Stecher v. State

Decision Date11 December 1963
Docket NumberNo. 36297,36297
PartiesH. K. STECHER, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
CourtTexas Court of Criminal Appeals

No attorney for appellant on appeal.

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

WOODLEY, Presiding Judge.

The offense is the violation of an ordinance of the City of Houston making it unlawful to park a vehicle other than a commercial vehicle in a truck loading zone during certain hours.

Upon appeal from a conviction in the Corporation Court, trial in County Court at Law No. 2 of Harris County resulted in a conviction in a jury trial with punishment assessed at a fine of $200.

No statement of facts accompanies the record. Complaint as to the court's charge cannot therefore be appraised.

The trial court has certified, in appellant's formal bill of exception: 'Be it remembered that upon the trial of the above entitled and numbered cause, after the jury had retired to deliberate upon this case, and while the jury was deliberating, Mr. J. W. Smith, the official Bailiff of the aforesaid Court, communicated with the jury and advised them himself when they indicated they had a question to ask, by answering their question, and did not present the question to the Court for the Court's answer on same.'

In view of the court's certification and the maximum punishment being assessed, the error warrants reversal.

The judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded.

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3 cases
  • Alexander v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • March 5, 1996
    ...cases providing that a bailiff's communications with the jury about the case on trial constitutes error. See, e.g., Stecher v. State, 373 S.W.2d 255 (Tex.Crim.App.1963); Clark v. State, 163 Tex.Crim. 54, 289 S.W.2d 288 (1956); Lee v. State, 122 Tex.Crim. 379, 56 S.W.2d 453 For anyone outsid......
  • Jackson v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • February 16, 1966
    ...also insists that the sheriff's association with the jury presents reversible error under the decision of this court in Stecher v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 373 S.W.2d 255. We have again reviewed the record in the light of such contentions, and remain convinced that no reversible error is The she......
  • Stecher v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • November 4, 1964
    ...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 Appellant's......

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