Sammuel Stafford v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: January 27, 2011
• Docket: 06-10-00049-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

                                                         In The

                                                Court of Appeals

                        Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

                                                ______________________________

                                                             No. 06-10-00049-CR

                                    SAMMUEL STAFFORD, Appellant

                                                                V.

                                     THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

                                       On Appeal from the 188th Judicial District Court

                                                             Gregg County, Texas

                                                          Trial Court No. 38872-A

                                          Before Morriss, C.J., Carter and Moseley, JJ.

                                              Memorandum Opinion by Justice Carter

                                                      MEMORANDUM OPINION

Sammuel Stafford was indicted for, and charged with, aggravated sexual assault.^[1]  He reached a negotiated plea bargain agreement with the State, and pled guilty to the lesser offense of indecency with a child.  Pursuant to the negotiated plea bargain agreement, the trial court deferred the adjudication and placed Stafford on community supervision for ten years.  Six and a half years later, the State moved to adjudicate guilt on the underlying charge of indecency with a child, alleging that Stafford violated four conditions of his community supervision, including failing to register as a sex offender.  The State also charged Stafford with the separate offense of failing to register as a sex offender.^[2]  Stafford pled “true” to the allegations of the motion to adjudicate and entered an open plea of “guilty” to the new charge.  The trial court accepted Stafford’s pleas and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment for the underlying charge of indecency and five years for failing to register as a sex offender, with the sentences to be served concurrently. 

On appeal, Stafford argues that:  (1) his plea of “true” was not knowingly and voluntarily entered; (2) his plea of “guilty” for failure to register was not knowingly and voluntarily entered; and (3) the trial court violated his right to be free from double jeopardy by adjudicating him guilty for indecency with a child and failing to register as a sex offender.

We addressed these issues in detail in our opinion of this date on Stafford’s appeal in cause number 06-10-00048-CR.  For the reasons stated therein, we likewise conclude that error has not been shown in this case.

We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

                                                                        Jack Carter

                                                                                    Justice

Date Submitted:          January 12, 2011

Date Decided:             January 27, 2011

Do Not Publish

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^[1]Cause number 29704-A.

^[2]Cause number 38872-A.