In re: The Commitment of James Allen Hamm

Summary

The Seventh Court of Appeals of Texas affirmed a civil commitment order finding James Allen Hamm to be a sexually violent predator. The court held that, even assuming error and preservation regarding a venire member’s inflammatory voir dire comment, Hamm failed to show that the omission of a sua sponte instruction to disregard or quashing of the venire probably caused an improper verdict.

Holdings

1. Even assuming that the trial court committed and Hamm preserved error by failing to sua sponte quash the venire panel or instruct it to disregard the venire member's comment, the error was harmless because Hamm did not show that it probably caused the rendition of an improper verdict or prevented him from properly presenting his case.
2. A trial court's rulings on voir dire are reviewed for abuse of discretion.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by failing to sua sponte quash the venire panel after a venire member made an allegedly inflammatory and prejudicial comment during voir dire.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by failing to sua sponte instruct the venire to disregard the comment.
3. Whether any error was preserved or fundamental, and whether the alleged error probably caused the rendition of an improper verdict.

Disposition

affirmed