Pue, Jeremy Wade

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided May 23, 2018·No. WR-85,447-01·Published

Opinion

WR-85,447-0

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL:

AUSTIN, TEXA:

Transmitted 4/16/2018 9:41 PP Accepted 4/18/2018 11:40AP DEANA WILLIAMSOI

NO. WR-85,447-01 CLERI

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS DEANA Cl'Smson, clerk AT AUSTIN, TEXAS

EX PARTE JEREMY WADE PUE, Applicant

On Art. 11.07 Application for Writ of Habeas Corpus Arising out of Cause Number CR2008-214-1 in the 207th District Court ofComal County, Texas

STATE'S MOTION FOR REHEARING

ATTORNEY FOR THE STATE

Sammy McCrary

Chief Felony Prosecutor

Comal County, Texas

Texas Bar No. 90001990

150 N. Seguin Ave., Suite 307 New Braunfels, Texas 78130 (830) 221-1300

(830) 608-2008 (FAX)

Email: mccras(£>co.comal.tx..us

ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED

NO. WR-85,447-01

IN THE

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS AT AUSTIN, TEXAS

EX PARTE JEREMY WADE PUE, Applicant

STATE'S MOTION FOR REHEARING

TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS:

Comes now the State of Texas, Appellee in the above-entitled and -

numbered cause, and respectfully urges this Court to grant rehearing and deny relief to the Applicant and in support thereof would show the Court as follows:

GROUNDS FOR REHEARING

The statutory basis for holding that a probated sentence is not "final" was long ago removed from our law by the Texas Legislature. Furthermore, denying the use of a conviction followed by a suspended or probated sentence is contrary to the express purposes of recidivist statutes. For these reasons, the State respectfully requests that this Court grant rehearing in this matter, hold that pursuant to Texas law a probated or suspended sentence is "final" for purposes of enhancement, and deny relief to the Applicant.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

In 2008, Applicant, Jeremy Wade Pue, was convicted by a jury of the third-

degree felony offense of evading arrest or detention with a vehicle. Because his sentence was enhanced by two prior California felony convictions, one from 2002 and the other from 2007, the trial court sentenced Applicant to thirty years in prison as a habitual offender. Subsequently, by way of application for writ of habeas corpus, Applicant claimed that his thirty-year sentence was illegal because it had been improperly enhanced by the 2007 California conviction. Ex parte Pue, No. WR-85,447-01, 2018 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 63, at *1 (Crim. App. Feb. 28, 2018). While addressing that issue, by order dated November 1, 2017, this Court noted that further briefing would be useful and invited both parties to provide this

Court with legal and policy arguments as to whether, for purposes of punishment enhancement in a Texas prosecution, the "finality" of an out-of-state conviction should be determined in accordance with the law of the foreign jurisdiction or in accordance with Texas law. Id. at *3. Ultimately, this Court held that whether Applicant's 2007 California conviction could have been used as a punishment enhancement in California did not control whether it was available for use as a punishment enhancement in Applicant's Texas prosecution. This Court further held that whether a prior conviction—in-state or out-of-state—is "final" under Texas Penal Code § 12.42 is to be determined in accordance with Texas law. Id. at *3-4. As a result, this Court found that Applicant's sentence was improperly enhanced by the 2007 California conviction and granted relief. Id. at *2. However, in reaching that conclusion, this Court noted that in its supplemental briefing the State had argued that most other state and federal courts consider probated sentences to be final convictions and stated, "We have not been asked to change our longstanding Texas rule on this issue nor are we persuaded that we should do so on our own motion." Id. at *5.

In this motion for rehearing, the State now respectfully asks this Honorable Court to do exactly that, to find that a probated conviction is a "final" conviction under Texas law and deny relief to Applicant.

History ofthe View That a Suspended or Probated Sentence Is Not a Final Conviction

As this Court recognized in its original opinion, there are numerous cases dating back almost one hundred years that seem to stand for the proposition that a probated sentence is not a "final" conviction for purposes of enhancement under Texas law. Although this proposition might seem well established and unquestionable on its face, a review of its origins reflects that the basis for this proposition ceased to exist many years ago. The earliest case cited by this Court was the 1919 opinion rendered in Brittian v. State, 214 S.W. 351 (Tex. Crim. App. 1919). See Ex parte Pue, 2018 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 63 at *5. However, Brittian cites back to a case decided the previous month, Ex parte Coots, 212 S.W. 173 (Tex. Crim. App. 1919).

In Coots, a jury had convicted the defendant of a felony and sentenced him to a term of three years in the penitentiary. Id. at 173. However, at the same time, the jury gave the defendant the benefit of a suspended sentence. Id. Three and a half years later, the defendant was charged with another felony. Id. The defendant was convicted and sentenced for that subsequent felony. Id. Additionally, when the trial court entered judgment upon the subsequent felony, the court also found that the defendant had forfeited the suspension of the sentence for the former conviction, sentenced the defendant for that offense, and cumulated that sentence with the sentence imposed for the subsequent offense. Id. By way of a writ of habeas corpus, the defendant challenged the revocation of his suspended sentence for his first felony conviction because its term had expired prior to his commission of the second felony. Id. Thus, a review of the facts in Coots makes it clear that the use of a prior conviction for purposes of enhancement was not the issue before the Court. Instead, in Coots, the Court of Criminal appeals was merely asked to decide if a suspended sentence could be revoked after its term had expired. Id.

Although the finality of a probated sentence used for enhancement was not the issue faced by the Court in Coots, the Court's opinion in Coots does explain where the doctrine that a conviction wherein the sentence was suspended was not final originated. In the opinion, the Court explained that Article 865c, Vernon's Criminal Statutes, provided that where a suspended sentence was awarded, "neither the verdict of conviction nor the judgment entered thereon shall become final, except under the conditions and in the manner and at the time provided for by section 4 of this Act." Id. at 173-74. Article 865d, Vernon's Criminal Statutes further provided that:

When sentence is suspended the judgment of the court on that subject shall be that sentence of the judgment of conviction shall be suspended during the good behavior of the defendant. By the term 'good behavior' is meant that the defendant shall not be convicted of any felony during the time of such suspension.

Id. at 174. Additionally, Section 4 of said act as referred to in Article 865c was found set out in Article 865e, Vernon's Criminal Statutes. It provided that:

Upon the final conviction of the defendant of any other felony, pending the suspension of sentence, the court granting such suspension shall cause a capias to issue for the arrest of the defendant, if he is not then in the custody of such court, and upon the execution of a capias, and during a term of the court shall pronounce sentence upon the original judgment of conviction, and shall cumulate the punishment of the first with the punishment of any subsequent conviction or convictions, and in such cases no new trial shall be granted in the first conviction.

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