, in the alternative, were wrongly decided. After reviewing the documents filed by the parties, the trial judge quashed the Election Code-based conspiracy charges. The indictment returned on September 28, 2005, was dismissed. The State then filed interlocutory appeals challenging the trial judge’s decision.
The Austin Court of Appeals affirmed the trial judge’s decision.
The court of appeals first considered the State’s claim that Moore and Baker were wrongly decided. It concluded that as an intermediate appellate court, it was without authority to overrule this Court’s precedent and was therefore bound to follow Moore and Baker.
Focusing on the history of Texas’s criminal conspiracy law, the court stated that “Baker was a marked departure from the generally applicable conspiracy offense that had been on the books for ninety years.”
The court then considered whether Baker is distinguishable and “should be limited in application to the controlled substances act.”
The State petitioned for review, presenting the following ground for our consideration: “The court of appeals erred in holding that, prior to September 1, 2003, the criminal conspiracy provisions of section 15.02 of the Texas Penal Code did not apply to the felony offense of making an illegal contribution under the Texas Election Code.” We granted review.
II. Analysis
Advancing the same arguments it offered in the district court and the court of appeals, the State urges us to (1) expressly overrule Moore and Baker or (2) limit their application.
A.
We first address the State’s argument that Moore and Baker should be limited. The State argues that the court of appeals erred by extending Moore and Baker to offenses defined in the Election Code and requests that we restrict Moore and Baker to inchoate offenses involving an object offense defined in the Controlled Substances Act.
Title 1 of the Penal Code, labeled “INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS,” includes Chapter 1, which is designated “GENERAL PROVISIONS.”
The provisions of Titles 1, 2, and 3 of this code apply to offenses defined by other laws, unless the statute defining the offense provides otherwise; however, the punishment affixed to an offense defined outside this code shall be applicable unless the punishment is classified in accordance with this code.40
In Moore, based on our reading of Section 1.03(b), we held that Section 1.03(b) precludes the application of the criminal attempt statute, contained in Title 4 of the Penal Code, to offenses in the Controlled Substances Act.
B.
1.
We next consider the State’s contention that Moore and Baker should be overruled. Relying on our decision in Boykin v. State, which established our principal rules for statutory interpretation,
To put the State’s argument in perspective, a review of the statutes cited by the State is beneficial at this point. “Felony,” as defined in Penal Code Section 1.07(a)(23), “means an offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary.”
(a) A person commits criminal conspiracy if, with intent that a felony be committed:
(1) he agrees with one or more persons that they or one or more of them engage in conduct that would constitute the offense; and
(2) he or one or more of them performs an overt act in pursuance of the agreement.45
Section 253.003 of the Election Code defines the offense of “Unlawfully Making or Accepting Contribution.”
Located in Subchapter D, Section 253.094, titled “Contributions and Expenditures Prohibited,” states:
(a) A corporation or labor organization may not make a political contribution or political expenditure that is not authorized by this subchapter.
(b) A corporation or labor organization may not make a political contribution or political expenditure in connection with a recall election, including the circulation*876 and submission of a petition to call an election.
(c) A person who violates this section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.50
Section 253.104, also located in Sub-chapter D, is labeled “Contribution to Political Party.”
In opposition, Colyandro, Ellis, and Delay collectively argue that the plain language of Section 1.03(b) establishes that the criminal conspiracy statute does not apply to offenses defined outside the Penal Code unless an extra-Penal Code provision provides otherwise. And, as a result, they contend that in 2002, Section 15.02 did not apply to violations of the Election Code. They further claim that Moore and Baker were correctly decided and fault the State for failing to acknowledge the Legislature’s response to Moore and Baker — the addition of Section 4.011 to the Controlled Substances Act — and the Legislature’s 2003 amendment to the Election Code, which added Section 1.018. The Legislature, they argue, could have amended Section 1.03(b) to include Title 4, but did not.
During oral argument, we sought clarification from the State about its position on the various Penal Code provisions at issue. We asked whether Section 1.03(b) has the effect of exporting only Titles 1, 2, and 3 of the Penal Code to offenses defined outside the Penal Code unless the extra-Penal Code statute defining an offense provides otherwise. The State agreed with this characterization of the effect of Section 1.03(b). And when questioned about whether the definition of “felony” in the Penal Code has the effect of importing felony offenses defined outside the Penal Code into certain offenses defined in the Penal Code, and in particular, the criminal conspiracy statute by virtue of the statute’s requirement that a person commit the offense “with intent that a felony be committed[,]”
Over fourteen years after interpreting Section 1.03(b) in Moore and Baker, we issued our decision in Boykin.
Although we did not invoke Boykin’s rules for statutory construction when discerning the meaning of Section 1.03(b) in Moore and Baker, our approach nevertheless conformed to Boykin’s mandate. In Moore and Baker, we focused on the literal text of Section 1.03(b) and found that Section 1.03(b) does not apply to the criminal attempt and conspiracy statutes.
But given the State’s arguments here, we must consider whether we reached the correct result in Moore and Baker, specifically, whether Section 1.03(b) is determinative and therefore precludes the application of the criminal conspiracy statute to felony offenses defined outside the Penal Code. In doing so, we must ask: Were we remiss in considering only Section 1.03(b), thereby failing to take into consideration the criminal conspiracy statute, Section 15.02, Penal Code, and the definition of “felony” in Section 1.07(a)(23) of the Penal Code in Baker? Compelling legislative ratification of our prior interpretation of Penal Code Section 1.03(b) leads us to conclude that the answer is no.
When faced with a challenge to a prior judicial construction of a statute, we have long recognized that prolonged legislative silence or inaction following a judicial interpretation implies that the Legislature has approved of the interpretation.
*878 “[W]e presume the Legislature intends the same construction to continue to apply to a statute when the Legislature meets without overturning that construction.”67 In recognition of this, we have, on occasion, when reaffirming a prior judicial construction of a statute, stated that the prior interpretation was correct when, over the course of many years, it had not been legislatively overruled.68
More recently, however, we stated that “legislative inaction does not necessarily equate to legislative approval.”
Certainly when a legislature reenacts a law using the same terms that have been judicially construed in a particular manner, one may reasonably infer that the legislature approved of the judicial interpretation. There is considerably less force (though still some) to the argument that if a legislature does not agree with the judicial interpretation of the words or meaning of a statute, the legislature would surely have immediately changed the statute.70
Therefore, the following statement, the substance of which originated from a case before us in 1946, remains true today: “where a statute has been reenacted by the Legislature with knowledge of the judicial construction thereof a court would not be justified in overruling such decision.”
