No. V-0059 (1947).

• Case Date: March 03, 1947
• Court: Texas

Texas Attorney General Opinions 1947. No. V-0059 (1947). 1March 3, 1947Hoa. F. M. CowsertDirector of Law EnforcementGame, Fish and Oyster CommissionAustin, TexasOpinion No. V-59Re: Whether or not under Article 910 of the Penal Code it is unlawful to kill a wild female deer.Dear Sir:We have your request for an opinion upon the above titled subject matter, in the last paragraph of which you say: "In the final analysis, the question is, in prosecutions under Art. 910, Penal Code 1925, is it necessary always to prove that the deer was wild?" Article 910, insofar as pertinent, is as follows:

"It shall be unlawful for any person to take, kill, * * * shoot at, hunt or possess, dead or alive any wild female deer, * * *."

We shall first determine, as best we may, just what the Legislature meant by the term "wild female deer". It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that words used therein are to be construed in their usual, ordinary, commonly-accepted meaning, unless the contrary thereof plainly appears from the context. This rule is applicable alike to civil and penal statutes.2Art. 7 of the Penal Code declares that:

"This code and every other law upon the subject of crime which may be enacted, shall be construed according to the plain import of the language in which it is written, without regard to the distinction usually made between the construction of penal laws and laws upon other subjects * * *."

2 The succeeding article further declares:

"Words which have their meaning specially defined shall be understood in that sense, though it be contrary to their usual meaning; and all words used in this code except where a word, term, or phrase is specially defined, are to be taken and construed in the sense in which they are understood in common language, taking into consideration the context and subject matter relative to which they are employed."

We have here the statutory yardstick by which we are to measure the words employed in Article 910. The term "wild female deer" is not specially defined in the code. It must therefore be construed as it is understood in common language, having in mind, the context. In this sense, we have no hesitancy in saying it means such a deer as is visibly free to roam as it pleases, and is not confined by an enclosure apparently sufficient to hold it, or visibly tethered or within the...