Chadrick Eugene Bradley v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 29, 2023
Docket09-22-00176-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Chadrick Eugene Bradley v. the State of Texas (Chadrick Eugene Bradley v. the State of Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chadrick Eugene Bradley v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

__________________

NO. 09-22-00176-CR NO. 09-22-00177-CR __________________

CHADRICK EUGENE BRADLEY, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee __________________________________________________________________

On Appeal from the 221st District Court Montgomery County, Texas Trial Cause Nos. 20-01-00617-CR and 21-02-02579-CR __________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

After a jury found Chadrick Eugene Bradley guilty of the offense of

“Assault Family Violence Strangulation Enhanced” in trial court cause

number 20-01-00617-CR and guilty of “Assault Causes Bodily Injury

Family Violence Enhanced” in trial court cause number 21-02-02579-CR,

1 Bradley appealed. 1 Six months before the trial, the trial court

consolidated the cases, and it then tried them in a single action before

signing separate judgments of conviction, that is a judgment tied to the

indictment in each case.

Although the appeals are filed separately, the briefs Bradley filed

in the appeals raise the same issues, supported by the same arguments.

In Bradley’s first issue, he argues “the trial court erred by conducting [a]

hearing on [his] Motion for New Trial without his presence[.]” In his

second issue, he contends the trial court erred “by not properly advising

[him] of his right to counsel and the risks of representing himself at trial.”

As to Bradley’s first issue, we conclude that because Bradley

(through his attorney) did not raise a timely objection to the fact he

wasn’t present for the hearing on the motion for new trial, his right to

appellate review was forfeited. As to Bradley’s second issue, the record

shows that Bradley was represented by an attorney in the guilt-

1In trial court cause number 20-01-00617-CR, the jury assessed a

thirty-five-year sentence, and the judgment the trial court signed is consistent with the jury’s verdict. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 22.01(b-3). In trial court cause number 21-02-02579-CR, the jury assessed a twenty- five-year sentence, and the judgment the trial court signed is consistent with the jury’s verdict. See id. § 22.01(b)(2)(A). 2 innocence phase of the trial, in the first punishment hearing, and in the

second punishment hearing, a hearing that occurred after the trial court

granted Bradley’s motion for new trial in part, as to punishment only.

That said, the record also shows that Bradley did represent himself

in a single hearing, a hearing on his pro se motion to disqualify the judge

of the 221st District Court. The hearing on that motion was conducted

before a judge assigned to hear the motion by the regional administrative

judge. Following the hearing on the motion to disqualify, the judge

assigned to hear the motion denied Bradley’s motion. Consequently,

Bradley’s second punishment hearing (like the first phase of his trial and

his first punishment hearing) was conducted by the judge of the 221st

District Court. Bradley was represented by an attorney in the second

punishment hearing, which was not tried before the same jury that he

found him guilty under the indictments charging him with family-

violence assault.

As to Bradley’s second issue, we conclude that Bradley’s argument

that he was not properly warned of the dangers of representing himself

before representing himself in the hearing on his pro se motion to

disqualify the judge of the 221st District Court lacks merit. Because

3 Bradley’s issues were either not properly preserved or lack merit,

judgments in trial court causes 20-01-00617-CR and 21-02-02579-CR are

affirmed.

Background

In two indictments, one filed in March 2020 and the other in

February 2021, a Montgomery County grand jury indicted Bradley,

alleging in both indictments that he assaulted Annette, a person with

whom he has or had a dating relationship.2 The indictment in cause

number 20-01-00617-CR alleged that Bradley assaulted Annette by

“intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly impeding the normal breathing

or circulation of the blood of [Annette], by applying pressure to

[Annette’s] throat or neck or blocking [Annette’s] nose or mouth.” The

indictment in trial court cause number 21-02-02579-CR, alleged that

2Annette is a pseudonym. See Tex. Const. art. I, § 30 (granting crime

victims “the right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process”). Both indictments also allege that Bradley had prior convictions for family-violence assault. See id. § 22.01(b)(2)(A), (b-3). Both indictments include enhancement counts, which allege that Bradley had committed two prior sequenced felonies, which had become final before the primary offense, one for tampering with evidence and the other for manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance. 4 Bradley assaulted Annette “by striking her with [his] hand and striking

with a blunt object.”

In January 2020, the trial court appointed Robert Bartlett to

represent Bradley in the case filed in 2020, cause number 20-01-00617-

CR. Later, the trial court appointed Bartlett to represent Bradley in the

case filed in 2021, cause number 21-02-02579-CR. Six months before the

trial and without objection, the trial court consolidated the cases for trial.

In August 2021, the case was called for trial. Bradley pleaded not

guilty. After hearing the evidence, however, the jury found Bradley guilty

as alleged in the indictments of having committed both offenses.

Bradley chose to let the jury assess his punishment. After the jury

heard the punishment evidence, it found the enhancement allegations

“true” and decided that on each of his convictions for family-violence

assault, as enhanced by prior convictions, Bradley should serve a sixty-

year sentence. 3 Following the trial, the trial court signed judgments

consistent with the jury’s verdicts.

3See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 12.42(d) (enhancing the punishment

range for a defendant who has previously been convicted of two felony offenses to life in prison, or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years). 5 The day the judgments were signed, the trial court granted the

motions to withdraw, filed by Robert Bartlett. The trial court appointed

Robbie Barker as Bradley’s attorney to represent him in “all litigation in

the trial court through and including a ruling on a Motion for New Trial,

and filing a notice of appeal[.]”

Around three weeks after Barker was appointed as Bradley’s

attorney, Barker filed motions for new trial in Bradley’s cases. In

identical motions, Barker alleged that Bradley was entitled to a new trial

because “a juror received extraneous evidence that [Bradley] had a

pending charge of sexual assault.” The motions for new trial also claimed

that the “information influenced the juror’s decision to convict[,] . . .

influenced the juror’s decision on sentencing[,]” and “caused the juror to

engage in juror misconduct,” which Barker claimed resulted in Bradley

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Related

Faretta v. California
422 U.S. 806 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Whitaker v. State
977 S.W.2d 869 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Johnson v. State
289 S.W.2d 249 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1956)

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Chadrick Eugene Bradley v. the State of Texas, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chadrick-eugene-bradley-v-the-state-of-texas-texapp-2023.