Nawaz v. Texas (original by judge yeary)
Annotate this CaseAppellant Syed Nawaz was convicted on two counts of injury to a child, but under different subsections of Texas Penal Code Section 22.04: 22.04(a)(1) and 22.04(a)(2). Appellant argued on appeal that his two convictions constituted the imposition of multiple punishments for the “same” offense, in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals previously concluded that, at least for purposes of a defendant’s right to a unanimous jury verdict, Sections 22.04(a)(1) and 22.04(a)(2) constituted discrete offenses. Nevertheless, the court of appeals in this case determined that convicting Appellant for both offenses constituted multiple punishments for the “same” offense, in violation of federal double-jeopardy protections. The Court concluded that punishing Appellant in the same trial for causing serious bodily injury, under Section 22.04(a)(1), and also for causing serious mental deficiency, impairment, or injury, under Section 22.04(a)(2), did not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause. There was some evidence that, by whatever act or acts Appellant inflicted the “whip-lash-type” injuries to the victim, those injuries included both “serious bodily injury” in the form of retinal bleeding that caused her blindness, and “serious mental deficiency” in the form of diffuse brain bleeding that has caused her developmental delays. The judgment of the court of appeals was reversed insofar as it vacated Appellant’s conviction and punishment under Count II of the indictment, and the case was remanded to that court for further proceedings.
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