Moore v. State

OPINION

FENDER, Chief Justice.

Appellant, Cleo L. Moore, was convicted by a jury of rape (V.T.C.A. Penal Code, § 21.02) and sentenced to 15 years in the Texas Department of Corrections. Except for the selection of the jury, the entire trial was held in the absence of Moore.

We reverse and remand.

Moore was charged with the rape of a resident of the apartment complex where he was employed as a maintenance man. He pled not guilty to the charge on February 16, 1981 and a jury was selected and sworn on that day. The trial was to begin the next morning at nine o’clock. Moore did not appear.

At ten…