Texas Court of Criminal Appeals- It is Error To Not Consider The Public Safety Report


On December 6, 2023, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals handed down an opinion in Cause No. PD-0513-23; Ex Parte Gayosso; In the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.  The case arose from Waller County and was presented to the court on a Petition for Discretionary Review from the 14th Court of Appeals.  

The case dealt with the Damon Allen Act which requires that a "public safety report" be prepared when a magistrate is considering the release on bail of a person charged with a Class B misdemeanor offense or higher.  The Court noted that the statute requires the magistrate to "conside" the report before setting bail.

On appeal, the Court noted that the court of appeals "appears not to have reviewed the public safety report."  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that this was error.

The first part of the opinion dealt with the effective date of the Damon Allen Act which was January 1, 2022.  Further, the Court noted that the Act contained an exemption that stated that a magistrate or judge is exempt from having to consider the public safety report during a bail consideration that took place before April 1, 2022.  Therefore, the defendant was arrested after the effective date of the Act.  Further, the first magistration took place during the exemption period.  However, the hearing to reconsider the bail set by the court was held on June 16, 2022.  

Therefore, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that the trial court was required to consider the Public Safety Report in considering the motion to reconsider.  Not considering the public safety report was error.  Further, a court of appeals errs in not reviewing the Public Safety Report in an appeal.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused the petition without prejudice.  Additionally, the court, on its own motions, vacated the court of appeals' decision and remanded the case to the court of appeals for further proceedings.  The decision was unanimous.

To see a copy of the opinion from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals CLICK HERE.



Comments

  1. robert herreraDecember 13, 2023 at 5:42 PM

    How significant is this error? What are the consequences for a magistrate that doesn’t wait/ consider the public safety report before setting bail?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ken W. GoodDecember 15, 2023 at 9:24 AM

    This case says that the trial court commits error if they do not consider the public safety report. Since setting bail is reviewed on an abuse of discretion standard, I believe that this means that if the court does not review the public safety report, it is an abuse of discretion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ken W. GoodJanuary 18, 2024 at 3:08 PM

    Bail is reviewed on an abuse of discretion standard. Failing to follow the law is a part of the review. So the trial court's decision to not review the public safety report would be reviewed de novo and and would be error and failing to follow the law would be an abuse of discretion requiring reversal.

    ReplyDelete

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