Opinion
No. 08-03-00159-CR
August 12, 2004. DO NOT PUBLISH.
Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. Two of Dallas County, Texas, (Tc# F-0132468-I).
Before Panel No. 4, BARAJAS, C.J., LARSEN, and McCLURE, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This is an appeal from a conviction for the offense of intoxication assault. Appellant pleaded guilty and the court assessed punishment at five years' imprisonment in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
I. SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE
Appellant was charged by indictment for the offense of intoxication assault. This indictment read in pertinent part:Torres, Jesus Orocio, defendant, on or about the 18th day of May A.D. 2001 in the County of Dallas and said State, did unlawfully then and there while operating a motor vehicle in a public place, while intoxicated, in that the defendant did not have the normal use of his mental and physical faculties by reason of the intoxication of alcohol into defendant's body and defendant had an alcohol concentration of at least 0.08, by accident and mistake and by reason of that intoxication, did thereby cause serious bodily injury to BARBARA WILKES, another person, by colliding [sic] said defendant's motor vehicle, a deadly weapon, with the motorcycle then occupied by BARBARA WILKES. . . .On November 19, 2002, a hearing was held upon Appellant's open guilty plea and the plea was accepted. A sentencing hearing was held on January 9, 2003 and Appellant was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. In neither the first nor the second hearing did Appellant object to the procedures utilized or the unconstitutionality of the statutes involved either as applied on him or on the face of the statutes.
II. DISCUSSION
In Appellant's sole issue, he asserts that Sections 49.07 and 49.11 of the Texas Penal Code are unconstitutional on their face and as applied to him in that they fail to comply with Section 6.02(b) of the Penal Code, thereby denying Appellant of his right to due process, due course of law, and a fair trial in violation of the United States and Texas Constitutions. Texas Penal Code section 6.02 provides in relevant part:(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b), a person does not commit an offense unless he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence engages in conduct as the definition of the offense requires.
(b) If the definition of an offense does not prescribe a culpable mental state, a culpable mental state is nevertheless required unless the definition plainly dispenses with any mental element.Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 6.02(a)(b) (Vernon 2003). Texas Penal Code section 49.07, intoxication assault, provides in pertinent part:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person, by accident or mistake:
(1) while operating an aircraft, watercraft, or amusement ride while intoxicated, or while operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated, by reason of that intoxication causes serious bodily injury to another; . . .Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 49.07(a)(1) (Vernon 2003). Texas Penal Code section 49.11 provides:
(a) Notwithstanding Section 6.02(b), proof of a culpable mental state is not required for conviction of an offense under this chapter.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to an offense under Section 49.031.Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 49.11(a)(b) (Vernon 2003). Specifically, Appellant contends that the intoxication assault offense is unconstitutional as applied to him because that offense is the combination of two offenses: DWI and aggravated assault. Appellant reasons as aggravated assault does require a mental state, the State failed to demonstrate the requisite mens rea. Appellant asserts that the statute is unconstitutional on its face because it does not comply with Section 6.02 and attempts to circumvent the requirement that language dispensing with the mental element must be part of the definition of each separate offense. Initially, we must address the State's contention that Appellant has failed to preserve his contention that the statute is unconstitutional as applied to him. In order to review an attack on the constitutionality of a statute "as applied," the one challenging the statute must have raised the issue in the trial court. Tex.R.App.P. 33.1(a)(1); Curry v. State, 910 S.W.2d 490, 496 (Tex.Crim.App. 1995). As Appellant did not raise this contention in the court below, he has waived the issue on appeal. Even if we accept Appellant's claim that Section 49.11 runs afoul of the requirement of Section 6.02 that a mental state is required unless the definition of the offense plainly dispenses with any mental element, we find that the offense of intoxication plainly dispenses with any mental element. As stated, a person commits intoxication assault if the person, by accident or mistake, while operating an aircraft, watercraft, or motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated, by reason of that intoxication causes serious injury to another. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 49.07(a)(1) (Vernon 2003). It is clear that the language "by accident and mistake" plainly dispenses with any mental element. Stidman v. State, 981 S.W.2d 227, 230 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1998, no pet.). Accordingly, Appellant's issue should be overruled. Having overruled Appellant's sole issue on review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.