The ' Legislature’s actions following Moore and Baker and their progeny demonstrate that it has ratified our interpretation of Section 1.03(b). Since those decisions, the Legislature has carefully crafted statutes to make offenses defined in Title 4 of the Penal Code directly applicable to offenses defined outside the Penal Code. The Legislature has also retained extra-Penal Code criminal statutes incorporating conspiracy or attempt or both. In other instances, the Legislature has amended or enacted extra-Penal Code criminal statutes to include either conspiracy or attempt or both. At the same time, the Legislature has abstained from amending Section 1.03(b) of the Penal Code to include Title 4.
Shortly after the Moore-Baker line of cases, in 1981, the 67th Legislature added Section 4.011 to the Controlled Substances Act, which made Title 4 applicable to Section 4.052, the offense of illegal investment,
In 1989, the 71st Legislature moved the Controlled Substances Act from the Revised Civil Statutes to the Health and Safety Code.
Title 4, Penal Code, applies to Section 481.126[, which defines the offense of Illegal Expenditure and Investment,] and offenses designated as aggravated offenses under this subchapter, except that the punishment for a preparatory offense is the same as the punishment prescribed for the offense that was the object of the preparatory offense.77
Notably, despite the addition of a provision making Title 4 applicable to specific offenses in the Controlled Substances Act and subsequent amendments to that provision, all of which were made during a nine-year period, the Legislature never amended Section 1.03(b) of the Penal Code to include Title 4.
The 73rd Legislature amended both Section 481.108 of the Health and Safety Code
In amending Section 481.108, the Legislature further restricted the applicability of Title 4, making it applicable only to the offense of illegal expenditure or investment as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 481.126. As amended, Section 481.108 read as follows:
Title 4, Penal Code, applies to Section 481.126, except that the punishment for a preparatory offense under Section 481.126 is the punishment for a first degree felony.80
The Legislature deleted the reference to offenses identified as aggravated in Section 481.108
The provisions of Titles 1, 2, and 3 of this code apply to offenses defined by other laws, unless the statute defining the offense provides otherwise; however, the punishment affixed to an offense defined outside this code shall be applicable unless the punishment is classified in accordance with this code.83
The 73rd Legislature deleted the words “of this code” from that Section.
(c) In this code:
(1) a reference to a title, chapter, or section without further identification is a reference to a title, chapter, or section of this code;....85
With the addition of Subsection (c)(1) to Section 1.05, the deletion of the text “of this code” from Section 1.03(b) indicates that the Legislature deemed the deleted text to be superfluous. Even though Health and Safety Code Section 481.108 and Penal Code Section 1.03(b) were reviewed and amended together, the Legislature did not amend Section 1.03(b) to include Title 4.
During the 1995 Regular Session, the 74th Legislature amended Section 481.108 of the Controlled Substances Act to apply to all offenses in Chapter 481.
At the same time, pursuant to Senate Bill 15, the Legislature also added provisions to the Simulated Controlled Substances Act, the Dangerous Drugs Act, the Volatile Chemicals Act, and the Abusable Volatile Chemicals Act to make Penal Code, Title 4 applicable. Section 482.005, which was added 'to the Simulated Controlled Substances Act, made Title 4 of the Penal Code applicable ■ to offenses under Chapter 482.
In 2001, the Legislature repealed Section 484.004 from the Volatile Chemicals Act along with numerous other statutes contained in that Act.
The Legislature has clearly delineated exactly when Title 4 of the Penal Code will apply to offenses defined outside of the Penal Code. In the thirty years since Moore and Baker were decided, the Legislature has not amended Section 1.03(b) to include Title 4. Instead, it has taken an unmistakable piecemeal approach when it comes to making the offenses contained in Title 4 of the Penal Code applicable to extra-Penal Code criminal offenses. Although we generally presume that the Legislature was aware of our interpretation of a particular statute when it later amends or reenacts that statute after we have rendered a judicial construction,
Consistent with the approach that the Legislature has taken when making Title 4 applicable to offenses defined outside the Penal Code, the Legislature has maintained and enacted statutes proscribing specific felony offenses involving conspiracy in criminal statutes located outside the Penal Code. Examples of those statutes can be found in the Alcoholic Beverage Code,
A survey of criminal statutes located outside of the Penal Code also reveals that the Legislature has retained and enacted statutes proscribing specific felony offenses involving attempt or amended existing statutes to include attempt. We have already cited to three of those statutes. Section 15.05(b) of the Business and Commerce Code makes it unlawful for a person to “attempt to monopolize” “any part of trade or commerce.”
Section 481.129(a)(5) of the Controlled Substances Act contains the most historically-noteworthy example.
Other examples of statutes prohibiting criminal attempt are located in the Election Code,
Taken together, these legislative acts establish that, over the course of the past thirty years, the Legislature has repeatedly approved of our interpretation of Section 1.03(b) of the Penal Code that was rendered in Moore and Baker. From this we conclude that our prior construction of Section 1.03(b) is correct. Overruling that construction now would be unjustified; we would impermissibly launch ourselves into the role of super-legislators, disturbing the State’s legislatively-established penal laws.
Adhering to our prior decisions, we hold that Section 1.03(b) controls the application of Penal Code provisions to criminal offenses defined outside the Penal Code. It directs the export of the provisions contained only in Titles 1, 2, and 3 of the Penal Code to criminal offenses defined outside the Penal Code and contemporaneously bars the import of extra-Penal Code offenses to offenses defined in Titles 4 through 11 of the Penal Code. The offenses defined in Title 4 of the Penal Code
III. Conclusion
Having determined that our holdings in Moore and Baker cannot be restricted to offenses defined in the Controlled Substances Act and that our interpretation of Section 1.03(b) of the Penal Code in those cases was correct, we affirm the judgment of the Third Court of Appeals upholding the trial judge’s decision to quash the Election Code-based conspiracy charges against Colyandro, Ellis, and Delay.
KELLER, P.J., filed a concurring opinion in which PRICE, J., joined.
PRICE, J., filed a concurring opinion.
. 545 S.W.2d 140 (Tex.Crim.App. 1976).
. 547 S.W.2d 627 (Tex.Crim.App. 1977).
. Id. at 142.
. Id. at 141.
. Id. at 142.
. Id.
. Id. at 629.
. Id.
. 549 S.W.2d 401, 402 (Tex.Crim.App. 1977).
. 547 S.W.2d 631, 632 (Tex.Crim.App. 1977).
. 561 S.W.2d 844, 844-45 (Tex.Crim.App. 1978).
. 568 S.W.2d 137, 138 (Tex.Crim.App. 1978).
. Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 4476-15, § 4.011 (Vernon Supp. 1981), added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 268, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1981 (current version at Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.108 (Vernon 2003) (stating "Title 4, Penal Code, applies to an offense under this chapter.")); Woods v. State, 801 S.W.2d 932, 942 (Tex.App.-Austin 1990, pet. ref’d).
. Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 4476-15, § 4.011.
. Tex. Elec.Code Ann. § 1.018 (Vernon Supp. 2004), added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 393, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
. Id.
. TexCode Crim. Proc. art. 44.01(a)(1).
. State v. DeLay, 208 S.W.3d 603, 607-08 (Tex.App.-Austin 2006); State v. Colyandro, Nos. 03-05-00811-CR, 03-05-00812-CR, 03-
. DeLay, 208 S.W.3d at 603.
. Colyandro, 2006 Tex.App. LEXIS 3195, 2006 WL 1041054.
. Ellis, 2006 Tex.App. LEXIS 3192, 2006 WL 1041051.
. Colyandro, 2006 Tex.App. LEXIS 3195, at *2, 2006 WL 1041054, at *1 Ellis, 2006 Tex.App. LEXIS 3192, at *2, 2006 WL 1041051, at *1.
. DeLay, 208 S.W.3d at 604, 607.
. Id. at 607.
. Id.
. Id. at 606 (citing Act of Feb. 4, 1884, 18th Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 14, § 1, 1884 Tex. Gen. Laws 25, 25).
. Id. (citing Texas Penal Code, A Proposed Revision § 15.02 cmt. at 137 (Final Draft October 1970)).
. Id.
. Id. (citing Tex Penal Code Ann. § 1.03(b)).
. Id.
. Mat 607.
. Id.
. Id.
. Id. at 607-08.
. Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 399, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974 (current version at Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 1.03(b) (Vernon 2003)).
. Id.
. Id.
. 545 S.W.2dat 142.
. 547 S.W.2d at 629.
. 818 S.W.2d 782, 785-86 (Tex.Crim.App. 1991).
. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 1.07(a)(23) (Vernon Supp. 2002).
. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 15.02 (Vernon Supp. 2002).
. Tex. Elec.Code Ann. § 253.003 (Vernon Supp. 2002).
. Tex Elec.Code Ann. § 253.003(a).
. Tex Elec.Code Ann. § 253.003(b).
. Tex Elec.Code Ann. § 253.003(e).
. Tex. Elec.Code Ann. § 253.094 (Vernon Supp. 2002).
. Tex Elec.Code Ann. § 253.104 (Vernon Supp. 2002).
. Tex. Elec.Code Ann. § 253.104(b).
. Tex. Elec.Code Ann. § 253.104(a).
. Tex. Elec.Code Ann. § 253.104(c).
. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 15.02(a).
. Id. at 785.
. Id.
. Id. (emphasis in original).
. Moore, 545 S.W.2d at 142; Baker, 547 S.W.2d at 629.
. Moore, 545 S.W.2d at 142; Baker, 547 S.W.2d at 629.
. Moore, 545 S.W.2d at 142.
. Id. 141-42.
. DeLay, 208 S.W.3d at 607; see also Baker, 547 S.W.2d at 628-29.
. Moore v. State, 868 S.W.2d 787, 790 (Tex.Crim.App. 1993) (citing Watson v. State, 532 S.W.2d 619, 622 (Tex.Crim.App. 1976); Lockhart v. State, 150 Tex.Crim. 230, 235, 200 S.W.2d 164, 167-68 (1947) (op. on reh’g)); State v. Hall, 829 S.W.2d 184, 187 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992); Lewis v. State, 58 Tex.Crim. 351, 361-62, 127 S.W. 808, 812 (1910); see also Watson v. State, 900 S.W.2d 60, 67 (Tex.Crim.App. 1995) (Clinton, J., concurring); Garcia v. State, 829 S.W.2d 796, 803 n. 2 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992) (Miller, J., concurring).
. Awadelkariem v. State, 974 S.W.2d 721, 725 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998) (citing State v. Hardy, 963 S.W.2d 516, 523 (Tex.Crim.App. 1997)); see also Lewis, 58 Tex.Crim. at 361, 127 S.W. at 812.
. Connolly v. State, 983 S.W.2d 738, 741 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999); Hall, 829 S.W.2d at 187; see also Smith v. State, 5 S.W.3d 673, 678 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999).
. State v. Medrano, 67 S.W.3d 892, 903 (Tex.Crim.App. 2002).
. Id. at 902 (emphasis in original).
. Collier v. Poe, 732 S.W.2d 332, 345 (Tex.Crim.App. 1987) (citing Brown v. State, 150 Tex.Crim. 386, 389, 196 S.W.2d 819, 821 (1946)).
. TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 4476-15, § 4.052 (Vernon Supp. 1981).
. Added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 268, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1981.
. Id.
. Acts 1983, 68th Leg., ch. 425, § 4, eff. Aug. 29, 1983; see also 68th Leg., ch. 425, H.B. 1191 at 2361-62 (noting reenactment of Section 4.011 and larger effort to revise, reco-dify, and reenact substantive and procedural laws in the Controlled Substances Act).
. Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989; see also Marks v. State, 830 S.W.2d 113, 114 n. 1 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992).
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.108 (Vernon 1990).
. Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 2.02, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.
. Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.108 (Vernon Supp. 1994).
. Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 2.02, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.
. Id. (amending Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.112(c), 481.113(c), 481.114(c), 481.115(c), 481.116(c), 481.117(c), 481.118(c), 481.120(c), 481.121(c), 481.122(a)).
. Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.
. Id.
. Id.
. Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 318, ,§ 36, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.108 (Vernon Supp. 1996).
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.108 (Vernon 2003; Vernon Supp. 2006).
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 482.005 (Vernon Supp.1996; Vernon 2003), added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 318, § 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 483.053 (Vernon Supp.1996; Vernon 2003), added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 318, § 40, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
. Id.
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 484.008 (Vernon Supp. 1996), added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 318, § 42, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 485.039 (Vernon Supp. 1996), added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 318, § 43, eff. Sept. 1, 1995, (cur
. Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1463, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; see also Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 459, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
. Tex Elec.Code Ann. § 1.018 (Vernon Supp. 2006), added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 393, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
. Moore v. State, 868 S.W.2d 787, 790 (Tex.Crim.App. 1993); Grunsfeld v. State, 843 S.W.2d 521, 523 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992).
