Garcia, Daniel Jr.

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
• Decided: June 30, 2010
• Docket: WR-74,074-01
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

OF TEXAS

NO. WR-74,074-01 EX PARTE DANIEL GARCIA, JR., Applicant

ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

CAUSE NO. 1198521 IN THE 176TH DISTRICT COURT

FROM HARRIS COUNTY

Per curiam.

O R D E R

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the clerk of the trial court transmitted to this Court this application for a writ of habeas corpus. Ex parte Young, 418 S.W.2d 824, 826 (Tex. Crim. App. 1967). Applicant was convicted of driving while intoxicated and sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment. He did not appeal his conviction.

Applicant contends that his sentence is illegal, that his plea was involuntary, and that trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. After obtaining affidavits from counsel, the trial court made findings of fact and concluded that Applicant's plea was voluntary and that counsel were not ineffective. The trial court also concluded that Applicant's illegal sentence claim "need not be considered" since Applicant failed to raise it on direct appeal. We disagree. An applicant may raise an illegal sentence claim for the first time in an application for a writ of habeas corpus, even if he failed to raise it on direct appeal. Ex parte Rich, 194 S.W.3d 508, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006). With these words, we deny relief.

Filed: June 30, 2010

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