Jordan Davis v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 31, 2018
Docket05-16-01341-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Jordan Davis v. State (Jordan Davis 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
Jordan Davis v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

In cause nos. 05-16-01341-CR and 05-16-01342-CR, judgment vacated, cause dismissed; In cause no. 05-16-01343-CR, Affirmed as modified; Opinion Filed July 31, 2018.

In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-16-01341-CR No. 05-16-01342-CR No. 05-16-01343-CR JORDAN DAVIS, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 204th Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause Nos. F14-15543-Q, F14-15544-Q & F15-45428-Q

MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Lang-Miers, Evans, and Schenck Opinion by Justice Evans

Jordan Davis appeals his convictions for aggravated sexual assault and aggravated

robbery. In the aggravated sexual assault cases, appellant contends that the judgments adjudicating

guilt are void due to a deficient transfer order from juvenile district court to adult felony district

court.1 He also contends that the judgments improperly included a fine. In both the sexual assault

and robbery cases, appellant contends that his guilty plea was involuntary as a result of ineffective

assistance of counsel and that court costs were improperly included in all three judgments. For the

1 In his first issue on appeal, appellant claimed that the district court lacked jurisdiction because the record did not contain proof of personal service. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 53.06 (West 2014). After the briefs were filed, a supplemental clerk’s record was filed containing proof of service. During oral argument, appellant conceded that the record showed that appellant was properly served. Appellant’s first issue is moot. reasons that follow, we reverse the judgment in the aggravated sexual assault cases. In the

aggravated robbery case, we modify the trial court’s judgment and affirm the conviction.

BACKGROUND

In April, 2014, when appellant was sixteen, the State filed a petition for discretionary

transfer in a Dallas County juvenile court which alleged that appellant engaged in delinquent

conduct by committing two separate offenses of aggravated sexual assault. Pursuant to the State’s

petition, the juvenile court waived its jurisdiction and transferred the matter to criminal district

court. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 54.02 (West 2014).

Appellant was subsequently indicted for two separate offenses of aggravated sexual assault

in cause numbers F14-15543-Q and F14-15544-Q. When appellant was seventeen, he was also

indicted for aggravated robbery in cause number F15-45428-Q.

In November, 2015, pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, appellant pled guilty to all three

offenses and was placed on deferred community supervision for a period of ten years. In February,

2016, the State filed a motion to revoke appellant’s community supervision or proceed with an

adjudication of guilt in all three cases. After a hearing, the trial court granted the State’s motion,2

found appellant guilty as charged in each indictment, and sentenced him to twenty years’

imprisonment in all three cases. In the aggravated robbery case, the trial court also made a deadly

weapon finding. This appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

I. The transfer order.

In his second issue, appellant contends that the judgments adjudicating guilt in the

aggravated sexual assault cases are void because the district court never properly acquired

jurisdiction. Appellant argues that under Moon v. State, 451 S.W.3d 28 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014),

2 The State filed amended motions in June and August, 2016. –2– the juvenile court abused its discretion by waiving jurisdiction without making adequate case-

specific findings in the transfer order. The State argues that under former article 44.47(b) of the

Code of Criminal Procedure, this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear appellant’s complaint about the

juvenile transfer because he did not raise his challenge when the trial court entered its order of

deferred adjudication. Secondly, the State cites article 4.18 of the Code of Criminal Procedure

and argues that the issue has not been properly preserved for review. Lastly, the State argues that

the transfer order was sufficient. We are not persuaded by the State’s arguments and conclude that

under the holding in Moon, the juvenile court abused its discretion by failing to include case-

specific findings in the order waiving jurisdiction.

A. Article 44.47.

Appellant’s appeal of the transfer order is governed by former article 44.47 of the Code of

Criminal Procedure. Article 44.47 provided in relevant part:

(a) A defendant may appeal an order of a juvenile court certifying the defendant to stand trial as an adult and transferring the defendant to a criminal court under Section 54.02, Family Code.

(b) A defendant may appeal a transfer under Subsection (a) only in conjunction with the appeal of a conviction of or an order of deferred adjudication for the offense for which the defendant was transferred to criminal court.

Act of May 27, 1995, 74th Leg., R.S., ch. 262, § 85, 1995 Tex. Gen. Laws 2517, 2584 (adding Tex.

Code Crim. Proc. art. 44.47), amended by Act of June 2, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 283, § 30,

2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 1221, 1234–35 (amending Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 44.47(b)),

repealed by Act of May 12, 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., ch. 74, §§ 4–6, 2015 Tex. Gen. Laws 1065,

1066 (emphasis added).3 The statute uses the disjunctive “or” and by its plain language, provides,

3 Article 44.47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was repealed by the Legislature effective September 1, 2015. In repealing the article, the Legislature stated that a juvenile court order waiving jurisdiction and transferring a child to criminal court issued before the effective date of this Act was governed by the law in effect on the date the order was issued. Act of May 12, 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., ch. 74, §§ 4–6, 2015 Tex. Gen. Laws 1065, 1066. Appellant’s transfer order was issued on September 24, 2014. –3– without limitation, two options for when a defendant can challenge a juvenile transfer: when

appealing either a conviction or an order of deferred adjudication. See Bell v. State, No. 01-15-

00510-CR, 2018 WL 3150851, at *2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st. Dist.] June 28, 2018) (not yet

reported); see also State v. Lopez, 196 S.W.3d 872, 875 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2006, pet. ref’d)

(noting article 44.47(b) does not allow juvenile to appeal transfer order until after he is either

convicted or receives deferred adjudication for offense in criminal court).

The State relies on Wells v. State, No. 12-17-00003-CR, 2017 WL 3405317 (Tex. App.—

Tyler Aug. 9, 2017, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication) and Eyhorn v. State, 378

S.W.3d 507 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2012, no pet.) to support its argument that appellant was

required to challenge the transfer order in an appeal from the order originally imposing community

supervision and urges this Court to follow the holding in Wells “because the procedural facts in

both cases are nearly identical.” The court in Wells held that “for transfer orders issued before

September 1, 2015, concerning conduct occurring after January 1, 1996, a non-jurisdictional

challenge to a transfer order must be made in an appeal from the order deferring adjudication of

guilt” and cited to both Eyhorn, 378 S.W.3d at 510, and Felix v. State, No. 09-14-00363-CR, 2016

WL 1468931, at *1 (Tex. App.—Beaumont Apr. 13, 2016, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not designated

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