. Tex. Alco. Bev.Code Ann. § 104.03 (Vernon 1995) (conspiracy; accepting unlawful benefit), Acts 1977, 65th Leg., ch. 194, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977, (previously codified at Tex Penal Aux. Laws art. 666-17(26) (Vernon 1974) (Acts 1949, 51st Leg., ch. 543, § 7, eff. Oct. 4, 1949)); Tex Alco. Bev.Code Ann. § 206.06 (Vernon 1995) (forgery or counterfeiting), Acts 1977, 65th Leg., ch. 194, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977, (previously codified at Tex Penal Aux. Laws art. 666-28 (Vernon 1974) (Acts 1937, 45th Leg., ch. 448, § 36, eff. Aug. 21, 1937)).
. Tex Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § 15.05 (Vernon 2002) (unlawful acts), amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., ch. 519, § 1, eff. Aug. 29, 1983, (previously codified at Tex. Bus. & Com.Code § 15.04(a) (Vernon Supp. 1968), Acts 1967, 60th Leg., ch. 785, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1967); Tex Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § 15.22 (Vernon 2002) (criminal suits), amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., ch. 519, § 3, eff. Aug. 29, 1983) (previously codified at Tex. Bus. & Com.Code § 15.33 (Vernon Supp. 1968), Acts 1967, 60th Leg., ch. 785, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1967).
. Tex Gov’t Code Ann. § 466.313 (Vernon 2004) (conspiracy), added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 107, § 4.03(b), eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 466.303 (Vernon 2004) (sale of ticket by unauthorized person), added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 107, § 4.03(b), eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Tex Gov’t Code Ann. § 466.3054 (Vernon 2004) (group purchase arrangements), added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, § 6.38, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Tex Gov’t Code Ann. § 466.306 (Vernon 2004) (forgery; alteration of ticket), added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 107, § 4.03(b), eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Tex Gov’t Code Ann. § 466.307 (Vernon 2004)
. Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 542.303(a) (Vernon 1999) (inchoate offenses applicable to offenses in subtitle C, which includes chapters 541-53), Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995, (previously codified at TexRev.Civ. Stat. § 145 (Vernon 1948) (parties to a crime), Acts 1947, 50th Leg., ch. 421, art. XVII, eff. Sept. 4, 1947); Tex Transp. Code Ann. § 548.603(b), (d) (Vernon 1999) (fictitious or counterfeit inspection certificate or insurance document) (offense defined in subsection (b) and text of subsection (d) designating offense in subsection (b) as either a third- or second-degree felony), added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1069, § 16, eff. June 19, 1997; Tex Transp. Code Ann. § 545.420(a), (g)-(h) (Vernon Supp. 2006) (racing on highway) (subsections (g) and (h) making offense subject to either a third- or second-degree-felony punishment), added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 535, § 1, Sept. 1, 2003, (previously codified at TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 6701(d), § 185 (Vernon Supp. 1972), added by Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., ch. 83, § 94, eff. Aug. 30, 1971).
. Tex Gov’t Code Ann. § 557.001 (Vernon 2004), Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 268, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993, (previously codified at TexRev. Civ. Stat. art. 6889-3A, §§ 5(3) (unlawful acts), 6 (punishment for violations) (Vernon Supp. 1956), Acts 1954, 53rd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, eff. Apr. 15, 1954).
. Tex Hum. Res.Code Ann. § 36.002(9) (Vernon 2001) (unlawful acts), added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 824, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995, amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1153, § 4.03, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 233, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
. Tex Hum. Res.Code Ann. § 36.13l(b)(5)-(7) (Vernon 2001) (criminal offense), added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1153, § 4.09, eff. Sept. 1, 1997, repealed by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 806, § 19, eff. Sept. 1, 2005.
. Tex Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § 15.05(b); see also text accompanying note 98 supra.
. Tex Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § 15.22(a); see also text accompanying note 98 supra.
. Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 557.001(a)-(b); see also text accompanying note 101 supra.
. Tex Transp. Code Ann. § 542.303(a); see also text accompanying note 100 supra.
. Tex Transp. Code Ann. § 548.603(b), (d); see also text accompanying note 100 supra.
. Tex Transp. Code Ann. § 545.420(a), (g)(h); see also text accompanying note 100 supra.
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.129(a)(5), (d) (Vernon 2003) (offense: fraud), amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 251, § 23, eff. Sept. 1, 2001, (previously codified at Tex Health & Safety Code § 481.129(a)(4) (Vernon 1990), added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989); TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 4476-15, § 4.09(a)(3) (Vernon Supp. 1986), amended by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., § 11, eff. Sept. 1, 1985; TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 4476-15, § 4.09(a)(3), (b) (Vernon Supp. 1979), amended by Acts 1978, 66th Leg., ch. 90, § 6, eff. May 2, 1979.
. TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 4476-15, § 4.09(a)(3) (Vernon 1974).
. Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 268, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1981.
. Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. art. 4476-15, § 4.09(a)(3) (Vernon Supp. 1979), amended by Acts 1979, 66th Leg., ch. 90, § 6, eff. May 2, 1979; see also Ex parte Holbrook, 609 S.W.2d 541, 542 (Tex.Crim.App. 1980) (observing that Section "4.09(a)(3) of the Act was amended in 1979 to specifically include the ‘attempt to acquire or obtain possession of a controlled substance’ in the description of offenses under that section.”).
. Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 227, § 10, eff. Sept. 1, 1985; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 251, § 23, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
. Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 318, § 36, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.129(a)(5) (Vernon 2003).
. Tex Elec.Code Ann. § 2.054 (Vernon 2003) (coercion against candidacy prohibited), added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 667, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
. Tex Gov’t Code Ann. § 466.307 (Vernon 2004) (influencing selection of winner), added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 107, § 4.03(b), eff. Aug. 30, 1993, (previously codified at TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 179g, § 4.03(a)(2), (b) (Vernon Supp. 1992), added by Acts 1991,
. Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 557.011 (Vernon 2004) (sabotage), added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 268, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993, (previously codified at Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. art. 6889-3, § 5 (Vernon Supp. 1952), Acts 1951, 52nd Leg., ch. 8, eff. Feb. 27, 1951); Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 557.012 (Vernon 2004) (capital sabotage), added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 268, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993, (previously codified at Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. art. 6889-3, § 5 (Vernon Supp. 1952), Acts 1951, 52nd Leg., ch. 8, eff. Feb. 27, 1951); Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 821.101(b) (Vernon 2004) (conversion of funds; fraud), amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 179, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989, (previously codified at Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. tit. 110B, § 31.101 (Vernon Supp. 1984), Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 453, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1981; Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. art. 2922-1.06 (Vernon Supp. 1970), Acts 1969, 61st Leg., ch. 41, § 1, eff. Mar. 31, 1969). But see TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 2922-1, § 10 (Vernon Supp. 1950), Acts 1949, 51st Leg., ch. 139, art. IX, eff. May 10, 1949.
