Janis Wells Pierce v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 10, 2003
Docket06-02-00009-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Janis Wells Pierce v. State (Janis Wells Pierce 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
Janis Wells Pierce v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion



In The

Court of Appeals

Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana



______________________________


No. 06-02-00009-CR
______________________________


JANIS WELLS PIERCE, Appellant


V.


THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee





On Appeal from the 124th Judicial District Court
Gregg County, Texas
Trial Court No. 020603-B





Before Morriss, C.J., Ross and Carter, JJ.
Opinion by Chief Justice Morriss


O P I N I O N


Janis Wells Pierce appeals the judgment of the 124th Judicial District Court of Gregg County revoking her probation. The trial court sentenced her to ten years' confinement. She contends that the trial court erred in denying her motion for continuance and that the evidence is insufficient to support the trial court's order of revocation.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On August 11, 1993, Pierce pled guilty to a charge of theft by worthless check. The trial court assessed punishment at ten years' imprisonment, probated for five years. In 1994, the State applied to revoke probation, alleging Pierce had failed to report to her probation officer and to make payments for supervision, restitution, and court costs. At the revocation hearing, she entered a plea of true to the allegations, and the trial court allowed her to remain on probation but extended the probation to the full ten years.

On July 31, 2001, the State applied again to revoke Pierce's probation. The State abandoned the first allegation in its application to revoke. The second allegation, the one on which the trial court entered its judgment revoking probation, is as follows:

That the defendant, JANIE WELLS PIERCE, has violated Condition (1) of her probation (1) in that on or about the 11th day of December 1998, in Gregg County, Texas, the defendant, JANIE WELLS PIERCE, did then and there, with the intent to defraud and harm another, make a writing so that it purported to be the act of A.K. Bobbitt, who did not authorize the act, and said writing was a check of then [sic] tenor following:





(Emphasis added.) At the revocation hearing, the State presented evidence that Pierce had entered her name as payee on a check tendered by her employer's client with the payee line left blank, endorsed the check, and cashed it at a local convenience store.

In defense, Pierce asserted that her employer had instructed her to make the check payable to herself and to use the money to buy office supplies. To support this defense, Pierce sought access to the employer's tax documents and office receipts to bolster her credibility and to show the check in question was negotiated according to standard office procedure. Pierce's attorney made an oral motion for continuance in order to gain access to and review these records. The trial court denied this oral motion and revoked probation. Pierce appeals.

DENIAL OF CONTINUANCE

When a point of error is properly before this Court, we review a trial court's denial of a motion for continuance for an abuse of discretion. A motion for continuance, however, that is not in writing and not sworn preserves nothing for review. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. arts. 29.03, 29.08 (Vernon 1989); see O'Neal v. State, 623 S.W.2d 660, 661 (Tex. Crim. App. 1981). The record indicates no written, sworn motion for continuance was ever before the trial court. Counsel's declaration: "We're not ready, Your Honor" fails to meet the requirements for a motion for continuance that properly preserves error for appellate review. Therefore, we cannot review the trial court's denial of Pierce's motion for continuance. See Tex. R. App. P. 33.1. We overrule Pierce's first point of error.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

Pierce's second point of error challenges the sufficiency of the evidence at the revocation hearing on two separate issues: whether the application's charge of "making" the check was a fatal flaw and whether Pierce was properly identified in the application. (2) We review the trial court's decision regarding probation revocation for an abuse of discretion and examine the evidence in a light most favorable to the trial court's order. Garrett v. State, 619 S.W.2d 172, 174 (Tex. Crim. App. 1981). To revoke probation, the State must prove every element of at least one ground for revocation by a preponderance of the evidence. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 42.12, § 21 (Vernon Supp. 2003); Moore v. State, 11 S.W.3d 495, 498 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2000, no pet.). The trial court holds very broad discretion over community  supervision,  its  revocation,  and  its  modification.  See  Tex.  Code  Crim.  Proc. Ann. art. 42.12, § 21. Considering the unique nature of the revocation hearing and the trial court's broad discretion in the proceedings, the general standards for reviewing factual sufficiency do not apply. See Cochran v. State, 78 S.W.3d 20, 27 (Tex. App.-Tyler 2002, no pet. h.); Becker v. State, 33 S.W.3d 64, 66 (Tex. App.-El Paso 2000, no pet.). If the greater weight of credible evidence creates a reasonable belief a defendant has violated a condition of his or her probation, the trial court's order of revocation did not abuse its discretion and must be upheld. Scamardo v. State, 517 S.W.2d 293, 298 (Tex. Crim. App. 1974).

Appellant as "Maker"

Texas courts have traditionally recognized that an application to revoke is held to a less rigorous standard than an indictment or information. An application to revoke probation need not meet the specificity requirements of an indictment or information. Chacon v. State, 558 S.W.2d 874, 876 (Tex. Crim. App. 1977); Tamez v. State, 534 S.W.2d 686, 689 (Tex. Crim. App. 1976). It is sufficient that the State allege a violation of the law and give the probationer fair notice. Chacon, 558 S.W.2d at 876. A person on community supervision is entitled to a written application to revoke that fully informs him or her of the term of probation he or she is alleged to have breached. The application must clearly set out the basis on which the State seeks revocation so that a probationer and his or her counsel have fair notice. See Leyva v. State, 552 S.W.2d 158, 162 (Tex. Crim. App. 1977); Tamez, 534 S.W.2d at 689.

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