Dusenberry v. State

915 S.W.2d 947, 1996 WL 37931
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 1, 1996
Docket01-95-00799-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by127 cases

This text of 915 S.W.2d 947 (Dusenberry v. State) 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
Dusenberry v. State, 915 S.W.2d 947, 1996 WL 37931 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

915 S.W.2d 947 (1996)

Sandy Dean DUSENBERRY, Appellant,
v.
The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 01-95-00799-CR.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).

February 1, 1996.

*948 Joseph W. Varela, Houston, for appellant.

John B. Holmes, Jr., Dan McCrory, Cindy Marshall, Houston, for appellee.

Before O'CONNOR, HUTSON-DUNN and ANDELL, JJ.

*949 OPINION

HUTSON-DUNN, Justice.

Sandy Dean Dusenberry, the appellant, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child and was sentenced to 20-years imprisonment. In three points of error, the appellant contends his guilty plea was involuntary because he made it based upon misinformation from his trial attorney. Further, the appellant argues his attorney's act of giving misinformation constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. The appellant asks us to reverse and remand this case for a new trial. We affirm.

Standard of Review

The appellant pleaded guilty to the charged offense without an agreed recommendation from the prosecutor. When a defendant pleads guilty without a plea bargain agreement, by his voluntary guilty plea he waives all nonjurisdictional defects that occurred before the entry of the guilty plea. Jack v. State, 871 S.W.2d 741, 743 (Tex.Crim. App.1994); Courtney v. State, 904 S.W.2d 907, 909 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1995, pet. ref'd). Because the appellant challenges the voluntariness of his guilty plea, we may consider his points of error. See Broddus v. State, 693 S.W.2d 459, 460 (Tex.Crim.App. 1985); Soto v. State, 837 S.W.2d 401, 403 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1992, no pet.).

We consider the appellant's points of error together because they all deal with the issue of whether the appellant's trial attorney gave the appellant incorrect information that induced the appellant to enter his guilty plea. If so, then the appellant's plea was involuntary and his attorney's conduct constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. An essential prerequisite to successfully attack a guilty plea on ineffective assistance grounds is the appellant must show the alleged deficiencies caused his plea to be unknowing and involuntary. Rodriguez v. State, 899 S.W.2d 658, 666 (Tex.Crim.App.1995).

This case involves the appeal of a "Motion for New Trial; Alternatively, Motion to Withdraw Plea of Guilty." A motion to withdraw plea is functionally indistinguishable from a motion for new trial. See State v. Evans, 843 S.W.2d 576, 578 (Tex.Crim. App.1992). The granting of a motion for new trial on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel is a matter within the trial court's discretion. Messer v. State, 757 S.W.2d 820, 827 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1988, pet. ref'd); Jiminez v. State, 727 S.W.2d 327, 328 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1987, no pet.). In considering a motion for new trial, the trial court possesses broad discretion in considering the credibility of the witnesses and in weighing the evidence to determine whether a different result would occur upon retrial. Messer, 757 S.W.2d at 827. The court may consider the interest and bias of any witness and is not required to accept as true the testimony of the accused or any defense witness simply because it was uncontradicted. Id. at 828.

The appellant signed plea papers at the original plea hearing that indicated he understood the consequences of his plea after consulting with his trial attorney, and he entered his plea knowingly and voluntarily. The plea papers also show the appellant's trial counsel and the trial court both verified the appellant entered his plea voluntarily and knowingly after having fully discussed the plea and its consequences with his attorney. A defendant's attestation of voluntariness at the original plea hearing imposes a heavy burden on the defendant at a later hearing to show a lack of voluntariness. Ford v. State, 845 S.W.2d 315, 316 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, no pet.); Thornton v. State, 734 S.W.2d 112, 113 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1987, pet. ref'd). In determining the voluntariness of the plea, we consider the entire record. Williams v. State, 522 S.W.2d 483, 485 (Tex.Crim.App.1975); Ford, 845 S.W.2d at 316. There is a presumption of regularity of the judgment and the proceedings absent a showing to the contrary, and the burden is on the defendant to overcome this presumption. Ex parte Wilson, 716 S.W.2d 953, 956 (Tex.Crim.App.1986); Ford, 845 S.W.2d at 316.

*950 Misinformation

The appellant contends his plea was involuntary because his trial attorney gave him false information that induced him to enter a guilty plea. The appellant waived his right to have a court reporter record the plea proceedings. Therefore, the only evidence regarding his claim consists of the written plea papers he signed when he entered his plea and the testimony of the appellant and his trial attorney from the hearing on the appellant's motion for new trial.

The appellant testified at the hearing on his motion for new trial that Tom Zakes, his attorney, advised the appellant he could withdraw his plea of guilty if he received a sentence he did not like. Specifically, the appellant testified:

Q. Did you plead guilty or did you not plead guilty?
A. At my lawyer's instruction, I pled guilty.
Q. Did your attorney advise you to plead guilty?
A. Yes sir.
....
Q. Did your attorney tell you what would happen if you consequently got a result that you did not like at the hearing?
A. Yes, sir he did.
Q. Well, what did he tell you?
A. He led me to believe that if that was the case that we could withdraw my plea of guilty.
Q. Do you remember exactly how he put it?
A. That was basically it.
Q. Now when you go—when you say "withdraw your plea," what did you understand that to mean?
A. I understood that to mean that we would just go back to where we were before we filed for the PSI background investigation.
Q. Did you—if you had gotten a result that you didn't like, would you have attempted to withdraw your plea?
A. I tried to that day, sir.
Q. Now, did you do that?
A. As the deputy was escorting me out of the judge's office, I turned around and told Tom Zakes to withdraw my plea of guilty.
Q. What did Mr. Zakes tell you?
A.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
915 S.W.2d 947, 1996 WL 37931, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dusenberry-v-state-texapp-1996.