Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

. OF TEXAS AUSTIN a~.%%- January8j.1959 HonorableEdna ClSneroS Opinion~Ao. wi-537 CountyAttorney winacy county Re: Are the offensesof .!%unting Rapdvillej T6=6 at night",Art. 887, P. c., and “Killing a wild turkey hen", Art. m, P-C., of like nature for the purposeof ~enhancentent df penaltyunder h-t. 61, P.Ic., and reLated questione. ..': Dear Kiss Cisneros: In yoti requestfor en OpiniOI.f%OIW$hiS OfftCe,@U bSYe~eSkf?d 'thefollawingqUe6tiOnS: _. 1. Under Article61 of the Penal Code, providingthat "If ft be shown on the trial of a mi@+eawr that.thedefendant~b66 been once befor convlcted‘ofthe Rame offense, he shall On a secand.cOnviction receivedoublethe-punishQIe?lt prescribedfor such offense,inOrdinary cases,and upon a third Or any subsequentconvictiowforthe'saiie offeme, the punishmentshall be increased60 88 not to eiCeed four times the pen- saltyin ordinarycases",are the offensesof "huntingat night" (Art$cle 887 of the Penel Code) whereinthe defendant~68 ch6rgedwith huntinga deer at night, and'"killinga tild turkey"(ArtAle 877 of the P-1 Code) the 6am6 offenseOr the 6ame:typeoffetieforths'purpoeee'oi~th6 ebOv6 witi 614 2. Can you also, since these are game viol&lone, con6truethe LllegalpossessionOr use of nets (Article978~ as PeTbiDing to WillaCy county,Texas, acts 1933, .b3ra leg., Spec. L., p. 36, Ch. 29) 86 thS.S6m6 type of offense66 the two above (inq~estion Ho. l):.fOr 6&6CtiVe prOSa- cutimunder A'rticle 61.4 3. can game violationcases.betaken to any Justice of the PesceIinthe County? 1' : ,.‘ Aiticle @$i~of thb P-1 Code reads as iolhnm: "It 6bal.l be uulawfulforkany personto take;klll, wound; Shoot at, bunt or possess,deed Or alive, any wild: turkeyhen at any 6eammofthe year excepta6 herein,.- sfterprovidad~ _- ._ . HonorableEdna Clsneros,Page 2. (WU-537) "Any person violatingany of the provision6of this Article shall be deemedguiltyof a misdemeanor,and upon conviction,shall be fined in any sum not less then Twenty- Five ($25.00)Dollarsnormore than,OneHundred($lOO.CO) Dollars." Article887 of the Penal Code reads as follows: "It shall be unlawfulto kill, hunt or shoot at any wild bird, wild game bird, wild fowl, or wild game anis+ protectedby 'thisAct at any seasonof the year, between one-halfhour after sunsetand one-halfhour before sun- ~~ rise in any county in this State. Any personviolatingany .~~ provisionof this chaptershallbe deemedguiltyof a ::misdemeanor ax&upon convictionshallbe fined in any sum not less than Twenty-Five($25.00)Dollars,nor more than One Eundred($100.00)Dollars,and each bird or animal so killed shall constitutea separateoffense." Articleg78j of .thePenal Code with.regard,to Willacy County (Acts 1933, b3ra Leg., Spec. L., p. 36,~:ch: 29; i. I23adSE&SfOllowS: ; %ection 1. It Shallbe unl&ul~to'use a'seine,net. ,Ortrawl or.to 'havein possesalon.~aseine, net :ortrawl in. .oron any of the tidal waters'ofWillacyCountywestof ~'I~. .._: '.. Padre Island;provided,howeverithatinothingoontained~in:.. ., .~ this Act shall prohibittheeuseof a cast net fortaking '~ bait. .! "Section2. Any.~&sc&YioLati& any provisionof .. :.this.Act :shallbe deemed guiltyof amisdemeanorand upon, convictionshall be fined in a sum not less than Twenty- Five Dollars ($25.00)nor more than Two HundredDollars .($2oa.00). ~. .~ ~.I .~ - ,vSebti.od 3. All .&6W6, :or..pabtE.o$.lwre, ..in.‘SO afar68 ~'.~.,: i .. they'mayconflictwith the pXYXisiolI6 of.thisAct, he and, the same are hereby repealed. : ~, .. "Section4. The fact that the ownersof lsnd abutting onthe LagunaMadre have donatedvaluabletractsoflandto the RaymondvillePost of the AmericanLegionfor recreat- ianalpurposesfor the benefitof the entirepublic and'that the marine life of such waters cannotbe properlyconserved, and that such recreatlomaladvantage6cannotbe properly developedif seines,nets and trawls are permittedto.be used, createan emergencyand an imperativepublicaeceeslty~ that the Constitutional Rule requiringbills be read on ':,, . * HonorableEdna Cisneros,Page 3. (W-537) three separatedays be suspended,and the same is hereby suspended,and this Act shall be in fullyforce and effect from and after its passage,and it is so enacted." The phrase "same offense",cm used In Article61 of the Penal Code, which Article is quoted in full in Question1 above, means an "offenseof like nature". ,Lenorev. -, Tex.Crim.App., I.29S.W. 2d 657 (1939). In Andrewa v: State,.Tex.Crim.App.,228 S.W. 2d 173 (1950), the appellantwa8 chargedh the offenseof sellingbeer on Sunday betweenthe hours of 1 o'clock.A.M., end 1 o'clockP.M. For the pur- pose of enhancementof the punlshm~ntas providedin Art,.61, P. C., it was also chargedthat appellanthad been previouslyconvictedof the offenseof possessionof liquor for the purposeof sale in a dry area. On pages175 and 176, it ~66 stated: "The'offensepresentlycharged,and the offenseof. which appellantIs allegedto have been previouslycon- @ctea.are~~++hviol&+ns.of Art.