Water Pollution: Unauthorized Discharge; Texas Constitutional Law: Unconstitutionally Vague Criminal Statutes

摘要

Valero is charged by information with an unauthorized discharge under Texas Water Code 7.147. Under the version in existence on the date of the discharge a person commit an offense by discharging or allowing the discharge of any waste or pollutant Valero initially files a motion to quash the information arguing it is not specific enough to show how the statute was violated. The State then files a motion to amend the information to include the statutory definition of a discharge. The trial court grants the motion to amend and denies the motion to quash. A second motion to quash based on insufficient notice to allow it to prepare a defense is not ruled upon. Valero then files a supplemental motion seeking to have the statute declared unconstitutional. That motion is denied and Valero pleads nolo contendre and appeals the decision not to quash the information. Held: affirmed. While a criminal defendant has a constitutional right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him through an accurate and intelligible information, that right may be waived as to alleged defects in the charging instrument by failing to timely object to the instrument. In this case, Valero, by agreeing to the complained-of language in the information as part of its nolo contendre plea, waived its right to object. Notwithstanding the waiver, the court discusses the merits of Valero's claims. The central objection is that the statute is unconstitutionally vague as applied because of the purported criminality of failing to act to prevent a discharge when there may be no such duty to act. A corporation, however, may be subject to strict liability criminal offenses. In this case, the alleged discharge came from a facility owned by Valero. While the statute may be read to essentially criminalize a person's failure to stop a discharge caused by a third party, that is not the case here. The statute is not unconstitutionally vague.