OFFICEOFTHEATTORNEY GENERALOFTEXAS
AUSTIN
~..:,:,,: ,.
Honorable ~Joe J. Flmhar, Page 8
but 8~21 be ntupettaea until tha aeOi8f0n
of the Court*of $$dnal Appeals has bean
n00ma. .
we shall file 00nxiaar whether or not the oourt
may legally aentenoe &nnle Smith In vaootlon. The annwer
ln no. XII the oaae of Jim Dodd ~a. The state, 77 Dr. B.
MS. 179 8. w. 564, 8pperl was had rrom a oonvlotlon of bur-
“The term a? oourt at rhloh appellant
was trrea
- adjauraad
- _ without . a _-a~nt~noe. fn
~vaoat10n ona lli ohmmere tho wage lntaraa the
aalt~no~. This under our statute la the final
Judgaont, and an appeal to this oourt oan not
110 until aontttnoo has men pronouuooa. sat-
tea00 murt b8 pronounoea aumg the torm 0s
the aourt. The court oan not aontutoo a ao-
~feadant la vacation. whon aourt aajourma
his authorfty ovar tho oaae oloaa4, whan
notiea of appeal hnd been given to this ,oourt,
exempt in oasoa apaolally prerldea by statute.
This pronounolng of sentmoo in not aothorimed
C in taoatlon, nor la it authorhod at any tlmo
exoopt during a texm of the oowh. The Aaaiat-
ant Attonrev @moral mavos to alnmlma the ap-
eta1 for’ this roa~on 8na it murt be 8tm8in~a.*
PD8~i48on, J.)
Slnoe the dare&ant oaanot ba SentenOea in vooation,
the question, le you rtata It, now orixoa as to whether tb
oourt mgt patpom that ootlon until the next ngular tona,
whioh la aer6sol mOntha honoo, or moJ the judge ooll a apoolol
taPal ior that purpose.
Art1910 19S0, Retimed Clvll Stotutoa, 1989:
*Whenover 0 alstrlot Judge deetim it odrlaabia
to hold a apeolal tmm of the ai8tri0t oourt in
any oounty In hi. dlatrlot, 8uah apealal toxm
mar bo held; ona auoh Juaga may oonvono ~u$hqte$m
at any t&a0 whioh may be fixed by hlm.. .
The oot or fixing and holding a apeolal term or oourt
la within the dlatrlot judge’. sound diaoretlon. Parry vs.
Honorable Joo J. Insher, Poe.3
wolaton, (O.&A.) 96 s. w. teal 854.
At auoh .a term tho judge may pronoun00 aontenoe. In
the oaae o? I!!% parts Young, 49 Or. R. S36,r OS & W. 100, ap-
pllO8nt was OhmgOd and ~nrlotod of mqlor and his punlabont
araoeaoa at death. It woe ap&molsd to tho Court of Crlmlnal
Appeals whore the jud@tont was afflrm+l, and a motlon’for ro-
hearing worruled. Tho mandato 108 188uOd after the rogulor
term of tho dlatrlot oourt had expired. The judge oallod.8
lpooiol tam of .tha oourt for the aolo~ purpose of aentonolng
lpplioant unqer the statutory authority of the Auto of the
g9th Leglalature, Chapter 83, Pago 116, the gist of whloh Is
now found In ArtIole 19gO. aupra. The defendant applied for
a writ of hdoaa oorpua. eTho-Court of Crlalual Ap&ala denied
the writ. flndlng that *It woe oloarly within the powor OS
*to 6aU. the apoolal aoa~lon of the Dlatrlot Court
tha apeolflo purpose of aontemolng 8pp1100nt.~
YUPthOr, .in the oau8o of EX pOrti Soya, SO Cr. 8.
SO9j 96 8. II. 1080, we find a praotloolly Ia*ntloal faot a1tuatlo~.
