Jordan v. State
| Decision Date | 18 June 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. PD-973-06.,PD-973-06. |
| Citation | 256 S.W.3d 286 |
| Parties | Elmer Ray JORDAN, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
The court of appeals held that the application of a harm analysis is not appropriate when the State failed to prove the proper sequence of Jordan's two prior convictions for punishment enhancement purposes under the habitual felony-enhancement statute.1 The court reversed the trial court's judgment and remanded the case for a new punishment trial.2 We hold that the court of appeals properly rejected the State's contention that a harm analysis is appropriate.
Jordan was charged by indictment with the felony offense of possession of 988.76 grams of cocaine with intent to deliver.3 The indictment also included two enhancement paragraphs alleging that Jordan had two prior sequential felony convictions for possession of a controlled dangerous substance in Oklahoma. The first enhancement paragraph alleged that Jordan had a previous conviction for possession from June 1988, and the second enhancement paragraph alleged that he had a previous conviction for possession from November 1992. Jordan pleaded guilty to the primary offense and entered pleas of not true to the two prior Oklahoma possession convictions before the jury. The jury found Jordan guilty of the primary offense and found both enhancement paragraphs to be true. The jury then sentenced Jordan to life imprisonment, the maximum sentence allowed under the habitual felony-offender statute, Texas Penal Code Section 12.42(d).4
Jordan appealed, arguing, among other things, that the evidence was insufficient to prove that the November 1992 felony possession conviction was committed after the June 1988 felony possession conviction became final as required under Texas Penal Code Section 12.42(d).5 The Fort Worth Court of Appeals agreed with Jordan and remanded the case for a new trial on punishment.6 In remanding the case for a new punishment hearing, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals rejected the State's argument that the error was harmless and held that a harm analysis is inappropriate.7 Observing that other courts of appeals have applied a harm analysis in this context,8 the court concluded that this Court has never undertaken a harm analysis when holding that the evidence was insufficient to support an enhancement allegation.9 The court went on to note that the State incorrectly categorized the error as trial error.10 According to the court, the State failed "to meet its evidentiary burden of proof," and as a result, the evidence was legally insufficient to support the jury's finding that the possession offense that Jordan was convicted of in November 1992 was committed after his June 1988 possession conviction became final.11
At his second punishment trial, Jordan again entered pleas of not true to the enhancement paragraphs. The State offered, and the trial judge admitted, Jordan's Oklahoma penitentiary packet that contained information about Jordan's prior Oklahoma convictions into evidence. The information in the packet, however, failed to indicate when Jordan committed the possession offense for which he was convicted in November 1992. Nevertheless, the jury found both enhancement allegations to be true and sentenced Jordan to ninety-nine years' imprisonment under Section 12.42(d).12
Jordan appealed again, claiming, among other things, that the evidence was legally insufficient to prove that Jordan committed the second possession offense after his June 1988 possession conviction was final.13 The State argued that the jury could infer from the information contained in the Oklahoma penitentiary packet that Jordan committed the second possession offense after his first possession conviction became final.14 The Fort Worth Court of Appeals disagreed, stating that there was "no evidence in the record reflecting the date on which [Jordan] committed the second enhancement felony[.]"15 The court then rejected, for a second time, the State's claim that the finding was not harmful.16 Relying on its opinion in Jordan I, the court held that a harm analysis is not appropriate in this context.17 The court then reversed the trial court's judgment and remanded the case for a new trial on punishment.18
The State petitioned us for review challenging the court of appeals's refusal to apply a harm analysis. We granted review to address the following question:
Did the court of appeals err in refusing to conduct a harm analysis in this case where the evidence supporting an enhancement allegation was found to be insufficient when this court has previously held that only "structural" constitutional errors are categorically immune to harmless error analysis?
The State argues that our decision in Cain v. State19 outlines the current law regarding the applicability of a harm analysis. In Cain, we held that "[e]xcept for certain federal constitutional errors labeled by the United States Supreme Court as `structural,' no error, whether it relates to jurisdiction, voluntariness of a plea, or any other mandatory requirement, is categorically immune to a harmless error analysis."20 A "structural" error "affect[s] the framework within which the trial proceeds, rather than simply an error in the trial process itself"21 and "render[s] a trial fundamentally unfair."22 Accordingly, such errors are not amenable to a harm analysis.23 Conversely, constitutional trial error, which "occur[s] during the presentation of the case," is subject to a harm analysis because the error can "be quantitatively assessed in the context of other evidence presented in order to determine" whether the error "was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt."24
The State asserts that the court of appeals erred in refusing to apply a harm analysis. The State argues that the court of appeals erroneously relied on precedent that predates Cain as support for its decision that a harm analysis is not appropriate. The State maintains that when a jury makes an erroneous finding of true to an enhancement paragraph, the error is not "structural." The only right implicated, according to the State, is the defendant's statutory right to have the jury instructed on the correct range of punishment. The error at issue, therefore, is the "jury's consideration of the wrong punishment range." Finally, claiming that the evidentiary insufficiency is harmless, the State argues that the punishment evidence may still support the punishment assessed by the jury.
Jordan argues that the State failed to meet its evidentiary burden of proof as required under Section 12.42(d) of the Texas Penal Code. And because the State failed to meet its burden, the evidence is insufficient and categorically immune from a harm analysis.
Texas Penal Code Section 12.42(d) governs punishment enhancement for habitual felony offenders:
[I]f it is shown on the trial of a felony offense other than a state jail felony punishable under Section 12.35(a) that the defendant has previously been finally convicted of two felony offenses, and the second previous felony conviction is for an offense that occurred subsequent to the first previous conviction having become final, on conviction he shall be punished by imprisonment in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life, or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years.25
Explaining how Section 12.42(d) operates, we have said that "[t]he [chronological] sequence of events must be proved as follows: (1) the first conviction becomes final; (2) the offense leading to a later conviction is committed; (3) the later conviction becomes final; (4) the offense for which defendant presently stands accused is committed."26 The State carries the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant's second previous felony conviction was committed after the defendant's first previous felony conviction became final.27 And when "there is no evidence to show that the offenses were committed and became final in the proper sequence, the defendant's sentence may not be enhanced under the State's habitual offender statutes."28
As noted by the court of appeals, our cases predating our 1997 decision in Cain demonstrate that we have never considered the application of, or conducted, a harm analysis after concluding that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to prove the proper sequence of the defendant's prior felony convictions for enhancement purposes under Section 12.42(d).29 Similarly, we have never applied a harm analysis where the State failed to establish that an enhancement conviction was final before the defendant committed the primary offense.30 In fact, we have explicitly disavowed the application of a harm analysis where the State failed to meet its burden of showing finality.31 In doing so, we said: "A harmless error analysis should not be undertaken when the State fails to meet its burden of proof."32
At the sentencing phase, neither party carries the burden of proving what punishment should be assessed within the statutorily prescribed range applicable to a given offense.33 Generally, the factfinder's decision of what particular sentence to assess is a "normative, discretionary function" that does not depend on the resolution of specific facts.34 However, when the State seeks to enhance a defendant's sentence for the primary offense by alleging that a defendant has a prior conviction,35 and the defendant enters a plea of not true,36 the factfinder must decide whether the State has sustained its burden by entering a finding that the enhancement allegation is either true or not true.37 In essence, the assessment...
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