Opinion
No. 08-13-00072-CR
08-14-2013
THE STATE OF TEXAS, State, v. ROCIO ROMERO, Appellee.
Appeal from the
409th District Court
of El Paso County, Texas
(TC# 20120D01434)
ORDER
Rocio Elizabeth Romero was indicted for manslaughter. Romero asserted that the indictment included allegations unnecessary to charge her with the offense of manslaughter and moved to quash the indictment on the basis that this alleged suplussage did not fairly inform her of the essential elements of the offense charged. The trial court agreed and granted the motion. The trial court's order, however, also states that "the State may not introduce evidence as to the following acts: [(1)] Loading a firearm[;] [(2)] Chambering a round into the firearm[;] [and] [(3)] Using marijuana[.]"
Arguing that the order suppresses evidence, the State requested the trial court to file findings of fact and conclusions of law. See State v. Cullen, 195 S.W.3d 696, 698-99 (Tex.Crim.App.2006)(holding that when the losing party on a motion to suppress requests findings of fact and conclusions of law, the trial court is required to make them). Because the trial court has not done so, the State requests that we abate the appeal and remand the case back to the trial court to make those findings and conclusions.
Although it is unclear whether the trial court intended to "suppress" evidence in granting the motion to quash, the prudent course of action is to require the trial court to make findings of fact and conclusions of law so that we can "better review" its ruling. See Castro v. State, 227 S.W.3d 737, 743 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007)(purpose of requiring findings of fact and conclusions of law is "so that the appellate courts can better review the decision of the trial court without speculating about the reasons for the trial court's decision."); Blocker v. State, 231 S.W.3d 595, 597-98 (Tex.App.--Waco 2007, no pet.)("... when a possibly ambiguous yet bona fide request is presented, we should construe it in favor of performing a better appellate review of the trial court's ruling at issue."). Accordingly, we grant the State's motion and order the trial court to file findings of fact and conclusions of law.
The appeal is hereby abated pending the filing of the trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court shall issue and file with the District Clerk of El Paso County, Texas, findings of fact and conclusions of law on or before September 14, 2013. Thereafter, the District Clerk of El Paso County, Texas, shall file a supplemental clerk's record containing said findings of fact and conclusions of law with this Court on or before September 24, 2013.
Further, the State's brief shall be due 30 days after the supplemental clerk's record is filed with this Court.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 14th day of August, 2013.
PER CURIAM Before McClure, C.J., Rivera and Rodriguez, JJ.