There, Eenaoraon, J-, apo~king for the Court of Or-1 Appeals
aalar
bThIa statute was oOn6itruod by this oourt
in 151 park Young, 15 Tour Ot. tip,, 88gi and
It wZa thare.hel6.thataala statute authorixed
thajuage of tha airtriot oourt ot say oounty
in this Btate, to 00rmono 0 apooIal term of
hla oourt at any time whfoh mcly ‘bo fired by
him. We think the propoaitlon there onnouuoeQ,
la oonxtrulngaala statute, la 0 aufflolent
anawar to this appllootlon. We would observe,
howwor, that the Uonstltutloa (ortlole~S,aeo-
tlon 7) &Ives plenary power to the Legislature
to anthsrlse the holding of spool81 torius of
the alatrlot oourta~ we ~quoto thororrom, 08
follower ~‘Tho Loglalaturo #hall hare power,
by general or 8paolal lows, to authorleo tho
holaing of apaolal terms of-the oourt, or the
horalng 0r lloro than two toraw in any ootmty
for the aiapatoh or ~ua5.nesa.* Of oourao,
the Iaglalature oould authorlao the judgo to
fix the aato 611 those torme.
“Did the Aot of the Twonty-Ninth Logla-
loturo npool that port of tho old law (Ro-xi-:x&
vised Statutes, ortloloa 11X5-4) whioh roqulrod
.
Honorable Joe J. Fisher, Pago 4
saLd order to be mado at a pnooding tora
of tho dlatrlot oourt? It would seem that
one of the purpoaaa of the now atotutea was
to obvlato thla,;an$ to authoriw the’ judgo
In rooatlon to order a 6poolol term of hula
oourt; Saotlone 1 and I! of the now sot in
offoot re-onaotod sol& above nmntlonod moo-
tlone of .tho old aot, leaving oft any refer-
lnoe to a “” entry of the brdor durlag a rogu-
lar torm.%torootor, the longuogo of thm norj
atatuta, ~ti ef00t ollmlnotor the laea iihet
the order must be 'witoroti during termtime.
Tho 5uQo la authorima, whom ho doom6 it
adrlaobla to ord!r a apoolal tonn, and au-
thorlti~:&- to oonvono qtoh apoolal~ term
Or tho sM+kt any tlmo whlah may bb fired
by him. ‘rho& ‘in this oonnooticin, ~q., take It,
doob not ~mror t,o plaae, but to the t$mo when
ho may beam If odrlaoblo. or ooprao, ho iuullt
fix the +ow or ,tJao ,oourt baron ha oon~onoa
it. We zolght state, $n parsing, as ,w under-
rtand It wee one -0s.the purpoaa 0s -thil, new
aot. if not the main purpose, to expedite the
trial and diapoaltlon of a oortalnolW8, of’
oriasa’~w&loh have beoomo mom or l*ati prora-
lent in this aountry,ana it was intedea %O.: ..
outhorlqe the ‘judge, in vaootloa, to 0011 a
apoolal tapa eY ‘-t.he oourt,~ and as ,a nwi
roaturo of tb, aot, gore him power to ampanal the
gmna 5~x7 ~to lndlot orreaaera, ,-a, try auoh
oaaoa. It, will be **en that on0 of the main
objeota ertm lnao+meat would be aefratoa, if
‘the 00urt ,ahoula bo 80~llea -to wilt the oon-
nnlng 0s~a re@io* term ‘mr0r0 ha ,acitia ,~a11 0
apaolal term of his oouxkn
In ooaol~alon, we wlah to point out that Artlolo 1923,
Rori~od Oltil stotutoa, prwlalng r0r the oxtena’ion ~of 0 term
of oourt woe not oonalderod hero booouao the exproaa wording of
that statute pnoludoa any posalble lpplioation to this faot
situation; viz;, uWhonorer a alatrlot aourt ihall be in the
mldat of the trial of a oouaa when the t&no for the oxplratlon
or the term or E&d oourt arrives * * ‘r the judgo IS 8uthorlzOd
Honorable Joe T. Flahor, PO@ 5
to ortona the kmb (Unfloroooring oura 1.
we balioto that this fully auswera your Inquiry.
Yours Gory truly,
Approved l?or 18, 1941 ATTORNEY G-L OF TEXAS
(0) Grover Sallerr
Flrat Aaal8tant
Attorney Oenaral BY
(a) Wm. J. Fanning
Aaslatant
BY
(a) Crundy Wllllfmn