. Tex Health & Safety Code Ann. § 195.003(d), (f) (Vernon 2001) (false records), added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989, amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 15, § 5.15, eff. Sept. 1, 1991, (previously codified at TexRev. Civ. Stat. art. 4477c, § 2(a)(3), (b) (Vernon Supp. 1979), Acts 1979, 66th Leg., ch. 146, § 1, eff. May 11, 1979, repealed by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 13; Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. art. 4477c (Vernon 1974), Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 367, § 2, eff. June 12, 1973; Tex Penal Code art. 781(a) (Vernon 1936)).
. Tex Occ.Code Ann. § 2153.357 (Vernon 2004) (criminal offense; obtaining license by fraud), added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999, (previously codified at TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 8817, § 8(2) (Vernon Supp. 1993), Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 486, § 1.15, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. art. 8817, § 8(2) (Vernon Supp. 1990) (adding attempt), Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1096, § 14, eff. Sept. 1, 1989; TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 8817, § 8(2) (Vernon 1984), Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 389, §§ 33, 39, eff. Jan. 1, 1982; TexRev.Civ. Stat., Title 122A, Taxation — General, art. 13.17, § 8(6) (Vernon Supp. 1970), Acts 1969, 61st Leg., ch. 497, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1969); Tex Occ.Code Ann. § 2153.359(a)(2), (b) (Vernon 2004) (criminal offense; prohibited transactions), added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, § 1, eff. Sept. 1.1999 (previously codified at TexRev.Civ. Stat. art. 8817, § 26(l)-(3) (Vernon 1984), Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 389, §§ 33, 39, eff. Jan. 1, 1982, Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 770, § 7, eff. Sept. 1, 1981; Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat., Title 122A, Taxation — General, art. 13.17, § 27(4) (Vernon Supp. 1970), Acts 1969, 61st Leg., ch. 497, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1969).
Dissenting Opinion
filed a dissenting opinion
KELLER, P.J., concurring in which PRICE, J., joined.
The dissenting opinion contends that we should overrule Moore v. State
The dissent also suggests that a legislative fix might have unintended consequences. But that is a reason for this Court to refrain from creating a “judicial fix” to change the legal interpretation expounded in Baker and Moore. It is not the least bit absurd to conclude that the legislature may have intended to limit the application of the inchoate offense provisions to certain felonies as opposed to
Finally, even if the dissent were correct in concluding that Baker and Moore should be overruled, the new interpretation could not be applied to these defendants. Due process prohibits a court from retroactively applying a more expansive interpretation of a criminal offense provision that is “unexpected and indefensible by reference to the law which had been expressed prior to the conduct in issue.”
With these comments, I join the Court’s opinion.
. 545 S.W.2d 140 (Tex.Crim.App. 1976)
. 547 S.W.2d 627 (Tex.Crim.App. 1977).
. Busby v. State, 990 S.W.2d 263, 267 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999).
. Rogers v. Tennessee, 532 U.S. 451, 457, 121 S.Ct. 1693, 149 L.Ed.2d 697 (2001)(quoting Bouie v. City of Columbia, 378 U.S. 347, 352, 84 S.Ct. 1697, 12 L.Ed.2d 894 (1964)).
. Id.
Concurring Opinion
concurring.
For the reasons expressed in Judge Keasler’s opinion for the Court, and in Presiding Judge Keller’s concurring opinion, I agree that we should not presently overrule the opinions in Moore v. State and Baker v. State.
Were we writing on the proverbial pristine slate, construing the statutory scheme for the first time, I would be persuaded by Judge Cochran’s dissenting opinion to a different view. She makes a compelling argument why Moore and Baker were wrongly decided. But, in the final analysis, it should take more than an argument, however compelling, that precedent (and especially, as here, legislatively ratified precedent) is wrong to justify overruling it, consistent with principles of stare decisis. This is especially true, as the Presiding Judge points out, with respect to precedent construing penal provisions, in which context the necessity for notice and predictability is paramount. The holdings of Moore and Baker are not so unreasonable or outlandish that we should have expected these appellees to realize that they could not rely upon them in gauging the lawfulness of their conduct.
Having said that, I would not rule out the possibility that, on some future occasion, the Court might justifiably overrule these questionable precedents. Our various opinions in the present cases should arguably serve to notify the public that future reliance upon the holdings of Moore and Baker to justify engaging in a conspiracy to commit a felony not enumerated in the Penal Code would be, at best, unwise.
With these additional comments, I join the Court’s opinion.
. Moore v. State, 545 S.W.2d 140 (Tex.Crim.App. 1976); Baker v. State, 547 S.W.2d 627 (Tex.Crim.App. 1977).
. See Ex parte Lewis, 219 S.W.3d 335, 380 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007) (Price, J., dissenting) (prior precedent not so "unreasonable” or "outlandish” as to justify overruling it just because a present majority of the Court perceives it to be wrong).
. See Annotation, Prospective or Retroactive Operation of Overruling Decision, 10 A.L.R.3d 1371, §§ 7[a] & [b], at 1393 & 1396 (1966) ("[I]t is now generally recognized that a court has the power ... to overrule a case purely prospectively and give the overruling decision no retroactive effect whatsoever, that is, to hold that the rule established by the overruling decision will operate only upon future transactions or events and will not even be operative upon the parties to the overruling case.”) ("It appears true that a judicial statement purporting to ‘overrule’ a case wholly prospectively is in fact no more than a dictum, since it is, by hypothesis, inapplicable to the parties or the controversy before the court. However, especially where there has been strong reliance on an earlier decision, the most equitable way of overturning the earlier decision may be to hold that the parties to a particular case are to have their rights governed by the earlier decision, but to warn, by means of dictum, that anyone who subsequently relies upon the earlier decision — after the date of the court’s opinion or after some other date specified by the court— will be doing so at his peril. * * * If a person subsequently attempts to rely on an earlier decision despite such a warning against further reliance, the court, in deciding that person’s case, can conclude that reliance after the date specified in the warning was unjustified, and the court can then declare, as a holding rather than as dictum, that the earlier decision is overruled. Thus, by using a two-stage overruling process, consisting first of a warning in the form of a dictum and secondly, if necessary, of a holding overruling an earlier decision, the court can achieve a desirable effect by changing a bad rule without defeating any strong reliance interests.”).
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting, in which MEYERS, JOHNSON and HOLCOMB, JJ., joined.
I respectfully dissent.
