Ex Parte Gustavo Villalpando

85 S.W.3d 832, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 5754, 2002 WL 1808712
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 7, 2002
Docket10-02-00016-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 85 S.W.3d 832 (Ex Parte Gustavo Villalpando) 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
Ex Parte Gustavo Villalpando, 85 S.W.3d 832, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 5754, 2002 WL 1808712 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

TOM GRAY, Justice.

Villalpando pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated. Tex. Rev.Civ. Stat. art. 6701Z — 1(b). The misdemeanor conviction at issue was used to enhance a subsequent DWI charge to a felony. Villalpando filed a writ of habeas corpus with the convicting court of the misdemeanor conviction. The writ of ha-beas corpus was denied on the merits. Villalpando appeals.

Villalpando argues on appeal that the trial court erred in not granting his writ of habeas corpus because: (1) the information by which he was charged was defective; (2) his guilty plea was not knowingly, intelligently, nor voluntarily entered; (3) he was not afforded the assistance of counsel at the guilt/innocence phase of his trial; and (4) he was not afforded the assistance of counsel at the probation revocation hearing. We affirm the denial of Villal-pando’s writ of habeas corpus.

CHARGING INFORMATION — PRIOR TO DECEMBER 1985

We look first at the argument that the charging information was defective. Vil-lalpando was charged by information with driving while intoxicated in 1984. Because the information was presented to the court in 1984, we apply the law in effect at that time in our analysis of the information instead of applying article 1.14(b), which went into effect in December 1985. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. art. 1.14(b). (Vernon Supp.2002). Article 1.14(b) requires a defendant to object to defects of either form or substance before the date of trial on the merits or waive the right to object to the *834 defect on appeal or in any other post-conviction proceeding. Id.

Villalpando asserts the information was defective because it did not state the manner and means by which he was intoxicated. The information reads in pertinent part: “Gustavo Villalpando did then and there unlawfully, while intoxicated, drive and operate a motor vehicle in a public place, to wit: a public road in said county and state.” The information as written alleges the offense of DWI. An information that does allege an offense confers jurisdiction on the trial court. Ferguson v. State, 622 S.W.2d 846, 849 (Tex.Crim.App.1981).

When a charging instrument alleges an offense, any objection to the instrument is to the form rather than the substance, and therefore not a fundamental defect. Green v. State, 578 S.W.2d 411 (Tex.Crim.App.1979). The failure to include a statement by what manner and means a defendant was intoxicated is not a defect of substance, but a defect of form that may be classified as a “notice” problem. See American Plant Food v. State, 508 S.W.2d 598, 603 (Tex.Crim.App.1974).

An alleged form defect is properly raised by a timely filed motion to quash. Graham v. State, 657 S.W.2d 99, 104 (Tex.Crim.App.1983); Ferguson v. State, 622 S.W.2d 846, 851 (Tex.Crim.App.1981). “[I]t would seem to be a defect of such mere form as ought to be deemed cured by the verdict, because the objection is one which relates simply to the convenience of the defendant in making his defense, while by not taking the objection he seems to have suffered no inconvenience, and therefore, to have waived it.” American Plant Food v. State, 508 S.W.2d 598, 604 (Tex.Crim.App.1974) (quoting Melley v. State, 93 Tex.Crim. 522, 525, 248 S.W. 367 (Tex.Crim.App.1922)). Thus, an alleged form defect in a charging instrument cannot be raised for the first time on appeal or on writ of habeas corpus. Graham, 657 S.W.2d at 104.

In 1984, Villalpando filed an affidavit of indigency and was appointed counsel. Hearing for the cause was first set for December 1984 and then for April 1985. An application for subpoenas was filed in November 1984. No motion to quash was ever filed. The next entry in the record is a motion and order to withdraw filed March 13,1990.

Villalpando swore to and signed his Waiver of Defendant’s Rights and Written Stipulation of Evidence Without an Attorney (Waiver) on March 15, 1990, and pled guilty to the driving while intoxicated charge from 1984. Villalpando argues the information was defective because the manner and means of intoxication was not stated. The defect argued is one of form, thus, Villalpando’s remedy was to timely file a motion to quash requiring the State to specifically allege the manner and means of intoxication it would seek to prove. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. art. 28.01 § 1(4) (Vernon Supp.2002). Villalpando did not file timely motion to quash based on a defect of form; therefore, he cannot raise the issue for the first time in his writ of habeas corpus. We overrule Villalpan-do’s first issue.

GUILTY PLEA

Villalpando next argues that the trial court erred when his writ of habeas corpus was denied because his guilty plea to the misdemeanor DWI charge of 1984 was not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered. Villalpando asserts that because the information failed to give sufficient notice of the nature and cause of the accusation he could not have known what he was pleading to when he entered his plea of guilty. He continues his argument to *835 insist that had he fully understood that in the future a subsequent charge of DWI could be used to send him to prison, he would not have agreed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge in 1990.

In the above analysis of the charging information, we outlined the course available to Villalpando to question sufficiency of notice. Because Villalpando did not timely file a motion to quash based on a defect of form, he cannot now use his failure to argue his guilty plea was not knowingly entered. See Graham v. State, 657 S.W.2d 99 (Tex.Crim.App.1983); American Plant Food v. State, 508 S.W.2d 598, 604 (Tex.Crim.App.1974).

Villalpando asserts his 1990 guilty plea to the misdemeanor charge of DWI was not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made because he was not warned that the conviction could be used to enhance a subsequent charge. In Meadows, the Court of Criminal Appeals restated its holding from Worton, that it is unnecessary for the court to admonish a defendant that a conviction on a plea of guilty could later be used for enhancement purposes. Meadows v. State, 499 S.W.2d 156, 157 (Tex.Crim.App.1973); Worton v. State, 492 S.W.2d 519, 520 (Tex.Crim.App.1973). Both Meadows and Worton involved felony guilty pleas, and were reviewed under article 26.13. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Dylan Simpson v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Ex Parte John R. Powell
570 S.W.3d 417 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019)
Lopez, Ex Parte Jose J.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015
State v. Raul Gonzales
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2005

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
85 S.W.3d 832, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 5754, 2002 WL 1808712, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-gustavo-villalpando-texapp-2002.