Hubble, William Buckner

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided March 6, 2015·No. PD-0249-15·Published

Opinion

PD-0249-15

PD-0249-15 COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS

Transmitted 3/6/2015 2:11:05 PM Accepted 3/6/2015 2:53:32 PM No. _ _ _ __ ABEL ACOSTA CLERK

IN THE TEXAS COURT OF

CRIMINAL APPEALS

WILLIAM BUCKNER HUBBLE

Petitioner,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS,

Respondent.

From the Second Court of Appeals, No. 02-13-00541-CR, and the District Court of Cooke County, Texas, Cause No. CR-07-256

PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

Jeff Springer

State Bar No. 18966750

SPRINGER & LYLE, LLP

1807 Westminster

Denton, TX 76205

March 6, 2015 940.387.0404 (ph} 940.383.7656 (fax)

jeff@springer-lyle.com (email)

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... 2 IDENTITY OF JUDGES, PARTIES AND COUNSEL .......................................... 3 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .................................................................................... 4 STATEMENT REGARDING ORAL ARGUMENT ............................................... 5 STATEMENT OF TI-lE CASE ................................................................................. 5 PROCEDU'RA.L 1-DSTORY ...................................................................................... 5 GROUNDS FOR REVIEW ...................................................................................... 6 ARGUMENT ........................................................................................................... 7 (I) Did the Court of Appeals err in applying Tex. R. App. P. 33(a)(l)

in its analysis of the context of the trial record? ........................................ 8

(2) Did the Court of Appeals improperly fail to rebut, or at least address, Petitioner's Tex. R. App. P. 33(a)(l) analysis ofthe context of the record? ................................................................................. 8

(3) Did the Court of Appeals err in failing to reach the merits of Petitioner's complaint that his trial counsel was prevented from telling the jury that one of his enhancement convictions had been reclassified to a misdemeanor? .................................................................. 9

PRAYER ······ ............................................... I II II I I l l I II II I •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• I II I I II I I 13 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE ...................................................................... 14 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ................................................................................ 14 APPENDIX

Court of Appeals' Opinion····································~···~····~···~···~··~~···~················ 1 Court of Appeals' Opinion on Rehearing ........................................................ 2

IDENTITY OF JUDGE, PARTIES AND COUNSEL

Parties to the Judgment William Buckner Hubble, Defendant State ofTexas, State

Trial Judge Hon. Janelle Haverkamp, Judge 235th District Court

Cooke County, Texas

Defendant's Trial Counsel Mr. Christopher Fostel, Esq.

Ector County District Attorney's Office 300 North Grant, Room 305 Odessa, TX 797 61

State's Trial Counsel Ms. Janice Warder, Esq.

Mr. Ron Poole, Esq.

Ms. Lisa Decker, Esq.

Cooke County District Attorney 101 Dixon Street, Suite 309 Gainesville, Texas 76240

Defendant's Counsel on Appeal Mr. Jeff Springer, Esq.

1807 Westminster

Denton, TX 76205

State's Counsel on Appeal Ms. Sue Korioth, Esq.

Special Prosecutor

P.O. Box 600103

Dallas, Texas 75360-0103

INDEX OF AUTHORITIES

Cases Davis v. State, 329 S.W.3d 798, 825 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) ................................ 11

Eckert v. State, 672 S. W .2d 600, 603 (Tex. App. Austin 1984, pet. ref d) ............ 10 Ex parte Hubble, 2013 Tex. Crim. App. Unpub. LEXIS I 041 (Tex. Crim. App.

Oct. 9, 2013)........................................................................................................... 6

Lankston v. State, 827 S.W.2d 907,909 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) .......................... 12

Melendez v. State, 4 S.W.3d 437,442 (Tex.App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, no pet.), overruled on other grounds, Small v. State, 23 S.W.3d 549 (Tex.App.-- Houston [1st Dist.] 2000, pet. ref'd) ..................................................................... 11

State v. Wooldridge, 237 S.W.3d 714, 716-17 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) .................. 8

Statutes TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 30.04(d) (Vernon 2013) .................................................. 6

Rules Tex. R. App. P. 33.l(a)(l) ................................................................................... 7, 10 Tex. R. App. P. 44 ................................................................................................... 10

STATEMENT REGARDING ORAL ARGUMENT Petitioner waives oral argument STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant was convicted of felony unlawful possession of a firearm in 20 10.

[CR 51-52]. His range of punishment was enhanced by two prior felonies, one of which was a 1987 conviction for burglary of a motor vehicle. /d. He was sentenced to sixty years incarceration. /d.

On appeal, Appellant complained that his sentence was affected by the trial court's refusal to allow his trial attorney to argue that the 1987 felony used to enhance his range of punishment had been reclassified to a misdemeanor a few years after his conviction. In a memorandum opinion with one justice concurring in the result only, the Court of Appeals refused to consider the merits of the argument, disregarding Petitioner's interpretation of the record and concluding instead that the only apparent argument was improper, and error as to any another argument had not been preserved for appeal. [AX I at 5].

Petitioner challenged the Court of Appeals holding in a Motion for Rehearing. [See AX 2]. The motion was denied, but one justice noted that she would have granted a rehearing. /d.

Appellant filed this Petition for Review to challenge the Court of Appeals'

holding that his trial counsel attempted only an improper argument and failed to preserve error on the specific complaint raised on appeal.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Petitioner timely perfected his appeal after this court granted his application for writ of habeas corpus. Ex parte Hubble, 2013 Tex. Crim. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1041 (Tex. Crim. App. Oct. 9, 2013). On December 23, 2014 the Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction. [AX 1 at 6]. Petitioner requested rehearing on January 22, 2015. The Court of Appeals denied the motion on February 5, 2015. [AX 2 at 1].

GROUNDS FOR REVIEW

(1) Did the Court of Appeals err in applying Tex.

R. App. P. 33(a)(1) in its analysis of the context of the trial record?

(2) Did the Court of Appeals improperly fail to rebut, or at least address, Petitioner's Tex. R. App. P.

33(a)(1) analysis of the context of the record?

(3) Did the Court of Appeals err in failing to reach the merits of Petitioner's complaint that his trial counsel was prevented from telling the jury that one of his enhancement convictions had been reclassified to a misdemeanor?

ARGUMENT

A. Factual Background A Cooke County jury convicted Petitioner of felony unlawful possession of a firearm in April of 2010. [CR 51-52]. At the punishment stage of his trial, Petitioner's attorney attempted argue that one of his enhancement convictions, a 1987 felony burglary of a vehicle, had been reclassified to a misdemeanor a few years after the conviction. [3 RR at 86]. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 30.04(d) (Vernon 2013).

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Related

State v. Wooldridge
237 S.W.3d 714 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Eckert v. State
672 S.W.2d 600 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)
State v. Renteria
977 S.W.2d 606 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Small v. State
23 S.W.3d 549 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Melendez v. State
4 S.W.3d 437 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Davis v. State
329 S.W.3d 798 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Lankston v. State
827 S.W.2d 907 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Pena, Jose Luis
353 S.W.3d 797 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Bedolla, Jose Angel
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Landers v. State
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