In this case we are asked if any and all felony offenses, whether defined in the Penal Code or in some other Texas statute, may form the basis of a conspiracy charge under Section 15.02 of the Penal Code. Were it not for two wayward 1976 and 1977 opinions written by Commissioner Davis over the strong dissent of Judge Douglas, the answer to this question would be obvious. Yes, any felony offense is subject to the Penal Code conspiracy provision. Thus, a person may be prosecuted for conspiring to commit any felony offense, whether that felony is defined in the Penal Code or elsewhere in Texas law. The plain language of the conspiracy statute requires this result. The structure, legislative intent, and history of the 1974 Penal Code all require this result. Common sense requires this result. Public policy requires this result. Only two poorly reasoned opinions from the mid 1970s, Moore v. State
A. The Plain Language of the Penal Code Conspiracy Statute.
In construing the meaning of any statute, we look first to the plain language of that statute.
Section 15.02 of the Penal Code defines the criminal offense of conspiracy:
(a) A person commits criminal conspiracy if, with the intent that a felony be committed:
(1) he agrees with one or more persons that they or one or more of them engage in conduct that would constitute the offense; and
(2) he or one or more of them performs an overt act in pursuance of the agreement.8
There is absolutely nothing in the plain language of this statute that states or suggests that the Legislature really meant “a felony defined in the Penal Code” when it said “a felony” in defining the offense of conspiracy. In normal English usage, the phrase “a felony” means “any felony.” Under Boykin, our statutory analysis should end right there.
Is there anything else in the Penal Code that states or suggests that the phrase “a felony” in the conspiracy statute really means “a felony defined in the Penal Code”? No, quite the reverse. Section 1.07 of the Penal Code, the provision that sets out the definitions of words that are used in the Penal Code, states:
(a) In this Code:
(23) “Felony” means an offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary.9
Under normal rules of English construction, any time the word “felony” is used in the Penal Code, it means any offense that is titled or listed as a “felony” regardless of whether that felony is defined in the Penal Code or some other statute. Once again, under Boykin, our statutory analysis should end right there.
The Election Code provisions dealing with illegal contributions that Messieurs DeLay, Colyandro, and Ellis are charged with having conspired to violate are all third-degree felonies.
B. The Structure, Legislative Intent, and History of the Penal Code Conspiracy Statute.
Messieurs Delay, Colyandro, and Ellis argue (as did Commissioner Davis in Moore and Baker) that we cannot follow the plain language of the conspiracy statute or the definition of “a felony” in section I.07 because section 1.03(b) of the Penal Code forbids us from using felonies defined outside the Penal Code as the basis for a conspiracy offense. Section 1.03(b) says no such thing. Nor does it imply any such thing. But to counter that argument one must examine the basic structure of the Penal Code.
The Penal Code is divided into eleven titles.
Section 1.03 of the Penal Code is captioned “Effect of Code.” Subsection (b) reads:
The provisions of Titles 1, 2, and 3 apply to offenses defined by other laws, unless the statute defining the offense provides otherwise; however, the punishment affixed to an offense defined outside this code shall be applicable unless the punishment is classified in accordance with this code.13
This subsection ensures that the general statutory provisions of the Penal Code, such as the defenses to or justifications excluding criminal responsibility (self-defense, insanity, necessity, duress, etc.), party liability for criminal offenses (accomplice liability), and criminal responsibility of a corporation, apply not only to the criminal offenses defined within the Penal Code but to all criminal offenses defined in other Texas statutes. It is an “export” provision: one can cut and paste these three titles onto each and every criminal offense defined outside the Penal Code unless the extra-Penal Code crime statute
Messieurs Delay, Colyandro, and Ellis argue that because section 1.03(b) does not mention Title 4, in which the crime of conspiracy is defined, that crime of conspiracy cannot be “exported” and applied to other crimes defined outside the Penal Code. Well, of course not. The crime of conspiracy is a distinct and specific criminal offense, just like murder, burglary, kidnaping, theft, and so forth. It is not a part of the general provisions of the Penal Code applicable to all crimes; it is a specific crime itself.
It would make no sense to say, in section 1.03(b), that the general provisions of Titles 1, 2, and 3, as well as Titles 4-11 defining specific crimes, apply to offenses defined by other laws. Commissioner Davis back in 1976 and 1977 made a grievous, but understandable, mistake. In Baker, he apparently thought that the specific crime of conspiracy was really a general principle provision
But what the conspiracy statute explicitly requires one to do is “import” any felony — whether defined as a felony inside or outside the Penal Code — into the crime of conspiracy. When a crime defined in the Penal Code has, as part of its basis, “a felony,” then, under the explicit definition of a “felony” under section 1.07(a)(23), one may cut and paste any felony crime defined in any Texas statute into that specific Penal Code offense. That is what section 1.07(a)(23) requires. For example, the crime of conspiracy requires that the person act “with intent that a felony be committed,” that he agrees with at least one other person that one of them will commit the felony offense, and that one of them performs an overt act in furtherance of their agreement.
Following the logic of Baker, it would not be a crime to abduct a person with the intent to facilitate the commission of a felony that is defined outside the Penal Code because Title 5 (which contains the definition of the crime of aggravated kid-naping) is not mentioned in section 1.08(b) as being applicable to offenses defined outside the Penal Code. This is an absurd result and surely not one intended by the Legislature when it enacted the 1974 Penal Code. In all of these examples, the Legislature obviously meant “any felony” when it used the phrase “a felony.” Especially since the definition of a “felony” in section 1.07(a)(23) says exactly that. How much clearer can or should the Legislature be? Section 1.03(b) does not reference any of the Penal Code titles in which these offenses are defined as applying outside the Penal Code and indeed these offenses do not apply outside the Penal Code. But felony offenses that are defined outside the Penal Code surely may be imported into the specific Penal Code crimes that require the commission of “a felony” as part of that crime’s definition.
Does the history of the 1974 Penal Code support the notion that only those felonies defined within the Penal Code may be the basis for the crime of conspiracy? No. The Committee Comment to the Final Draft of the Proposed Texas Penal Code explained that the purpose of section 15.02, defining the crime of conspiracy, was to clarify the existing law against criminal conspiracy. It stated:
Criminal conspiracy, a common-law crime, has become firmly established as an offense that serves dual roles in modern criminal jurisprudence. Functioning as an inchoate offense, criminal conspiracy fixes the point of legal intervention at agreement to commit a crime coupled with an overt act. Thus, it reaches further back into preparatory conduct than criminal attempt, Section 15.01, but not as far back as criminal solicitation, Section 15.03. In its second role criminal conspiracy provides a means of striking against the special danger incident to group criminal activity and facilitates prosecution of the group by providing extraordinary evi-dentiary and procedural advantages. Section 15.02 is essentially a clarification of the present Texas law of conspiracy, Penal Code arts. 1622-1629, emphasizing the inchoate aspect of the offense without interfering with the procedural and evidentiary advantages of the group prosecution aspect of the offense.21
Under the common law, the crime of conspiracy applied to any criminal offense, felony or misdemeanor.
