STANTON, THOMAS ALLEN v. the State of Texas
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
Date FiledOctober 15, 2026
DocketPD-0468-26
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
OF TEXAS
NO. PD-0468-26
THOMAS ALLEN STANTON, Appellant
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS
ON APPELLANT’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW
FROM THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS
McLENNAN COUNTY
Per curiam.
OPINION
Appellant was convicted of three counts of indecency with a child by sexual
contact and sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment on each count. The third count
alleged that he touched the complainant’s breast. At trial, after the State rested,
Appellant requested that the State elect which act it intended to rely upon for the
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breast-touching count in the indictment. Appellant renewed this request after he
rested, and again during the jury charge conference.
On appeal, the court of appeals characterized and rejected Appellant’s point
of error in the following manner:
[Appellant’s] sole complaint on appeal is about the timing of the State’s
election. However, he did not object at trial to the timing of the election.
Rather, he acquiesced in the trial court’s decision to permit the State to
make its election at the close of all of the evidence. Accordingly, his
argument on appeal is not preserved. See Tex. R. App. P. 33.1;
Bonilla v. State, 452 S.W.3d 811, 813 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (“The
party who complains about the trial judge’s action on direct appeal
bears the burden of objecting at trial. . .”); Dunn v. State, 819 S.W.2d
510, 525 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991) (defendant failed to preserve issue for
review when he acquiesced to the trial court’s action contrary to his
complaint).
Stanton v. State, No. 10-25-00001-CR, 2026 WL 1346512, at *1 (Tex. App.—Waco
May 14, 2026) (emphasis added). But this was not Appellant’s “sole” complaint on
appeal. In fact, Appellant’s first issue on appeal was styled, “The trial court erred in
failing to grant Appellant an election of offenses after the State had rested.” See id.,
Appellant’s Br. at xviii, 7. “The statement of an issue or point will be treated as
covering every subsidiary question that is fairly included.” Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(f).
“The court of appeals must hand down a written opinion that is as brief as
practicable but that addresses every issue raised and necessary to final disposition of
the appeal.” Id. R. 47.1. We agree with Appellant that the court of appeals did not
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address every issue raised in Appellant’s appeal. We grant Appellant’s first ground
for review, vacate the judgment of the court appeals, and remand the cause for the
court of appeals to address all of Appellant’s points of error as presented in his
appellate briefing.
Delivered: October 15, 2026
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