OFFICE OF l-NE ‘A~ORNE~GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
rablO%onor Qtarrimm, Jr.
tmenli of Publio Safety
eeld conviction, when judgment ha8 been de-
Esrrrd, ae provided under Seotlon 25 of
H. B. no. 20., in order to eifsot the me-
penelon of the dr$ver's li~eum.*
The applieablo statutory provlsione are ae follower
Artlale 808, Pen&l Cods, ea amended by House Bill
MO. 7s of the Fortyd3eYonth Legislatar?, Regular Sessiont
*Art101s 808.
*Any
_ -- paman who_ driver or operate8
__ _ an
autor3oDlle or any otner motor vehlc15 upon
any pubU0 road or highway ,Sn thlo State, or
upon any atreet or alley wIthin the-limlte
of aa fneorpor8ts4’ ofty, town or .vill~e,
while suoh.pereon in intodoated or ruder the
lnfluenoo of intoxbatlog liquor,~&all be
gtaty or 8 ~L~~~SUFIFQO~, 4~14 uppott c0nti0ti0n,
ehall be pIUli8hed by confinemsnt in the
county Jail ror nbt bsr than ten (10) days
nor more than two (2) yeati, or by a fine
of noti less thau rifty Dollan 50) nor
mtvm than Five EItttMrs4Dollars 8s 001, or.by
both aueh rim attd impri~otiment.~
Artlols 690, Code of Criminal Proasduro, a8 amended
by lbtrr o? 1931, Forty-Second Legislature, Ch. 59, p. 59:
*Al%. 6881 Yud#pllen*on rurdiot
*On each~verillLrt of aoqulttal or oonvie-
tion, thr proper judgment shall be antsred
lmmllately. Xf aaquitted the defendant #hall
be at one8 dlsoharged from all further llabflity~
upon the ahargo for nhloh he MS tried; provided
..tbt, In mlebemeamor oases where there is re-
turned a rerdiet, or a plea of guilty is enter-
eb and the punlelrment assessed 14 by fine only,
the Court may,, onwritten request of the dsienb-
ant and ror good oautse shown, defer jridgmnt
until fmne other day fired by order of 'the
court; but in no event rhall.the judgment be
deterred for a longer perioQ bf tilar than &2x
(6) rmmth6. On erpiration ot the tima fifed by
the order of the Court, the C,ourt or Sud& there-
of, ahell enter Judment on the verdict QT plea
hsiorable Bmisr Oar&son, Jr,, .Page 23
and the aaxe shall be exesutbd as provided
by Chapter 4, Title 9, of the Coda of Grim-
im&Froosdurs of the %ate or Temm. Pm-
vided tuxther, that the Gourt or Judge
thereof, In the axeraIse of eound dlsoretion
may pemlt the defendant tiere judgment is
deferred, to remain at large on his own
reoognhanoe, .or may require him to enter
into bodd In a stug Ja@t lsast dauble the,
aPl0u.a 0r the. a8ssas.~ tin0 and costs ~00~4
dltfoned that t&s dshbant and sum&s,
jointly and smverall$ will pay mob rine
and owts unlesss the d~stahdant personelly
appears on the day set la tha aider and’dls-
oharges the jud@mnt in the.maaner provided
by Chapter 4, Title 9 of the. Code of CrIm-
foal ~Procebure OS the State OS Tena8.r and.
for the ssUore&rpsnt oi asg judgmsat entered,
all wrIta, prot#ssses and ressdles of the Csde
oS.Cri.mIml Procedure are .au& applicable
.so far as necessary to aarrjr out the provi-
eions of this Artiole.~
BeatIon t4 of Iiouso'Bill No,.80 (Thb DrIver*s
troense Law), Forty-Ssventh fiegilatuxs, l@l(
mo. 84. a&uetio suspension of Xi-
oense.
s(a) The licensa of any person shall
be automatioally suspendob upon final oonoia-
tion of any of the tollmIng ofrenaes8
*. . .
WE. Driving a motor 7ehIole while under
the influenoe of intoxioating liquor or narootio
_. dmissl
*. . .
w(b) The suspension abovs provided shall
in the first ,Instams be for a JY3rIod of ‘six.
{ 6 ) months. & event any llaense shall be BUB-
pen&Q under the provision of this Seatisnior
a setjood time, seid eeo~na stUupel3d.O~Shall be
for a period of 0110 (1) year*”
Donorable Homer Cerrison, Jr., Page 4
section 88, Ibid..t
Y3ec. 25. Khen court to report convic-
tions.
*(a) liil;enever any person Is oonvicted of
ang oftehfm ror uhiah this, Aot makes automtlo
the suapdnaion ot the operator’s, osmasroial
operetor’s, or .chauifeur’s lloense of auoh
person,, the court ‘in whii~h such oonvlotlon Is
had shall require the surrender to It ,of all
opereitors’~~ comuerolel operatora*,end ohauf-
feura’ lloesses then held by the peraon,so
oonvloted and the glerko$ said oourt shall
-thereupon forward the same together with CL
reooml of such oonviotion to the DepartTent,
v&din ten (lo) days rrom the dqte o$ o~vio-
.
“. l .
wto) For the purpose of this Act, the
term ‘conviotion’* shall mean a tinax cantic-
tion. ~I.sb, $ o r ~ the p u r p q e. of this Ac t, a
..
$orfeiture of bail or ooll~teral deposit&
to s’eoure a dsfemImnt8s appearan0.e in court,
which rorrdtum bfi nPt been -8tkd43a. shall
be e~tivalsnt to a .oonviotlon.
Vrovided, however, that in ease or eon-
vlotion for any OS the offensss enumerated In
paragreph (a) ol Seotion 84 of .thi8 Aot, aha
the sentenoe OS‘the oourt having b+sn’ SUIB~
pentled as provided In the statutes,. suah mu-.
pended sentenoe shall not mitigate against
the mepension of the operatorv.s, oommerolal
, oaerator’a, or ahaurreur’a lloehee or the
person convidi3d.n
In anmering your qtumtion weenrust determlne
Whether the WoonviotioP referred to in Al’t1cJ.e $98, .C. CT P.,
aupa, 1s a final one tithin the zaednihg .ot subseotions, (6)
an4 (0) of the Driver’s Uosnse Law,- supro, *hen j,udgm3ntcx
ia %3ferpP6dw as prov%aea,
3t23
Xn our opinion So. OW482, approved July 17,
194l, the le ;islative history of’the 1921 anendmnt to
Artid 698, C. C. P., was dieouesed. It was there said:
T?rlor to the amnbnent ot Artiols 690
in 1931, said Article raqtirea that the pro-
per judgment ‘be entered immediately.* In a
oa8e such aa resented by the Bets submitted,
where the D IJ sbnent vma merely a fine. the
deiendant,‘undet Artioles 785 and 7iC3,*sither
had to nake Lmmedlate payment of the tine and
oasts. or bat-
olaoed in Jail%!aediafel~ for a
euffi6ient Ian&h of time to aleoharne the
full mount OS-fine and caste at the-rate or
fx5.00 psr atiy. In counties where there was
no *workbouse,v ‘oounty farm’ or vpubllo im-
provemsnt of the county,’ the various oouutles
were burdened with the expenee of keep5hg end
ireding such prleoner until he had &aye4 in
jail for the number oi day? required to Qis-
ohares the fine and costs at the rate meation-
0a.
The imexgenoy olasusqof the Aat eaea&ing
Broeeauxs
Artlole 096 of the Code of Crimlrral
(42nd I.eg.it!laturs. page 59, Qhagter 29, Seotion
**Bee. 2. The faot that there .isno
p~ovlsion oi the law whereby a person
<y 02 misdemeanor, and whose punish-
sent hae been assesmd by iina only, may
have an opportunity to pay the aam ahd
that the areeent law work8 a hard&& on
many oounties or the *tatej oreates an
amergmcy, . . .’ ( Vnde2soaring ouxy 1
*It is our opinion, therefore, that tbo teg;in- ,~.i
’ lature’lntended by said emendxmnt to give the r
oourt authority to give the defendant an oppor-
tunity to raise the money and pay the fine and
ooete ii the oourt in its disOxetlOn saw fit to
do 80 ton written requmt of the deIendanb and
for good cause shown.* Said a%endment #hot&d,
thererore, be 80 oonstrusd,atv to ;>vs it the ;
efieat intended by the Legirrlature.
DonOrable Honk rarrlson, or., Page 6
Tb are of the cpinlcn that, the mere faot
that the juC,pCnt was peepared and signed by
the county judge, would not of itself preclude
the judee from matting aside the juQmsnt and
aocoptine the defendant'0 bond and entering an
order deferring the judgment for any period
not to exoeed sir mont:ia, prov-ided the defend-
ant makes his re:ueat and showsproper oause
before the judginent has bP6m executed and be-
fore the end of the term. It is a general rlzle
that .a judgment may be set aside at any time
before the end of the term et rrhioh it was
rendered, either upon the court*8 own motion
or motion of a party. 25 Tax. Jur. p. 546.
Ehether 'good cause' is shown is within the
court's diesretion. . . ."
Thus we 968 that the judgment 18 treated as a final
jud&nerct in the aenee that applZoation for deferment must be
made before the end of the term at pmlch.thr! convlotion"waa
obtained. X6 likewise Bee that the objbot of the amendment,
was to enable the oonviat and to reduob the
hardfghlp on the oouutiee expense or fedhg
nriaonera unable to oav finee. The 4lDDliOatiOi.i or Artiole
698~~baanothing .to~6: ,;tfth the guilt & illllOO@Jn!38 ot the
aooused~ it Is merely a means prbridad by
branoh of our government to enable
earn the mosey to pay the fine and
In so far a8 the operation of the Driver's License
Iaw it3 oonoerned, it is our o.plnioa that a conrlot~on is a
"final osnviotion" within ite terma; even though judgment
be deferred in accordanoe with the provislone of Article 698,
c. c. P., eupra.
In view of the foregoing, you are respectfully ad-
vised in the opinion or this department the court should
that
require the surrender to it of all operator'LI* oolmaercial
and ohauffeurs* licenses then held by the pereon
c"~$%'kmnediai+ely upon the Operation of the verdiot
of guilty of a jury, or the pronounceslent of the court
whore a jury la waived. By this we mtw when the judgment
becomee % *final* one in the s~tn8e that it map not be ap-
pealed Or set aside by the granting of a new trial. In
Bonorable Homer Garrieon, Jr., kage 7
the event of 50 appeal the judgment is vinai- upon erpira-
tion of the term of the oourt et whRhich the trial is held;
if.tippealed, upon the issuance of the nandate of the e?pel-
late court. See Article8 826, 850, 851, Code of Criminal
proaedured
Yours very truly
AWQRNEYGEU%4L CF 'EXAS
Benjamin iyoodall
ABriutant
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion