Opinion
No. 08-12-00320-CR
07-06-2016
ENRIQUE MARTINEZ, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
Appeal from the 41st District Court of El Paso County, Texas (TC# 20120D02642) ORDER
The Court notes that Chapter 845 of the Texas Health and Safety Code was amended during the regular session of the Eighty-Fourth Legislature, and that the act involving those amendments was signed by the Governor and became effective June 17, 2015. See 2015 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. Ch. 845 (S.B. 746) (Vernon's Texas Session Law Service 2015, Eighty-Fourth Legislature, 2015 Regular Session). The amendments include changes to Sections 841.082(a) and 841.085(a). The amending act also provides that:
SECTION 41. The change in law made by this Act in amending Section 841.085, Health and Safety Code, applies to an offense committed before, on, or after the effective date of this Act, except that a final conviction for an offense under that section that exists on the effective date of this Act remains unaffected by this Act.
In Mitchell v. State, 473 S.W.3d 503 (Tex.App. - El Paso 2015, no pet.), this Court held that the amended statute decriminalized certain violations of the sex offender civil commitment requirements. This Court also held that the amended statute applied retroactively to a defendant, convicted of same, whose convictions were not final as of statute's effective date, due to a pending direct appeal.
The Court requests the parties submit supplemental letter briefs to the Court by July 31, 2016, addressing (i) whether Mitchell v. State and the amendments to Sections 841.082(a) and 841.085(a) have any application to this appeal, and (ii) if so, how Mitchell v. State and these amendments affect the issues involved in this appeal. See TEX.R.APP.P. 38.7.
IT IS SO ORDERED THIS 6TH DAY OF JULY, 2016.
PER CURIAM Before McClure, C.J., Rodriguez, and Hughes, JJ.