~667-let seq.,Vern&*s &IL P.'C. .) '"rheoffense~presently chargedagainstappellant1.8a regulatoryme*sure. She held a licenseand, being in a wet area, was permi$tedlegallyto sell beer at her cafe. Sale, however,was restrictedon Sunday,a sale during-the -ms froml.o'clockA.M. to 1 01c&ock.Pd4.beiugmade an o.Cfense . "The prior offense,on the other hand, is not a re- gulatorymeasure,but is a stat$e prohibit- sale or possessionfor the purposeof sale.ofintoxicating iiquor, ,affedlveonly in such areas as have been declaredto be dry areas as .are6ult of a local optiohelection. . . . "We ar6 unwillingto hold that such offensesq& the same, or that they are of like character." You State that the Defendantwas chargedwith huntinga deer ,Ft night!.Deer of the proper Species and 86x may be hunted during 6666011 with s,valid permit. We hold, therefore,in answerto Questioq1, that Article887,~P.C., prohibitinghuntingat night, is a regulatoryAct, while Article877, P. C., prohibitingthe,huntingof turkey hens, is a prohibitoryAct, and thereforethe two acts are not of like nature, and a convictionunder eitherAct cannotbe used to enhancethe penalty for + violationof the other Act under Article61 of the Penal Code. -._- . . HonorableEdna Cisneros,Page 4. (W-537) i In Warner v. State,Tex.Crim.App., 42 S.W. 2d 616 (1931),the court said at page 617:' " . . 1 we think it wrong to lay down the rule that offensespossessingonly a single elementof samene68 are thereforethe same or of the same nature; . a . Every rape, equallywith every murder,is based on a necessaryassault. Ihrery bigamy and every swindling proceedson the basic theory of fraud,but it would not do-at all to say that these were thereforethe same offenses,or offensesof the same nature." The provisionsof Article978j, P. C., prohibitingthe u8e or possessionof nets and seinesin the tidal waters of WlllacyCounty west of Padre Island,is a speciallaw, which can only be violatedIn Willacycounty. The purposeof the Act, a6 statedin Section4 thereof, seemsto be as much for protectingrecreationaladvantageson land do- . nated to an AmericanLegIonPost as it is for protectingmarine life. Article 877, P. C., is a,Bener*l'lav-designed to conserveend increas;the stock of wild turkeysthroughoutthe entire state,by' protectingthe femaleof the speciesfrom extermination; while we have held above that Article887, P. C., is a regulatoryAct. 'We, therefore, hold,In answerto question2, that Art. 9783, P. C. (Acts 1933, 43rd Leg., Spec. L., p. 36, ch. a) is not anoffense of like natureas eitherArt. 877, P. C., or Art. 887, P. C., and a convictionunder any of these three offensesmay not be used to enhancethe penaltyunder Article61, P. C., upon a subsequenttrial for:* violationof any of the other three cited Articles. Articles60a, 6Oa-l and &a-2.of the Code of CriminalProce- dure (H. B. 342, Acts 48th Leg., pp. 424 - 425);'attempts to place a restrictionon which JusticeCourt may take jurisdictionof a misde- meanor case by reason of where the allegedoffensewas'committedor where the defendantlives. In AttorneyGeneral'sOpinionsNo. O-6940 ,(1945)and No. v-496 (1948),it has been held that these statutesare unconstitutional, and that a misdemeanorcomplaintmay be filed in any precinctwithin the countywhere the offensewas committed,without regardto the precinctin which such offensewas committed:.Inanswer to question3, we hold that these two opinions,and the authorities citedtherein,are applicableto all misdemeanors(includinggame law misdemeanors) over which the JusticeCourt, by reason of,themaximum punishmentallowedby law, baa originaljurisdiction. 1. Article877, P.C., prohibitingthe . huntingof turkey hens, and Article887, P. C., prohibitinghundingatnight, are . . HonorableE&6 Cisneros,Page 5, (W-537) not offensesof like character.60that a convictionof eitherof them may be tised. upon a subsequenttrial fog &violation of the other Articleto enhancethe peualtyuntlerArticle61,,~. C.. 2. The provisionsof Articleg78j of the P.C., a speciallaw prohibitingthe use or possessionof nets and seines in the tidal waters 0f'WillacyCountywest of Padre Is- laud, is not au offenseof like nature as eitherArticle877, P.C., or Article887, P.C., and a convictionunder &ny of these three offensesmaynot be used to e&axe the penaltyunder Article 61, P.C.; upon 6 .:I, ,’ subsequenttrial for a violationof any of the other three cited &rticles. 3. A complaintCharginga misdemeahor. over which a.Ju6ticeCourt has jUriSdiCt- ion, may be filed in 6ny JusticeCourt within the County in which the tillegefi of- fen66 OCCUrred. Yours very truly, wILLwIJJ3oN AttoraeJr,Oeueral~of Texas -RI&y Bug6&Flet&er Aaaistant.. REF:aw APPROVED: 0PIIp1GNc!cWUlTEx:~' GeorgeP. Blackburrr, Chdrm6n HoughtonBrownlee,Jr. J.ArthurSan~in , Fred Werkenthlu RRVIEUED FORTHE:AlTGRNEYGEKESAL BY: W. V: Geppert '. .' :