C. Common Sense and Public Policy Considerations.
Is there any common-sense reason to think that the crime of conspiracy does or should apply only to offenses defined within the Penal Code itself? If the purpose of the conspiracy law is to deter and punish those who agree to commit a serious crime and take overt steps to accomplish that crime, is there any reason to separate out serious offenses defined within the Penal Code from serious offenses defined outside the Penal Code and declare that one can be prosecuted for conspiring to commit Penal Code felonies but not extra-Penal Code felonies?
I do not think so. There is certainly no reason in either the Penal Code or other legislative enactments to believe that the Texas Legislature has categorized felonies into first-class Penal Code felonies and second-class extra-Penal Code felonies with the first group capable of being the basis for the crime of conspiracy while the second group is not.
One might argue that if the Legislature thought that these extra-Penal Code offenses were “real” felonies deserving of being used as the basis of a conspiracy, felony-murder, burglary, kidnaping, hindering apprehension, or other Penal Code crimes that reference “a felony,” then it should have placed them in the Penal Code itself. Maybe it should create a Title 12 section of the Penal Code to contain this miscellany of felony offenses described in twenty or more other codes. Good public policy suggests, however, that these extra-Penal Code offenses are defined in those separate codes because people who are most directly affected by those separate codes would be most likely to find and read them and then conform their conduct to avoid these crimes. For example, the Agriculture Code states that it is a felony for anyone to operate a public grain warehouse without first obtaining a license.
Messieurs DeLay, Colyandro, and Ellis would have us believe that the Legislature intended to make it perfectly legal to conspire to commit all of these felonies, but illegal only to actually carry them out. On the contrary, it strains credulity to think that the Legislature intended that persons who conspired to commit these felonies are immune from prosecution for that conspiracy. In fact, some extra-Penal Code offenses are particularly susceptible to the crime of conspiracy and are doubly dangerous because of it. Take, for example, Mr. Big, a drug cartel kingpin who never sullies his own hands with the ten kilos of cocaine that he orders flown across the border into Texas. Instead, he conspires with his henchmen to deliver the goods while he is happily ensconced in his River Oaks mansion. Did the 1974 Penal Code really intend that he be immune from
Thus, both common sense and good public policy lead to the conclusion that sections 1.07(a)(2S) and 15.02 state that “a felony” is “any felony” regardless of whether it is defined in the Penal Code or in some other statute and that all such felonies may form the basis of a conspiracy offense. And if all such felonies are “real” felonies, so is the Election Code felony of making an illegal contribution and it, too, may form the basis of a conspiracy offense. Thus it was before the 1974 Penal Code was enacted, and thus it should remain absent some legislative action to the contrary.
D. Moore and Baker Are the Sole Support for the Conclusion That a Felony Defined in the Election Code Cannot Be the Basis for a Conspiracy Offense under the Penal Code.
Messieurs DeLay, Colyandro, and Ellis rely almost exclusively upon two 1976 and 1977 cases. These cases should be reexamined. In the first, Moore v. State>
It appears that the Legislature intended that an attempt to commit an offense involved in the Controlled Substance Act would not constitute an offense while attempts at all other crimes within the Penal Code would constitute offenses. Such a conclusion would contravene Section 1.05(a) of the Penal Code[J37
Judge Douglas stated that this Court should “effectuate the full legislative intent. We should find that the Penal Code and the Controlled Substances Act are complementary and have no difficulty in construing the statutes together. Accordingly, we should hold that the general attempt provisions set forth in Section 15.01, supra, apply to the Controlled Substances Act.”
The Legislature obviously did not approve of Commissioner Davis’s opinions in either Moore or Baker. It reacted by amending the Controlled Substances Act to explicitly provide that Title 4 of the Penal Code did apply to the Controlled
Unfortunately, we compound the original error by ignoring the explicit language of section 1.07(a)(23) that defines the phrase “a felony” for purposes of the Penal Code as “an offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary.”
Thus, one true legislative fix might be: “The provisions of Title 1, 2, and 3 of this Code and the offenses defined in Titles k-11, apply to offenses defined by other laws ...” But this “fix” is illogical and may have unintended consequences of its own.
The citizens of Texas would be well served if this Court admitted the mistake of logic in Moore and Baker and overturned them. Because the Court declines to do so, I respectfully dissent.
. 545 S.W.2d 140 (Tex.Crim.App. 1976).
. 547 S.W.2d 627 (Tex.Crim.App. 1977).
. State v. DeLay, 208 S.W.3d 603, 607 (Tex.App.-Austin 2006). The court of appeals stated:
As an intermediate appellate court, we lack the authority to overrule an opinion of the court of criminal appeals. It is the prerogative of the court of criminal appeals alone to overrule its interpretation of a statute. Baker appears to be based on questionable reasoning and is arguably in conflict with the history of the criminal conspiracy offense in Texas as well as the growing legislative trend to propagate felony offenses throughout the various statutory codes. The court of criminal appeals may want to revisit its opinion in Baker. But until that time, Baker is the law and we are not free to disregard it.
Id. (citations omitted).
. Boykin v. State, 818 S.W.2d 782, 785-86 (Tex.Crim.App. 1991).
. Id. at 785.
. Id.
. Id. ("Where the statute is clear and unambiguous, the Legislature must be understood to mean what it has expressed, and it is not for the courts to add or subtract from such a statute.”); see also Seals v. State, 187 S.W.3d 417, 420 (Tex.Crim.App. 2005); Getts v. State, 155 S.W.3d 153, 155 (Tex.Crim.App. 2005) (stating that Boykin "instructs us to first ‘focus our attention on the literal text of the statute in question' because ‘the text of the statute is the law.’ ”).
. Tex Penal Code § 15.02(a).
. Id. § 1.07(a)(23).
. Tex. Elec.Code § 253.003(e) (third-degree felony to make or accept an unlawful political contribution in violation of Subchapter D
. Title 1 (Introductory Provisions); Title 2 (General Principles of Criminal Responsibility); Title 3 (Punishments); Title 4 (Inchoate Offenses); Title 5 (Offenses Against the Person); Title 6 (Offenses Against the Family); Title 7 (Offenses Against Property); Title 8 (Offenses Against Public Administration); Ti-tie 9 (Offenses Against Public Order and Decency); Title 10 (Offenses Against Public Health, Safety, and Morals); Title 11 (Organized Crime).
. For example, Title 1 contains chapters dealing with the general provisions of the code, the burden of proof, and multiple prosecutions. Title 2 contains chapters dealing with culpability generally, criminal responsibility for the conduct of another, general defenses to criminal responsibility, and justifications excluding criminal responsibility. Title 3 sets out the punishments that apply to criminal offenses.
