Angel Mexico v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: February 11, 2025
• Docket: 01-23-00282-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued February 11, 2025

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-23-00282-CR ——————————— ANGEL MEXICO, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 183rd District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 1649306

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant, Angel Mexico, was charged by indictment with the offense of

murder, enhanced by a prior felony conviction. Appellant pleaded not guilty to the

offense and “not true” to the enhancement. A jury found appellant guilty of the

charged offense. Appellant elected to have the trial court assess punishment. After a hearing, the trial court found the enhancement true and sentenced appellant to life

imprisonment in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal

Justice. This sentence is within the applicable range. Appellant timely filed a notice

of appeal.

Appellant’s appointed counsel on appeal has filed a motion to withdraw, along

with an Anders brief stating that the record presents no reversible error and that,

therefore, the appeal is without merit and is frivolous. See Anders v. California, 386

U.S. 738 (1967). Counsel’s brief meets the Anders requirements by presenting a

professional evaluation of the record and supplying this Court with references to the

record and legal authority. See id. at 744; see also High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807,

812 (Tex. Crim. App. 1978). Counsel indicates that he has thoroughly reviewed the

record and that he is unable to advance any grounds of error that warrant reversal.

See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744; Mitchell v. State, 193 S.W.3d 153, 155 (Tex. App.—

Houston [1st Dist.] 2006, no pet.).

Appellant’s counsel has certified that he mailed a copy of the motion to

withdraw and the Anders brief to appellant and informed appellant of his right to file

a response and to access the record. See In re Schulman, 252 S.W.3d 403, 408 (Tex.

Crim. App. 2008). Furthermore, counsel certified that he sent appellant the form

motion for pro se access to the records for his response. See Kelly v. State, 436

S.W.3d 313, 322 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014). Appellant did not file a pro se response.

2 We have independently reviewed the entire record in this appeal and we

conclude that no reversible error exists in the record, that there are no arguable

grounds for review, and that therefore the appeal is frivolous. See Anders, 386 U.S.

at 744 (emphasizing that reviewing court—and not counsel—determines, after full

examination of proceedings, whether appeal is wholly frivolous); Garner v. State,

300 S.W.3d 763, 767 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009) (reviewing court must determine

whether arguable grounds for review exist); Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 826–

28 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (reviewing court is not to address merits of each claim

raised in Anders brief or pro se response after determining there are no arguable

grounds for review); Mitchell, 193 S.W.3d at 155. An appellant may challenge a

holding that there are no arguable grounds for appeal by filing a petition for

discretionary review in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. See Bledsoe, 178

S.W.3d at 827 n.6.

Although there is no reversable error in the case, we note the trial court’s

judgment does not accurately reflect the proceedings when listing appellant’s plea

to the enhancement paragraph as “True.” The record, instead, demonstrates that

appellant pleaded “Not True” to the enhancement paragraph. We have the authority

to reform a judgment to make the record speak the truth when we have the necessary

information before us to do so. See TEX. R. APP. P. 43.2(b); Bigley v. State, 865

S.W.2d 26, 27–28 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993); French v. State, 830 S.W.2d 607, 609

3 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992); Nolan v. State, 39 S.W.3d 697, 698 (Tex. App.—Houston

[1st Dist.] 2001, no pet.). Therefore, we modify the trial court’s judgment to reflect

that appellant pleaded “Not True” to the enhancement paragraph.

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court as modified and grant

counsel’s motion to withdraw.1 See TEX. R. APP. P. 43.2(a). Attorney Allen C. Isbell

must immediately send the required notice and file a copy of that notice with the

Clerk of this Court. See TEX. R. APP. P. 6.5(c). We dismiss any other pending

motions as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Guerra, Caughey, and Morgan.

Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).

1 Appointed counsel still has a duty to inform appellant of the result of this appeal and that he may, on his own, pursue discretionary review in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. See Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 826–27 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005). 4