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My AccountChapter 12
- 12.1 General Approach to Punishment Stage Instructions
- 12.2 Short-Form Punishment Ranges on Verdict Forms
- 12.3 Enhancement
- 12.4 Instruction—Punishment—General
- 12.5 Instruction—Jury Punishment on a Plea of Guilty
- 12.6 General Comments on Community Supervision
- 12.7 Instruction—Community Supervision—Felony Conviction
- 12.8 Instruction—Community Supervision—Misdemeanor Conviction
- 12.9 General Comments—Good Conduct Time and Parole Instructions—Section 3g Offenses and Deadly Weapon Findings
- 12.10 Instruction—First-Degree Felony—Unenhanced
- 12.11 Instruction—First-Degree Felony—Enhanced (One Prior Felony)
- 12.12 Instruction—Second-Degree Felony—Unenhanced
- 12.13 Instruction—Second-Degree Felony—Enhanced (One Prior Felony)
- 12.14 Instruction—Third-Degree Felony—Unenhanced
- 12.15 Instruction—Third-Degree Felony—Enhanced (One Prior Felony)
- 12.16 Instruction—Any Felony Other Than State Jail Felony—Enhanced (Two Prior Felonies)
- 12.17 General Comments on State Jail Felonies
- 12.18 Instruction—State Jail Felony—Unenhanced
- 12.19 Instruction—State Jail Felony—Enhanced (One Prior Felony)
- 12.20 Instruction—State Jail Felony—Enhanced (Two Prior State Jail Felonies)
- 12.21 Instruction—State Jail Felony—Enhanced (Two Prior Felonies)
- 12.22 General Comments—Instructions on Good Conduct Time
- 12.23 Instruction—Class A Misdemeanor—Unenhanced
- 12.24 Instruction—Class A Misdemeanor—Enhanced (One Prior Conviction)
- 12.25 Instruction—Class B Misdemeanor—Unenhanced
- 12.26 Instruction—Class B Misdemeanor—Enhanced (One Prior Conviction)
- 12.27 General Comments on Intoxication Offenses
- 12.28 Instruction—Misdemeanor [Driving/Flying/Boating/-Assembling or Operating Amusement Ride] While -Intoxicated—Unenhanced
- 12.29 Instruction—Misdemeanor Driving While Intoxicated—Enhanced—Alcohol Concentration at or above 0.15
- 12.30 Instruction—Misdemeanor [Driving/Assembling or -Operating Amusement Ride] While Intoxicated—-Unenhanced—Open Container Accusation (Plea of Not True)
- 12.31 Instruction—Misdemeanor Driving While Intoxicated—Enhanced—Alcohol Concentration at or above 0.15— Open Container Accusation (Plea of Not True)
- 12.32 Instruction—Misdemeanor [Driving/Assembling or Operating Amusement Ride] While Intoxicated—Unenhanced—Open Container Accusation (Plea of True)
- 12.33 Instruction—Misdemeanor Driving While Intoxicated—Enhanced—Alcohol Concentration at or above 0.15— Open Container Accusation (Plea of True)
- 12.34 Instruction—Misdemeanor [Driving/Flying/Boating/Assembling or Operating Amusement Ride] While Intoxicated—Punishment Enhancement (Plea of Not True)
- 12.35 Instruction—Misdemeanor [Driving/Flying/Boating/Assembling or Operating Amusement Ride] While Intoxicated—Punishment Enhancement (Plea of True)
- 12.36 Instruction—Misdemeanor [Driving/Assembling or Operating Amusement Ride] While Intoxicated—Punishment Enhancement (Plea of Not True)—Open Container Accusation (Plea of Not True)
- 12.37 Instruction—Misdemeanor [Driving/Assembling or -Operating Amusement Ride] While Intoxicated—Punishment Enhancement (Plea of Not True)—Open Container Accusation (Plea of True)
- 12.38 Instruction—Suspension of Driver’s License
- CPJC 12-4
- CPJC 12-5
- CPJC 12-7
- CPJC 12-8
- CPJC 12-10
- CPJC 12-11
- CPJC 12-12
- CPJC 12-13
- CPJC 12-14
- CPJC 12-15
- CPJC 12-16
- CPJC 12-18
- CPJC 12-19
- CPJC 12-20
- CPJC 12-21
- CPJC 12-23
- CPJC 12-24
- CPJC 12-25
- CPJC 12-26
- CPJC 12-28
- CPJC 12-29
- CPJC 12-30
- CPJC 12-31
- CPJC 12-32
- CPJC 12-33
- CPJC 12-34
- CPJC 12-35
- CPJC 12-36
- CPJC 12-37
- CPJC 12-38
Comment
Section 4 of article 37.07 of the Code of Criminal Procedure mandates specific jury instructions on good conduct time and/or parole for three different types of cases. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 37.07, § 4(a)–(c). Section 4(a) sets out an instruction for several situations. These include certain organized criminal activity offenses, offenses listed in article 42A.054(a), and, with some exceptions, cases in which “the judgment contains an affirmative finding [of use of a deadly weapon] under Article 42A.054(c) or (d).” Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 37.07, § 4(a).
The manner in which the punishment stage instructions deal with the last situation depends on how the deadly weapon matter is submitted to the jury. If the issue is submitted at punishment, the jury instructions must include multiple versions of the good conduct time and parole law, one for consideration if the deadly weapon finding is made and the others for use if the finding is not made. A plurality opinion of the court of criminal appeals has described submission at the guilt stage as the better practice. Hill v. State, 913 S.W.2d 581, 586 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) (plurality opinion). See also Olivas v. State, 202 S.W.3d 137, 142 n.9 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (court of appeals’ holding that submission of deadly weapon issue at guilt was improper was not before court of criminal appeals, “but we note that the deadly weapon issue has been submitted in this manner in other cases”).
The Committee agrees that the deadly weapon issue is better submitted to the jury at the guilt stage of the trial. This considerably simplifies the punishment stage instruction.
Awkwardly, section 4(a) requires submission of the instructions set out in that provision if the deadly weapon finding is contained in the judgment. Of course, the judge must decide the content of the punishment stage instructions before the judgment is drafted. If the jury’s action in the guilt stage constitutes a deadly weapon finding, which the judge will be required to include in the judgment, the punishment stage instruction should include the section 4(a) language.
Some instructions for individual offenses contain multiple options. One is for cases in which either the offense of which the defendant was convicted is an article 42A.054(a) offense or in which the judge has decided to include a deadly weapon finding in the judgment. The others are for other cases.