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45 Sw. L.J. 1593 (1991-1992)
Criminal Procedure: Pretrial, Trial and Appeal

handle is hein.journals/smulr45 and id is 1605 raw text is: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE: PRETRIAL, TRIAL AND APPEAL Kerry P. FitzGerald* I. INTRODUCTION his Article reviews significant decisions of the Texas Court of Crimi- nal Appeals and Texas Courts of Appeals in the area of criminal pre- trial, trial, and appellate procedure during the Survey period. II. PRETRIAL A. Bail In Ex Parte JonesI the appellant argued that he was entitled to have his bail, set by the district court, at $550,000 combined for murder and capital murder charges, reduced to an amount that he could meet, $14,000. Pursu- ant to his writ of habeas corpus, a hearing was held and the court reduced the bond to $105,000.2 The appellant utilized article 17.151 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure3 to argue that he must be released on personal bond or a reduced surety bond if the State was not ready for trial within 90 days from the commencement of his detention. The legislative purpose of this article was to assure that an accused would not be held in custody indefi- nitely while the State was not at least prepared to bring the accused to trial.4 The court of appeals held that the prosecutor's announcement that the State has been ready for trial was not sufficiently definite to show it was ready within the designated time.5 The court of criminal appeals acknowledged and distinguished Meshell v. State 6 which held the Speedy Trial Act7 unconstitutional, emphasizing that in this case the only consequence was a salutary one within an accusatory system that embraces the presumption of innocence until an accused is proven otherwise.8 The basic reasoning was that an accused, incarcerated and as yet untried, should not suffer the incidental punitive effect of incarcer- * B.B.A., Southern Methodist University; L.L.B., University of Texas. Attorney at Law, Dallas Texas. 1. 803 S.W.2d 712 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). 2. Id. at 713. 3. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROc. ANN. art. 17.151 (Vernon Supp. 1992). 4. Jones, 803 S.W.2d at 715. 5. Id at 717. 6. 739 S.W.2d 246 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987). 7. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 32 A.02 (Vernon 1989) 8. Jones, 803 S.W.2d at 716. 1593

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