.
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
GE-C. MANN
Anomlmv
Gil”m*L
X’onorablaGeorga E. Sheppard
ColriptroLler
of Yublic Aocounts
Dear Clrt
.
Honorable George k 'heppard, Page 2
'*(a) The informtim desired is wh~thrr
or hot it in mcGatory thet thie dupwtmmt
oenoel 1iOGncG to sell L6fur.dXotor Fuel whioh
has l>Cc!l !:GEUMI to c pcroon who ha8 been e,iven
,. e suopcndedmntebcc under the pmmlty proVl-
aiou 3ct out.in %hlou 27(k) sria %kotion 27(L)
of tho Act rdfurroc?tc above.
“(b) Kould thla dopartrzentbs authorized
to i5611e lio~nsctto Q person who tes bc:eccoh-
vloted of 6 falony undr?rthe sbOV~6Aot during
the the the scuta;oo'issuspended? At the eli
pir&ticn of tbe susvended sontonoe, then would
this bepertrrentbe authorized to lrsue lloense
to suoh PttlOxkO
*(o) Koulcla psreoo who hsa been gi'venR
suspended nentenoo forfeit the right to fS1o a
,refunG alsim for a per106 of 0:ke(1) yenr from
the dete of sdoh oonviatlon?~
'M~thou~hthz obore statute has not been before
the courts of this -"t&t8or before this department rcr
+ we believe a review of the dooIsiana 0r
aonslaeratio-
the oourts of thin and other state8 end OS opinions of,
this departxontupon aiailar statutes, elthougtinot coh-
trollit& will be helpful in arriving at the intmtion
of the Legislature in the enaotvmnt of the instant statute.
your gueatfou resolve6 itself to a oonatruotlon~
of the words nfclony cooVv!yttlon* a8 used in the quoted
portlx of Csotlon 13(d) or".iutlols7065b, Vem on's Texas
Clvll :%stuteo; thst is to say, do.suoh terma meen a mere
fiadlng of the fact of ol,uiLC, either byverdiot of jury
or by a plea of guilty, but upon whioh flnel judscnt or
sentence bus beon euspcr:dact, u?gar the oontrollin&Cus-
CUW 02? e.othey man muh findfn~ or ed-
pO!ldWl .Tk3~tt?I3,Qe
~u6icstionor @lilt, follo:;~~B up by the nppropriate aontenoe
of the lsw. Th6 w<>rd"conviotlonWhas been used in vrrious
legislativeennotrrc-nts, to m&n both at these phasun, ttm
firs-tte:::r:! Iho ~~oplar ixcinin;: 6scrtbed thereto 0uZ thf;.
h~;L~r b6IhC th6 t6oliuios.I 6W?@5 111which the fiord is en-
Nwd. +<
Th$n io Illu:4ratud I&>ha folloui;lgquotetion
.
Xanorable Ceorgo B:~hepparb, Page )
_ Vbo tc;;rr:
aonwiatian 1PrIntlmtely bound
up with the crl:iml luw, and It hen been cl%id
thet iu critinal prooedure the war@ i~.of agtiv-
ocal mcml~.~, hsvlng both a populnr, and 6 teoh-
nice1 lkqal ei~liiiic6ti.Oil,
the oonstruotion not
el\ragshelcs wlforn, but hpendirrg upon en in-
torprcbotlonor the partloular I&w or utstute
under oansiderntion; , . . . It may, however,
for th0 purpose of classlflootlonbe said to
hsvs three montngo: (1) bnerali (2) ordinary;
end (3) Cechnicel.
"33 its genorel or ooxprehendve, alao ro-
ferred to OS its pop+&sr, 881166,the tern Ces
been ilerinea as the overthrow or e dsfclndant
by the eotebll0hmentof his guilt, according
to sow of the known legal mocbs; a verdict, or
flm.?ill~,Of guilty; . . . ;
qlAaorclinarllyemployed in la& phraeeologg,
or in ito ordinary legal aenfm, the ten *eon-
. vlotionf is used to desii',nete
that particuler
.,:!s+5gq
of a oriklnal pro~eou$lon, *:on a plea ot
_' @lty la entered in open court, or e vsrdlot la
returned by 8 Jury, . . .
.
