Jessie James Alvarez v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 30, 1998
Docket03-97-00438-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Jessie James Alvarez v. State (Jessie James Alvarez 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
Jessie James Alvarez v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN




NO. 03-97-00438-CR
Jessie James Alvarez, Appellant


v.



The State of Texas, Appellee



FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF HAYS COUNTY, 22ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT

NO. CR-94-0151, HONORABLE CHARLES R. RAMSAY, JUDGE PRESIDING

This is an appeal from an order revoking probation (1) and sentencing appellant, Jessie James Alvarez, to ten years' imprisonment for sexual assault of a child. On April 7, 1994, appellant was indicted under former section 22.011(a)(2) of the Texas Penal Code. (2) The offense was alleged to have occurred on or about March 15, 1993. On October 27, 1994, in a bench trial, appellant entered a plea of guilty to the second degree felony charged. On November 22, 1994, the trial court, in accordance with a plea bargain, placed appellant on deferred adjudication probation for ten years subject to certain probationary conditions. No appeal was taken. See Dillehey v. State, 815 S.W.2d 623, 626 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991).

An amended motion to proceed to adjudication of guilt was filed on March 1, 1996. On March 28, 1996, appellant pleaded "true" to the motion's allegations. The trial court proceeded to adjudication of guilt and then entered a judgment placing appellant on regular probation (community supervision) for a period of ten years subject to certain conditions.

On April 12, 1996, the State filed a motion to revoke probation, but appellant was continued on probation after a modification of the conditions of probation. On March 6, 1997, the State filed another motion to revoke probation. After a hearing on the motion, the trial court, on June 9, 1997, entered an order revoking probation and imposing sentence. Notice of appeal was given.



Points of Error



Appellant advances eight points of error. First, appellant contends that the trial court "abused its discretion" in revoking probation because it had lost jurisdiction of the case. Points two and eight deal with the community service probationary condition. Appellant claims the trial court erred because the condition is vague and uncertain, and that because he was unable to perform the required community service hours and pay the fees, he is being imprisoned as a debtor in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In points of error three, four, and five, appellant claims the trial court erred in revoking probation without finding that the sex offender treatment program fees ordered were either reasonable or necessary and that he was able to pay the same as required by article 42.12, section 14(b) of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, (3) because he had met all the activities pertaining to the sex offender condition of probation. In points of error six and seven, appellant argues that his forced participation in the sex offender treatment program violated his rights against self-incrimination in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and of article I, section 10 of the Texas Constitution.



Confession of Error



Interestingly, with regard to the first point of error, the State confesses error, but we find none. For the first time on appeal from an order revoking probation, appellant contends that the trial court lost jurisdiction of his case due to the enactment of a new law. Appellant argues that during the pendency of his indictment, the 1993 amendment to section 22.011 (4) became effective (September 1, 1994), providing an affirmative defense of proximity of age between actor and victim (three years) in prosecutions under subsection (a)(2) of section 22.011 of the Penal Code; (5) and that, although not asserted or raised by the evidence, the trial court should have sua sponte dismissed the prosecution.

Appellant was indicted under section 22.011(a)(2) in effect at the time of the commission of the offense (March 15, 1993). Subsection (e) of former section 22.011 provided: "It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under subsection (a)(2) of this section that the actor was not more than two years older than the victim." When appellant entered his guilty plea and was placed on deferred adjudication, he offered no proof or raised any issue of the affirmative defense provided by section 22.011 under which he was being prosecuted or under the 1993 amendment to section 22.011(e).

Even at this late date, appellant has not cited any authority that the 1993 amended version of section 22.011(e) as to an affirmative defense was applicable to his case. Section 1.18(b) of article one of the bill enacting the 1993 amendment to section 22.011 provides: "An offense committed before the effective date of this article is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose." Act of May 29, 1993, 73d Leg., R.S., ch. 900, art. 1, § 1.18(b), 1993 Tex. Gen. Laws 3526, 3705. Even if the 1993 version of the affirmative defense were applicable to appellant's case, there is no proof in the record of the ages of appellant and the victim as to justify the use of the defense. (6)

The rules relevant to the use of affirmative defenses are set forth in section 2.04 of the Texas Penal Code. An affirmative defense is one so labeled in the code. The prosecutor is not required to negate the existence of an affirmative defense, the defendant must prove the affirmative defense by a preponderance of evidence, and the defense is not raised "unless evidence is admitted supporting the defense." Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 2.04(a), (b), (c), (d) (West 1994); see also Shelvin v. State, 884 S.W.2d 874, 878 (Tex. App.--Austin 1994, pet. ref'd).

Appellant's reliance upon Ex parte Davila, 530 S.W.2d 543 (Tex. Crim. App. 1975), is misplaced. On February 27, 1974, the defendant in Davila was indicted for statutory rape under article 1183 of the 1925 Penal Code. The indictment alleged the offense occurred on December 8, 1973, and that the victim was under eighteen years of age and not the spouse of the defendant. On April 21, 1974, the defendant entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. No appeal was taken.

The 1974 Penal Code became effective January 1, 1974, which was prior to the defendant's indictment and trial in Davila. Section 21.09(a) of the original 1974 Code lowered the age of consent from 18 years to 17 years, so that consensual intercourse with a female who had attained the age of 17 years was not conduct proscribed by the new code. Moreover, section 6(b) of the Savings Provisions of the 1974 Code provided that on the effective date of the code any pending criminal action for an offense under laws repealed by the code and that did not constitute an offense under the new code was to be dismissed. See Davila, 530 S.W.2d at 544-45.

The defendant in Davila

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