. Tex Penal Code § 1.03(b).
. The Practice Commentary to Section 1.03 of the 1974 Penal Code states:
The general principles of penal law, for the first time and for the most part comprehensively treated and codified by this code, are designed to provide a framework for the interpretation and application of every law now in effect or later enacted that employs a penal sanction, whether or not it is located in this code.
Tex. Penal Code § 1.03, Practice Commentary.
. In Baker, Commissioner Davis may have confused the distinct crime of conspiracy (defined in section 15.02) with the concept of criminal responsibility based upon conspiracy complicity (which is set out in section 7.02(b)). Conspiratorial liability is, of course, contained within Title 2, and it is one of those general provisions of the Penal Code that, under the explicit wording of section 1.03(b), applies to all criminal offenses, regardless of whether those offenses are contained in the Penal Code or another Texas law. But there is an enormous difference between criminal responsibility for the conduct of another under general party liability principles and the commission of the distinct crime of conspiracy. They frequently are, but should not be, confused.
. Tex Penal Code § 15.02(a).
. Tex Penal Code § 19.02(b)(3).
. Tex. Penal Code § 30.02(a)(1).
. Other Penal Code provisions that refer to "a felony” as part of the definition of the crime include enticing a child (Tex Penal Code § 25.04(b)); burglary of a motor vehicle (Tex Penal Code § 30.04(a)); coercion of a public servant (Tex Penal Code § 36.03(b)); hindering apprehension (Tex Penal Code § 38.05(c)); escape (Tex Penal Code § 38.06(c)(1)); bail jumping (Tex Penal Code § 38.10(f)).
. Tex Penal Code § 20.04(a)(3).
. Texas Penal Code, A Proposed Revision. Final Draft, October 1970, § 15.02, committee comment (emphasis added).
. See Charles P. Bubany, The Texas Penal Code of 1974, 28 Sw. LJ. 292, 327 & n. 193
. Texas Penal Code art. 957 (1884).
. Texas Penal Code art. 213 (1925) (prohibiting political contributions by any bank or corporation "for the purpose of aiding or defeating the election of any candidate for the office of Representative in Congress, or Presidential or Vice-Presidential Electors from this State, or any candidate for any State, district, county or precinct office in this State, or the success or defeat of any political measure submitted to a vote of the people of this State”; punishment included imprisonment "in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than five years”).
. Texas Election Code art. 213 (Texas Sess. Laws 1951, 52nd Reg. Leg. ch. 492, 1097, 1190 (1951)) (stating that corporations may not give, lend, or pay any money "directly or indirectly to any candidate, campaign manager, assistant campaign manager, or any other person, for the purpose of aiding or defeating the election of any candidate or of aiding or defeating the approval of any political measure submitted to a vote of the people of this State or any subdivision thereof”; punishment included imprisonment of not less than one nor more than five years).
. As the court of appeals aptly noted in its opinion in this case,
the legislature has created dozens of felony offenses contained in at least twenty statutory codes. In light of the historically broad application of Texas’s criminal conspiracy offense, we find it unlikely that the legislature would have intended to eliminate criminal liability for conspiracy in such a panoply of felony offenses.
208 S.W.3d at 606. The court then listed some of the codes that contain felony offenses: Tex Agric. Code § 14.072(b); Tex Alco. Bev.Code § 54.12; Tex Bus. & Com.Code § 35.54(d); Tex. Educ.Code § 37.125(b); Tex. Elec.Code § 253.094(c); Tex Fam.Code § 261.107(a); Tex. Fin.Code § 33.108(c); Tex. Gov’t Code § 302.034; Tex. Health & Safety Code § 481.141(b); Tex. Hum. Res.Code § 35.012(b); Tex. Ins.Code § 101.106; Tex Lab.Code § 418.001(b); Tex Loc. Gov’t Code § 392.043(d); Tex. Nat. Res.Code § 85.389(b); Tex Occ.Code § 204.352(b); Tex Parks & Wild. Code § 66.119(d); Tex. Tax Code § 152.101(b); Tex. Transp. Code§ 501.151(c); Tex. UtdlCode § 105.024(b); Tex Water Code § 7.155(c).
. Tex Agric. Code§ 14.072(b).
. Tex Educ.Code § 37.125(b).
. Tex Nat. Res.Code § 85.389
. Tex Tax Code § 152.101(b).
.Judge Douglas set out a similar example of the absurdity of the logic in Moore which dealt with the offense of criminal attempt. He said:
There is no sound reason in policy or logic for the Legislature to intend to omit an attempted provision from the Controlled Substances Act. Such omission would lead to the absurd result that one could be prosecuted if a pharmacist gave him a prohibited substance in reliance on a forged prescription, but not if the pharmacist recognized and frustrated the criminal enterprise before it was completed. The Legislature could not have intended such a result.
545 S.W.2d at 143. Judge Douglas is absolutely correct.
. 545 S.W.2d 140 (Tex.Crim.App. 1976).
. Id. at 141-42 (citing art. 4476-15, V.A.C.S., Sec. 4.09(a)(3)).
. Id. at 142.
. Id.
. Id. at 143 (Douglas, X, dissenting).
. Id. at 143-44. Section 1.05(a) provides:
The rule that a penal statute is to be strictly construed does not apply to this code. The provisions of this code shall be construed according to the fair import of their terms, to promote justice and effect the objectives of the code.
Tex. Penal Code § 1.05(a).
. Id. at 143. Unfortunately, Judge Douglas followed down Commissioner Davis’s linguistic primrose path and mistakenly adopted his "apply to” language. He should have rephrased the issue first, and then he would have concluded: "Offenses defined in the Controlled Substances Act may form the basis of a criminal attempt prosecution under section 15.01 of the Penal Code.”
. Id. at 142.
. 547 S.W.2d 627 (Tex.Crim.App. 1977).
. Baker v. State, 547 S.W.2d 627, 628 (Tex.Crim.App. 1977).
. Id.
. Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. art. 4476-15, § 4.052 (added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 268, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1981).
. Tex. Penal Code § 1.07(a)(23).
. A somewhat more felicitous phrasing might be: "All of the provisions of this Code apply to offenses defined by other laws, unless the statute defining the offense provides otherwise. ...” But again, there might be numerous unintended and unforeseen consequences with a broad application of every provision of the Penal Code applying to every criminal offense defined in other Texas statutes.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The STATE of Texas v. John Dominick COLYANDRO, James Walter Ellis, and Thomas Dale Delay, Appellees
- Cited By
- 97 cases
- Status
- Published