Townsend v. State

OPINION

ONION, Judge.

The offense is Burglary with Intent to Commit Theft; the punishment, enhanced under the provisions of Article 63, Vernon’s Ann.P.C., life.

We are squarely confronted at the outset with the most serious question in the case. Did the trial judge err in refusing appellant’s timely presented demand, supported by affidavit, for a preliminary hearing upon the sole issue of his competency to stand trial (present insanity) ?

Prior to the effective date of the 1965 Code of Criminal Procedure such refusal would have constituted reversible error. See Ex Parte Hodges, 166 Tex.Cr.R. 433,…