f-3
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
d
AUSTIN
Honorable t*u A. #fAdox
county Attoxvmy
?a10 ?lnto County
?a10 Pinto, Texalr
f Tour letter of re-
on the above 8tated
laint will properly
lie against a’- olr~J39 of the Penal
Code, V&MI a l lo t o f arrsotlng
a roldLar in , for th4 offenab of
la l xsauting or ltt6suptimg
ful varrmt for the arreet
In a mlrdsmearior oam, 00
tlag to armrt azq per-
, vhere tha law author-
arrest to be abde vlth-
he -11 be fined not lrs8
thaa tventr-live nor more than five hundred
dollars, an6 if Um8 be PBO6, be fined not
;~;:;&zJ flftr nor mazy than one thousand
.
The artiole quoted 18 inolnded in ChWtez 4 Of Title
8 of the Penal Code, ontitled ‘Arrert and Custody ai Prieoner8.”
Honorable Edgar A. Maddox, Pago 2
Article 346, Penal Code, (aama chapter end title) reads as tol-
1OVBl
‘By 'Oftioer, ’ as use6 la this chapter,
la meant any peaoo officer, as sheriff, deputr
aheoift, oonatable, marahal or policeman of a
city or tovn, eq jailer or guard, or any per-
so nlpeci&lly authoriaed by varrant to arrest.’
Artlola kl, Code of Criminal Procedure, to vhich you
refer, reads:
“Harsh aharitt shell bo a oonarrvator of
the poaoo In hla oouaty, 4nd ahall arrest all
ottendara against the lava of the State, in
hla vfn or hearing, and take them brtore the
proper oourt for lxarinatioa or trial. He
shall quell and luppwaa all assaults and
batteries, ltfcayr, insurrections and unlav-
ful aaae8ibliea. He ahall apprehend end COP-
mtt to jail all ottandera4 until im examine-
tion or trial can be had,
Artlole 339, Panal Code, aupra, has been said to re-
late to and prohibit reslataaor to praoe officers. Harleaa ‘II.
Mate, 53 Tex. Cr. R. 319, 109 9. V. 934. In addition to the
l.iritation lmpoaod by Lrtiole 346, supra, vo bireot your atten-
tion to the provisions oi Artiole 36, Oode of Criminal Prooadure,
vhhh vb quote1
“Th* following are ‘peace oftiaerart
the aherltt and his deputies, oonatable,
the marsh1 or polloemen ot.an lnoorporatad
tovn oc city, the ottioera, non-ooaaalaaionod
ottioera end privates of the stat0 ranger
force, and any private person apeoia.);lp ap-
pointed to execute ori.mlnal prooeaa.
Thus ve see that there is no provision made for the
rpplioatloa of Artiole 339, Penal Code, vhen the arrest is at-
tempted by a ailitery policeman of the United States army. Ar-
ticles 3 and 7 of our Penal Code would neem applicabla) Artlole
3 reads in pert that ‘po person shall be punished for say aot or
omlasion, unless the same is aads,l penal offense, and a penaltq
ia affixed thereto bp the vrltten hV of this State.” Artiole
7 ooatalna this l-get ‘* l l aad no poraon ahall be punlahed
for an offense vhioh is not made pen81 by the plain impwt of the
vorda of a lar.a
Honorable Bdgar A. Maddox, Page 3
A military polices&an, as auoh, to not chargdd vlth
the duty of enioraing tha provlalo~a of the Taxes Psaal Code.
Him actlrltlar are regulated by and he ia amenable to regula-
tions of the liar Departaant , orders of hL4 superior ofSit34rr
and statutes of tha United States. In time of var all ottensea
commltted by soldiers an oognizable bT courts-martial or mill-
tary oossaiaalona. In time of peaoe a person In the mllltary
aarvloe who, ln ary portion of a State not vlthln the exclusive
juriadiotfon of the United States , eoamita a orhl.aal ottanae
racognised md made punishable br the lava of the State la
amenable to the State oourta for such offense. Such jurf sdlc-
tion la clear17 reoognlaed by the seventy-fourth artiole of var
provldlng for the dellrev of such offenders to the olvil au-
thorities when they are charged vlth otfanaea vhich are pualah-
able by the ?.ava of tha land,’ Se4 5 Corpus Juria 367, 8 2258
10 U, S, C. A, I 1546, Title lo-Army.
Drunkenema in a publfo plaoe is not vithin itrelt
such an offense as till justi- an arrest vithout a varrant
even vhen -de by o$e of the apeoitioally named peace officers,
except olty policemen, olt]r marshals and chiefs of polloe. See
Bennett v. State, 136 Tex. Cr. R. 192, 124 S. W. (26) 359.
To properly ltteot a proseoutloa for a violation OS
Article 339, supra., the information or indlotment must allege
vhether the arrest was sought br virtue of a vamaat or olth-
out‘on4, and in order to sustain a ooavlotlon, the State vould
be required to prove faeta rhovfng under vhioh olruumatanoe?.
It the &rreat vaa attslpgted without a varrant, the 1egalltJ of
au& arrest vould be eaaantial to uphold the judgment. Ra.rlaaa
v. State, aupraj Sh4v v. State, 113 Tex. Cr. R. 169, 18 9. V.
(ad) 628.
Pou ara therefore reapeotfully advised that a military
policeman is not an officer vithln the purviov of the atatutss
olted by you. Vhile additional taota may ahov other provisions
of the Penal Code to have been violated, JOU are also advised
that It is our opinion that a private altizen vould not be sub-
jeot to punishawkt under Artlola 339, Penal Code, aupra, under
the taota aubmittbd.
BWlRS