-wXn'a atrlot legal sense, or v&on uesd in
its zor6 reotrlcte% anS teohnlaal sl6@~lcatlon,
the word hna been Cefined so denoting the final
judaent of the court end as'ln?portin& tbc final
connummtlon of the prosecution, rron tbo ootc-
plaint to the jud@zent of the court of scintenoej
sonfd&ms fnolud2ng, and acPr.etLmesnot inoluding,
the sentence; end in thi:;sense It is mid to
aoncern the statesof'Snfeay resultlne frorzthm
flncl judgmnt of cnndwmtloa for ortie. . . SW
Yhere c cuspenCed~sont%ncehas been mrantsd weither
the verdict of cmv:ctlon nor the judf.??ent entered t,barcon
shall bccom firxl... . .R fi.rtiale T@,' Code of Cri5Lnal Pro-
OBdUrC, 1525. "i'3c:or t&e tex.xBox-C,U.i‘:IL~tut#c
rc.:Ytipc to
t&2 it has ken held that in a CDBB whore
StZ3pC3SidFZG C4~Ilt~:lC>e,
one receives ouch nnnt~~sco~ths judment 10 not final end oen-
not be ep~!ealoCl-x-cm."~t:nt2~V. mm, 281 r. :i. 1072. If
by the worth "felony ccnviction~~ as used fn the quoted artlohn
Eonorat3.eGeorge H. rheppsrd,Pa@ 4
Cnder atetutsa prhcreaclviotloo is made the ground
ot come dlsabillty or spaoi~l peacrlty,itbs been gonerolly
buld that the term ~*oonviotlGn'l mm% a fins1 edjud~ontion
by judgment of the court retrim then a mt'r~vcrCiat of guilty.
16 C. 5. X266-67; i%3b@s v. :"ebian,85 H. 7. 672, 18 L. R. k.
(u.x.) 634.
This idbptibn of'the strlot teahniaal moaning bf
the terR “oonviatlon” rather then the .~opulerE~38tlilIf.& whe,n
such oonvlctlbn io follon#d, unc‘;crpcrtlmnt statutes, by
certein civil penalties and aonmquenoee, Is illustratkd
by the stetsmmt of the aourt in tb% CHSB, eupra, thetr
". . . where disabilities,disqu%lificetions,
and forr%"eitures are to rollow upon e cagviotlon,
in the oy% of tho law it is thEt ccnvfcblon which
in %vLdenaed by sentenoo and 'judgz.ent.; %Mt thnt,
whheresentanoe ia auopended,am? oo'tm dlreot
oonsequttnoes ot fi.m end Imprisonmmt mm suupernd-
rd or postponca tfmporerilyor indetlnitely,8uT
f&b, the indirect conoqucinoes%ro likewise post-
ponod." ',<
?.
,'.:
.. Tids rule %ppc%re to hsv6 bcsn epproved by the:
fer~rTexne deoisions avelleble upon this question. The Su-
rem Court of Tezas in zhe early cene oi G%llaeher V. -tote,
PO Tcx. ct. APT).469, upon annctrtin~:oanntitutionaland
statutory provi~jion~ dingu%lifyfng sernons- frownvoting is
Taxes Q&O hive bc+cn'*oomiotedof any felony," held that
the word macxivictedw has a 4~fin13e si~~nlrfcntlon in few
nnd deans t,hr:t B ~udtg%xlt of'rlnal t?c?lCh~iatiOn haa been
pronounced tr:jalnst the acaused.
HOnorsble George IL phsppsrd,Pege 5
thc ouspennionWOB void and th0 vot%r WCB not qtmimd, -
no4 heviag been pnrurt,~~nCiu:?cuci:suspcn5lOn
shell CUUE~ e cr-,&txi
to 1~3~s for tke arrrst 0r
.
.
Honorable Cieorga Ii. Gheppord, Fage 8
5%~ cmsv~erto yaw t!airdqueetion la Koverned by
the ikcislv~!~ naci Opitifoii8
herckobovc diacustied,under
which we held thet n suspended sentmae on.81.Selonycon-
vlction on verdict or pXae.OS gu,il.ty, i8 not a ‘Telony oonvla-
tioo” wJ.tblnthe r::ennla~g OS reul;ion.U(A) of ktlole 70&b,
v~raot5~6Tmas Civil ftntutea. Aa in the cum of the Sor-
felturc 0S tf.0refund clwiler~s1icwm0, the denial of the
rlE;fit of ecy person to S1l.aa claim md obtuin a tax refund
ror a ~~rforl of cm yeor frca the bite of a felony convlo-’
tLan dwondu, under such statute, upon a fluul cc.miction
and not n a(360where centencc of awmlctlon 1.3ouopondcd.
Ye aaoordlrqly aanaor your third question in ttm nogativa.
tozefplng fully anawera your inquiry,
h
c.1:.
Ft.i:.c.
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion