Lawrence Ray Dirden II v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 7, 2016
Docket09-16-00086-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Lawrence Ray Dirden II v. State (Lawrence Ray Dirden II 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
Lawrence Ray Dirden II v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont ____________________ NO. 09-16-00086-CR ____________________

LAWRENCE RAY DIRDEN II, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee ________________________________________________________________________

On Appeal from the 9th District Court Montgomery County, Texas Trial Cause No. 12-01-00324-CR ________________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In four issues, Lawrence Ray Dirden II (“Lawrence” or “Appellant”)

challenges the trial court’s revocation of his community supervision. We affirm.

Lawrence was indicted for Aggregate Theft in an amount in excess of $200,000, a

first degree felony.1 See Tex. Penal Code Ann. §§ 31.03, 31.09 (West 2011 and

Supp. 2016). In the amended indictment, the State alleged that Lawrence

1 Lawrence’s wife, Denise Dirden (Denise), was also charged with Aggregate Theft in an amount in excess of $200,000, and the cases were tried 1 . . . unlawfully appropriate[d] property, by acquiring or otherwise exercising control over the property, to wit: money, in the aggregate value of $200,000 or more, from Isaac Martin III, and/or Martin Wood Company, Inc. and/or Stoneham Mill, Inc., the owner, from account number(s) 1003706 and 1047786 at First Bank of Conroe, N.A., with the intent to deprive the owner of the property, and said property was obtained pursuant to one scheme or continuing course of conduct which began on January 28, 2008[,] and continued until on or about December 16, 2008.

On April 28, 2014, the jury returned a guilty verdict against Lawrence as charged

in the indictment. Before the sentencing and entry of a judgment, the State and

Lawrence reached an agreement wherein Lawrence agreed to “10 years probated

over 10 years, [and] $350,000 to be paid within 180 days of [September 17, 2014,]

and $125,000 to be paid over the next 10 years.” On September 17, 2014, pursuant

to the agreement between the State and Dirden, the trial court sentenced Lawrence

to ten years’ confinement in the TDCJ, to be probated, with a list of conditions of

probation and with a requirement as agreed between the parties that Lawrence pay

restitution of $350,000 within 180 days of the date of the hearing, and $125,000 to

be paid over the next ten years.

Two of the conditions of probation included that Lawrence would:

together. A jury found Lawrence and Denise guilty. We previously issued our Memorandum Opinion affirming Denise’s conviction, wherein we outlined the underlying facts and testimony presented at trial. See generally Dirden v. State, No. 09-14-00330-CR, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 9213 (Tex. App.—Beaumont Aug. 24, 2016, no pet.). 2 c. Not use or consume alcohol or controlled substances; [and]

....

q. Pay $390.00 Court costs; $350,000.00 TO BE PAID WITHIN 180 DAYS $125,000.00 TO BE PAID OVER 10 YEAR PERIOD ALL TO BE PAID INSTANTER restitution for the benefit of STONEHAM MILL, INC. P.O. BOX #1828 CLEVELAND, Tx 77328; $0 Court appointed attorney fees; and $0.00 fine, all in one lump sum payment to the Montgomery County District Clerk on the day this Judgment is entered pay in installments, the total sum of the foregoing to the Montgomery County District Clerk, including $2.00 fee for each payment made (pursuant to Article 102.072, T.C.C.P.), as set forth in the Collection Agreement which is incorporated herein and made part of this judgment as if copied verbatim[.]

On July 22, 2015, the State filed a Motion to Revoke Community

Supervision alleging Lawrence had violated the terms and conditions of his

community supervision, as follows:

I.

Defendant failed to pay $350,000.00 restitution within 180 days from the date Judgment was signed.

The State requested an order of arrest and that the trial court revoke the community

supervision and pronounce sentence. After his arrest, Lawrence filed a Motion of

Incarcerated Defendant for Prompt Revocation Hearing, wherein he alleged that he

was granted community supervision in his Judgment dated September 17, 2014,

and then later arrested on November 9, 2015, for an act alleged to be a violation of

3 the terms of his community supervision. On December 2, 2015, the trial court

released Lawrence on a Personal Recognizance Bond (PR Bond). After being

notified that the “Defendant tested positive for alcohol in random urinalysis

conducted on January 19, 2016[,]” the trial court then revoked the PR Bond and

issued a capias for Lawrence.

The State filed an Amended Motion to Revoke Community Supervision

(Amended Motion) dated February 18, 2016, and file stamped by the clerk on

February 19, 2016. In the Amended Motion, the State alleged that on September

17, 2014, Lawrence was convicted and placed on community supervision for a

period of ten years on terms and conditions as set forth in the Judgment and that he

subsequently violated the terms and conditions for his community supervision as

follows:

I. Defendant tested Positive for alcohol in random urinalysis conducted on January 19, 2016.

II. Defendant failed to pay $350,000.00 in restitution within 180 days from the date of the judgment as ordered by the Court.

On February 22, 2016, the parties agreed to set the revocation hearing for

February 25, 2016. On February 25, 2016, the trial court held a revocation hearing,

and the State and Lawrence appeared with their respective attorneys. Lawrence and

4 his trial counsel executed a sworn “Stipulation of Evidence” (Stipulation), which

was filed into the clerk’s record at 4:30 p.m. on the date of the hearing. The

Stipulation, which was signed by Lawrence, his attorney, and the trial court judge,

reads in relevant part as follows:

. . . I have read the State’s Original Motion to Revoke Community Supervision filed with the District Clerk on or about February 18, 2016 and I hereby agree and confess that all the acts and allegations in Paragraphs I, II thereof are true and correct, and all of said conduct constituted violations of the conditions of my community supervision and occurred during the period in which the conditions of my community supervision were mandatory.

According to the Reporter’s Record, the following exchange occurred at the

beginning of the revocation hearing:

THE COURT: . . . Okay. I have the State’s amended motion to revoke community supervision dated February 19th, 2016. So is there anything more recent than that, Ms. [State’s Attorney]?

[State’s Attorney]: No, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Okay. Has the defense been given a copy of that?

[State’s Attorney]: You have a copy of it, right?

[Defense Attorney]: We received a copy of it yesterday, yes, sir, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Okay. You received a copy yesterday? So are you -- you’re saying the State didn’t give you a copy earlier or why didn't you have it 10 days?

[Defense Attorney]: No, sir. We just got it yesterday. 5 THE COURT: Okay.

[Defense Attorney]: We’re ready and prepared though, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Okay. Well, you’re ready to go. State ready?

[State’s Attorney]: Yes, Your Honor.

THE COURT: All right. Call your first witness.

Both attorneys then proceeded to present an opening statement to the trial

court, and the State called its first witness, Anthony Gaskill (Gaskill), a drug test

administrator. Gaskill testified that he works for Davis Investigation Services, the

company that holds a contract with Montgomery County Probation to administer

drug testing and that tests everyone who is on bond or probation.

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