Garcia v. State

OPINION

SEERDEN, Chief Justice.

Appellant pled guilty before a jury to murdering Eluterio Villarreal, III, and the jury assessed his punishment at 80 years in prison. We affirm.

In his first point of error, appellant contends that Tex.Gov’t Code Ann. § 74.-053(b) (Vernon Supp.1994) violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This section permits civil litigants to recuse assigned former judges automatically but denies criminal litigants the same power. 1 Appellant asserts that it is improper to treat criminal and civil defendants differently.

The Equal Protection clause…