Case Summaries

Each week, TDCAA staff members summarize the most important cases from Texas and federal criminal courts and provide insightful commentary on how those cases could impact the criminal justice system as well as a link to the opinions. Find a library of previous Weekly Case Summaries here.

Summaries

December 8, 2023

December 8, 2023

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Ex parte Gayosso

No. PD-0513-23                                                                                           12/6/23

Issue:

Was it error for a court of appeals not to review a “public safety report” as required by the Damon Allen Act when the court of appeals was determining whether a trial court’s bond reduction was an abuse of discretion?

Holding:

Yes. The trial court’s bond reduction took place after the effective date of the Damon Allen Act, which requires consideration of a public safety report before setting bail. An appellate court must consider the trial court’s complete record to make a proper determination when reviewing a bail reduction for abuse of discretion. If the trial court did not consider the public safety report, then the trial court erred. If the trial court did consider the public safety report, it was error for the court of appeals not to review that same report. Read opinion.

Commentary:

By now, the public safety report required by Articles 17.021 and 17.022 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is in effect for all offenses above a Class C misdemeanor. In a bail proceeding in which a public safety report is considered, prosecutors and/or court personnel should make sure that this public safety report is made part of the record that will be considered by the court of appeals. A good analogy might be to a pre-sentence investigation report, which a trial court may consider in sentencing a defendant. If relevant to the defendant’s appeal, those reports should be made a part of the record to be considered by the court of appeals. The same is true for public safety reports. As noted by footnote 11 and the accompanying text of the court’s opinion, these public safety reports may contain confidential information about the defendant’s criminal record. As such, they should probably be filed in a sealed manner.

Texas Attorney General Opinion Requests

No. RQ-0521-KP                                                                                          11/16/23

Issue:

What are the requirements of Health and Safety Code §571.018 with respect to payment of court filing fees and costs in a civil mental health commitment case? Read opinion request.

Requested by:

John Creuzot, Dallas County Criminal District Attorney

No. RQ-0522-KP                                                                                          11/16/23

Issue:

Has a jurisdiction offering its employees an incentive to vote in an election provided a benefit as consideration for the employee’s decision to vote within the scope of Penal Code §36.02 or 18 U.S.C. §597? Read opinion request.

Requested by:

Senate Committee on Local Government

TDCAA is pleased to offer these unique case summaries from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Courts of Appeals and the Texas Attorney General. In addition to the basic summaries, each case will have a link to the full text opinion and will offer exclusive prosecutor commentary explaining how the case may impact you as a prosecutor. The case summaries are for the benefit of prosecutors, their staff members, and members of the law enforcement community. These summaries are NOT a source of legal advice for citizens. The commentaries expressed in these case summaries are not official statements by TDCAA and do not represent the opinions of TDCAA, its staff, or any member of the association. Please email comments, problems, or questions to Joe Hooker.