No. 20-7017

Dennis Martin Beyer, Jr. v. Texas

Lower Court: Texas
Docketed: 2021-02-02
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: constitutional-requirement continuous-sexual-abuse criminal-procedure criminal-trial due-process jury-conviction jury-unanimity sixth-amendment texas-court-of-criminal-appeals
Key Terms:
Securities Immigration
Latest Conference: 2021-04-01
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does the constitutional requirement of jury unanimity require a jury to be unanimous as to specific acts of sexual abuse in order to convict a defendant of continuous sexual abuse?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED This Court recently recognized that the term "trial by an impartial jury," contained within the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, requires jury unanimity. The Court further recognized that this requirement applies to state and federal criminal trials. Petitioner was convicted of continuous sexual abuse by a jury : that was not required to agree unanimously on which two or more specific acts of sexual abuse were committed by Petitioner or the exact date when those acts were committed. To date, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas has not written on the constitutionality of the statute. This Court has not directly spoken on the constitutionality : of continuous sexual abuse statutes that do not require a jury to unanimously agree on the particular acts of wrongdoing committed by a defendant. This case, therefore, presents the following question: Does the constitutional requirement of jury unanimity require a jury to be unanimous as to specific acts of sexual abuse in order to convict a defendant of continuous sexual abuse? BEYER V. TEXAS i .

Docket Entries

2021-04-05
Petition DENIED.
2021-03-17
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/1/2021.
2020-12-18
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 4, 2021)

Attorneys

Dennis Martin Beyer, Jr.
Dennis Martin Beyer Jr. — Petitioner
Dennis Martin Beyer Jr. — Petitioner