Stecher v. State

Decision Date04 November 1964
Docket NumberNo. 37124,37124
Citation383 S.W.2d 594
PartiesH. K. STECHER, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
CourtTexas Court of Criminal Appeals

J. Charles Whitfield, Jr., Houston, for appellant.

Frank Briscoe, Dist. Atty., Carl E. F. Dally, James C. Brough and Theodore P. Busch, Asst. Dist. Attys., Houston, and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.

WOODLEY, Presiding Judge

The offense is violation of an ordinance of the City of Houston which provides that it shall be unlawful to park or stand any vehicle other than a commercial vehicle in any truck loading zone during certain hours. The punishment is a fine of $150.

Appellant and the nature of the offense are the same as in Stecher v. State, Tex.Cr.App., Cr.App., 371 S.W.2d 568; Stecher v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 365 S.W.2d 800; Stecher v. State, 172 Tex.Cr.R. 477, 358 S.W.2d 380. A prior conviction for this same offense was before this Court in Stecher v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 373 S.W.2d 255, in which case this Court reversed and remanded for new trial because the bailiff answered a question asked by the jury.

Appellant's complaint that the trial judge overruled his motion to quash the information (complaint) is not before us, the motion not being in writing as required by Art. 513 C.C.P.

No witness testified that appellant parked his automobile in the zone in question and the state relies on the presumption created by Section 41-141, 1958 Code of Ordinances of Houston, Ch. 41, XIII, which reads as follows:

'Presumption of parking by owner when car illegally parked.

'When any person is charged with having parked or left standing a vehicle on any street in the city at a place on said street where parking of vehicles is prohibited, or with parking such vehicle on said street in a manner which violates the manner of parking a vehicle is designated, or with parking such vehicle for a length of time in excess of that allowed in the space where said vehicle was parked, proof that said vehicle was, at the date of the offense alleged, owned by the person charged with the offense, shall constitute prima facie evidence that said vehicle was parked or left standing at the place charged by said owner, but the owner shall have the right to introduce evidence to show that said vehicle was not parked by him as charged in the complaint.'

The appellant did not testify and offered no evidence.

Appellant's brief complains that the state failed to establish by proper evidence the ownership of the parked vehicle. He argues that the only evidence of ownership offered by the state was that of the policeman testifying to what the appellant 'is alleged to have said in another court.'

Police Officer Arredondo testified to having seen a regular passenger four door Dodge Sedan with regular license plates RN 300 parked in a truck zone about 9:30 A.M.

He testified that he issued the parking ticket which was introduced in evidence.

Excerpts from the ordinances of the City of Houston and report from the Department of Traffic and Transportation were introduced to...

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4 cases
  • Faulks v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 22 Octubre 1975
    ...review. Fegan v. State, 152 Tex.Cr.R. 452, 215 S.W.2d 163 (1948); Quarles v. State, 398 S.W.2d 935 (Tex.Cr.App.1966); Stecher v. State, 383 S.W.2d 594 (Tex.Cr.App.1964); Riley v. State, 379 S.W.2d 79 (Tex.Cr.App.1964). The requirement of a written motion is the same under Article 27.10, V.A......
  • Cantrell v. Oklahoma City
    • United States
    • United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
    • 23 Abril 1969
    ...Associates, Inc. (Sup.) 228 N.Y.S.2d 529; Ohio - City of Columbus v. Webster, 170 Ohio St. 327, 164 N.E.2d 734; Texas - Stecher v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 383 S.W.2d 594. The rationale of the jurisdictions having dealt with this question is that where motor vehicle is registered in name of part......
  • Quarles v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 16 Febrero 1966
    ...to set aside an indictment or information shall be in writing; therefore, such contention is not before us for review. Stecher v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 383 S.W.2d 594; Riley v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 379 S.W.2d 79; and Howard v. State, 157 Tex.Cr.R. 114, 247 S.W.2d Appellant contends that error ......
  • Davis v. State, 41368
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 10 Julio 1968
    ...to the sufficiency of the complaint on its face. No written exception or motion to quash the complaint was filed. See Stecher v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 383 S.W.2d 594. The record reflects that the offense charged was the violation of an ordinance of the City of Houston. The ordinance is not be......

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