Baker, Ex Parte James Estes Iii

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
• Decided: September 14, 2011
• Docket: AP-76,627
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

OF TEXAS

NO. AP-76,627 EX PARTE JAMES ESTES BAKER III, Applicant

ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

CAUSE NUMBER 526054-B IN THE 209^TH DISTRICT COURT

FROM HARRIS COUNTY

Per curiam. Keller, P.J. filed a dissenting opinion.

O P I N I O N

This is a post-conviction application for a writ of habeas corpus forwarded to this Court pursuant to Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 11.07, § 3, et seq. Applicant was convicted of the felony offense of kidnapping, and punishment was assessed at fourteen years' confinement. No direct appeal was taken.

Applicant contends that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) placed sex offender conditions (special condition X) on his parole due to the underlying facts of this case, but that this cause had no sexual component and therefore those sex offender conditions are improper. We remanded this application to the trial court for supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law in light of our recent decision in Ex parte Evans, 338 S.W.3d 545 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011).

The trial court has decided that TDCJ did not provide adequate due process protections before placing the sex offender conditions on Applicant's parole. We agree.

We find, therefore, that Applicant is entitled to relief. TDCJ shall remove the sex offender conditions from the terms of Applicant's parole. A copy of this opinion shall be delivered to TDCJ.

DO NOT PUBLISH

DELIVERED: