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530 S.W.2d 108

Sheeley v. State

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas

Decided November 26, 1975

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas · decided 1975-11-26

Relies on American Plant Food Corporation v. State · Barbee v. State · Aydelott v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1975-11-26

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently May 1992

5 state decisions

30197519801990decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1OPINION

ROBERTS, Judge.

¶2Appellant was convicted by a jury of the offense of aggravated robbery. The punishment, which was enhanced pursuant to Sec. 12.42(c), Y.T.C.A. Penal Code, was assessed by the jury at ninety-nine (99) years. This appeal followed.

¶3Appellant contends that the indictment is fatally defective because it does not conclude with the phrase “Against the peace and dignity of the State.” An examination of the indictment reveals that appellant is correct, the concluding phrase being absent.

¶4Art. 5, See. 12, Vernon’s Ann.Texas Constitution, provides in part:

“All prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by authority of the State of Texas, and shall conclude: ‘Against the peace and dignity of the State.’ ”

¶5Art. 21.02, Vernon’s Ann.C.C.P., provides that an indictment must conclude with the phrase “Against the peace and dignity of the State.” Under an unbroken line of authorities it has long been held that the omission of this concluding phrase in an indictment renders the same fatally defective. See Reese v. State, 139 Tex.Cr.R. 593, 141 S.W.2d 949 (1940); Herring v. State, 160 Tex.Cr.R. 597, 273 S.W.2d 421 (1954); American Plant Food Corporation v. State, 508 S.W.2d 598 (Tex.Cr.App.1974). See also the other authorities listed under Art. 5, Sec. 12, Note 4, Vernon’s Ann. Texas Constitution, and Art. 21.02, Note 59, Vernon’s Ann.C.C.P.

¶6The indictment being fundamentally defective, the judgment is reversed and the prosecution ordered dismissed.

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