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757 S.W.2d 777

Lopez v. State

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas

Decided September 21, 1988

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas · decided 1988-09-21

Cited by 2 later decisions — most recently October 1989

2 state decisions

Relies on Meshell v. State · Reyes v. State · Jefferson v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1988-09-21

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ONION, Presiding Judge.

¶1Appellant was convicted of burglary of a building while armed with a deadly weapon, to-wit: a firearm. The jury assessed punishment at 50 years imprisonment and a fine of $7,500.00.

¶2On appeal appellant raised several points of error. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction on the first point of error that the trial court erred in overruling the motion to set aside the indictment for failure to comply with the Texas Speedy Trial Act (Article 32A.02). Lopez v. State, 663 S.W.2d 908 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1983).

¶3We granted the State’s petitions for discretionary review to determine the correctness of the holding of the Court of Appeals.

¶4Since that time, this Court in Meshell v. State, 739 S.W.2d 246 (Tex.Cr.App.1987), held Article 32A.02, V.A.C.C.P., unconstitutional and void in its entirety. An unconstitutional statute is void from its inception and cannot provide a basis for any right or relief. 12 Tex.Jur.3rd, Constitutional Law, Sec. 41, at 548 (and cases in n. 33 thereof). Jefferson v. State, 751 S.W.2d 502 (Tex.Cr.App.1988); Reyes v. State, 753 S.W.2d 382 (Tex.Cr.App.1988).

¶5The Speedy Trial Act, has been declared unconstitutional and is void from its inception and confers no rights or benefits. As in Jeffersonand Reyes, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed and the cause remanded for consideration of appellant’s other points of error.

¶6CLINTON, TEAGUE, and CAMPBELL, JJ., dissent for the reasons stated in the dissenting opinions in Reyes v. State, supra, and Jefferson v. State, supra.

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