Ex Parte Keonte Kishon Reescano v. the State of Texas

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 1, 2025·No. 01-25-00448-CR·Published

Opinion

Opinion issued August 1, 2025

In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas

impeding her breathing, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in relation to an incident on June 30, 2024. The indictment alleges that Reescano forcibly and without permission, while armed, entered the home of Ileana Guerra Garcia, choked her, and forced her to withdraw $1,000 from an ATM. Reescano’s charges correspond to three underlying trial cause numbers: 1874940, 1874941, and 1874942, and the trial court set his bond at $50,000, $75,000, and $25,000 for each case, respectively. Reescano filed a pretrial application for writ of habeas corpus requesting that he be released on a personal recognizance bond or that his bond be reduced to $1,000 on each case.1 During the hearing on the writ application, Reescano, proceeding pro se, declined the trial court’s offer to reset the case in order to secure a witness, stating, “I don’t want to continue resetting the hearing to try to secure his appearance,” “I just rather go through with the proceeding today” and “[t]ry to [put] a case on.” Reescano was the only person who testified at the hearing. He testified that he had “evidence on file” such as “the affidavit of indigency and . . . letters of [an] inmate trust account[,]” that he “never . . . had a salary of $150,000,” that he was “willing to subpoena [his] tax returns from [the] IRS as proof” of such, and that the “consecutive bonds issued totaling in the amount of $150,000, [of] which 10 percent

1 Although Reescano challenges the bond set on all three underlying trial court cases, he filed his habeas application under underlying cause number 1874940 only.

is . . . $15,000 . . . [were] . . . excessive for an indigent defendant.” Reescano also testified that “[he] ha[d] attempted to post bond [and] to pay the premium to the professional bondsm[e]n” but they “required no less than $12,500 cash up front” and “[o]ne [bondsman] required the house as collateral [and] five cosigners[,]” which “[wa]s clearly excessive.”

Reescano testified that he was “bankrupt” and that making “a monetary bond in any amount [was] virtually impossible.” Reescano contended that he “pose[d] no threat to the community at large” and referred to his “strong community ties” by residing in Harris County his whole life and his entire family being “domiciled in Houston, Texas . . . .” Reescano alleged, however, that he was not in communication with “most of [his] associates” or his family.

Reescano argued that “sufficient conditions ha[d] been set to secure [his]

appearance, like the 24/7 GPS monitoring, and [he was] not opposed to any other restrictions that might be set after today. [He] w[ould] go to work and go home and appear at court on the dates . . . .” Reescano further argued that he “shouldn’t be inhibited merely because of [his] inability to afford a cash bail” and “for there to be a just resolution, it [wa]s imperative that [he] be released.” Reescano alleged he had known the complainant for fifteen years and that the charges against him were “trumped up.” Reescano concluded his direct testimony by asking the trial court to “restor[e] [him] back to the full enjoyment of liberty.”

On cross examination, Reescano acknowledged that in setting bail, the trial court could consider his criminal history, such as his conviction for robbery in 2018, plea of guilty to assault with a family member with a prior conviction for family violence, previous sentence to prison time, as well as his current charge of aggravated robbery—a crime involving violence.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court denied Reescano’s requested relief. The trial court stated that although Reescano had presented a “well-worded argument and testimony,” the court had to “consider more than just [Reescano’s] inability to make bond under 17.15.” The trial court later reiterated that it had to consider “[a]ll the factors in 17.15.”2 Standard of Review

We review a trial court’s decision to grant or deny habeas corpus relief for abuse of discretion. See Ex Parte Gill, 413 S.W.3d 425, 428 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (stating that “the decision of a trial judge at a habeas proceeding regarding the imposition or reduction of bail will not be disturbed by this Court in the absence of an abuse of discretion”) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Ex parte Rubac,

2 The trial court stated, “I would hate for you to plead guilty to a crime that you are not guilty of just because you are sitting in custody. I don’t want that to happen.

So, I am willing to get you a trial date as quickly as possible.” The trial court informed Reescano that it could “grant [him] funds for an investigator” and if “[a]t any point in time [he] want[ed] an attorney, [the court would be] happy to appoint [him] one.”

611 S.W.2d 848, 850 (Tex. Crim. App. 1981) (reviewing bail pending appeal for abuse of discretion); Montalvo v. State, 315 S.W.3d 588, 592 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2010, no pet.) (same). When a habeas appeal pertains to pretrial bail, we “measure the trial court’s ruling against the relevant criteria by which the ruling was made.” Montalvo, 315 S.W.3d at 593; see also Ex parte Dixon, No. PD-0398-15, 2015 WL 5453313, at *2 (Tex. Crim. App. Sept. 16, 2015) (not designated for publication) (“Habeas courts determine the bearing of the evidence on the relevant bail criteria only in the first instance. On appellate review, it is the duty of the reviewing court to measure the ultimate ruling of the habeas court against the relevant bail factors to ensure that the court did not abuse its discretion.”) (emphasis in original) (citing TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 17.15; TEX. CONST. art. 1, §§ 11-11a, 13).

We will not disturb a trial court’s ruling unless it falls outside the zone of reasonable disagreement. See Ex parte Allen, 619 S.W.3d 813, 816 (Tex. App.— Houston [14th Dist.] 2020, pet. ref’d) (“A trial court abuses its discretion if its decision lies outside the zone of reasonable disagreement.”). “To determine whether a trial court abused its discretion [in ruling on a request to reduce bail], we must decide whether the trial court acted without reference to any guiding rules or principles; in other words, whether the act was arbitrary or unreasonable.” Ex parte Hunt, 138 S.W.3d 503, 505 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2004, pet. ref’d); see also Ex

parte LaValle, 705 S.W.3d 832, 838 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2024, pet. ref’d) (citing Ex parte Allen, 619 S.W.3d at 816).

In reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a habeas claim, we view the record and evidence in the light most favorable to the court’s ruling. Ex parte Gomez, 624 S.W.3d 573, 576 (Tex. Crim. App. 2021) (citing Kniatt v. State, 206 S.W.3d 657, 664 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006)). “The mere fact that a trial [court] may decide a matter within [its] discretionary authority in a different manner than an appellate [court] in a similar circumstance does not demonstrate that an abuse of discretion has occurred.” Montgomery v. State, 810 S.W.2d 372, 380 (Tex. Crim. App. 1990) (quoting Downer v. Aquamarine Operators, Inc., 701 S.W.2d 238, 241–42 (Tex. 1985)). It is the appellant’s burden to establish that the trial court abused its discretion in its bail determination. Ex parte Rubac, 611 S.W.2d at 849; see also Ex parte McManus, 618 S.W.3d 404, 407 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2021, no pet.) (“In a proceeding seeking a reduction in the amount of pretrial bail, the accused bears the burden of proof to show that the bail is excessive.”); Ex parte Beard, 92 S.W.3d 566, 568 (Tex. App.—Austin 2002, pet. ref’d) (“The burden is on the accused to prove that bail is excessive.”).

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