Kubecka, Sterling David v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: November 27, 2002
• Docket: 14-02-00191-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Affirmed and Opinion filed November 27, 2002

Affirmed and Opinion filed November 27, 2002.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

_______________

NO. 14-02-00191-CR

STERLING DAVID KUBECKA, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

______________________________________________________

On Appeal from the 230th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 897,281

O P I N I O N

            Sterling David Kubecka appeals a conviction^[1] for engaging in organized crime on the ground that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to order deferred adjudication because the indictment was invalid.  We affirm.

            Appellant contends that he entered into a plea agreement requiring the State to amend the indictment to reflect that Shad Allen and Paul Keicker were removed as complainants.  Appellant further contends that the State’s failure to comply with its obligation to so amend the indictment rendered the indictment invalid and left the trial court without jurisdiction to defer adjudication of his guilt.

            The terms of plea agreements are contractual in nature, and a party to a plea agreement has no right to demand specific performance of terms not appearing in the agreement or record.  Ex parte Williams, 758 S.W.2d 785, 786 (Tex. Crim. App. 1988).  In this case, the following handwritten notation appears on appellant’s guilty plea: “State abandons C/W Shad Allen and Paul Keicker.”  Essentially the same notation appears in the space on the judgment for terms of the plea bargain.  However, this language does not refer to amending the indictment, nor does the record contain any other agreement to do so.  In the absence of any such agreement,^[2] appellant’s sole issue is overruled, and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

                                                                        /s/        Richard H. Edelman

                                                                                    Justice

Judgment rendered and Opinion filed November 27, 2002.

Panel consists of Justices Edelman, Seymore, and Guzman.

Do Not Publish — Tex. R. App. P. 47.3(b).

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^[1]           Appellant pleaded guilty without an agreed punishment recommendation, and the trial court deferred his adjudication of guilt and placed him on community supervision for eight years.

^[2]           Nor has appellant cited authority that a failure to comply with any such agreement would invalidate the indictment and thereby deprive the trial court of jurisdiction to enter a deferred adjudication or that a deferred adjudication could not validly be entered as to fewer complainants than are set forth in the indictment without an amendment.