By a Two to One Vote, the State Has the Responsibility to Fix a Questionable Order

Justice Charles W. Seymore, joined by his fellow Fourteenth Court of Appeals Justice Tracy Christopher, reversed and remanded a conviction for indecent exposure. The county criminal court at law judge orally overruled a motion to quash the information after a hearing, but later signed an order granting it. These justices noted that the State had not requested abatement of the appeal to allow the trial court to hold a hearing on a motion for judgment nunc pro tunc to determine if the written order was the result of a clerical error. They held that the State had the responsibility to make the motions. The third justice on the panel, William J. Boyce, dissented. He said that the abatement and hearing could have been required on the appellate court's own motion, and should have been.