Stone v. State

909 S.W.2d 570, 1995 WL 536280
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 13, 1995
Docket14-93-00332-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 909 S.W.2d 570 (Stone 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
Stone v. State, 909 S.W.2d 570, 1995 WL 536280 (Tex. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

MAJORITY OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

LEE, Justice.

Appellant entered a no contest plea without a punishment recommendation to the charge of attempted murder. TexPenal Code Ann. §§ 15.01; 19.02 (Vernon 1989 & Supp.1994).1 The trial court accepted his no contest plea but deferred a finding of guilt until after the presentence investigation report (PSI) was completed. After reviewing the PSI, the trial court found appellant guilty and assessed punishment at sixteen (16) years in prison and a five thousand dollar ($5,000) fine. Appellant poses four points of error. We reverse and remand.

In his first point of error, appellant contends that the state failed to provide sufficient evidence to support a guilty finding by the trial court. Appellant entered a no contest plea by executing two documents: Plea of No Contest and Written Admonishment. Each of these documents is typically used by the courts to accept a guilty plea. Each time the form indicated “guilty,” appellant crossed-out “guilty” and wrote in “no contest.” In the ‘Waiver of Constitutional Rights, Agreement to Stipulate, and Judicial Confession” section of the Plea of No Contest form, appellant struck through “Judicial Confession.” He also modified the statement, “I understand the above allegations and I confess that they are true and that the acts alleged above were committed” so that it read, “I understand the above allegations and the witnesses would testify that the acts alleged above were committed.” In the Written Admonishments form, appellant altered the section entitled “Judicial Confession.” The section, with interlineations indicated with italics, read:

I further state that I have read the indictment or information filed in this case and that I agree that the state’s witnesses would testify that I committed each and every allegation it contains. They would testify that I am guilty of the offense alleged as well as all lessor included offenses.

A person accused of committing a felony must be convicted by a jury unless he enters a plea and waives his right to a trial by jury in open court and in writing. Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 1.15 (Vernon Supp. 1995). Texas does not follow the common law doctrine of conviction by plea. Massey v. State, 777 S.W.2d 739, 740 (Tex.App.[572]*572—Beaumont 1989, no pet.); cf. North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970) (noting that while most pleas consist of both a waiver of trial and an express admission of guilt, an express admission of guilt is not “a constitutional requisite to the imposition of criminal penalty5’). In Texas, if an accused enters a plea and waives his right to a trial by jury, the state still must introduce evidence proving guilt to support the judgment. See Tex.Code CRiM. PROoAnn. art. 1.15 (Vernon Supp.1995); Thornton v. State, 601 S.W.2d 340, 347 (Tex.Crim.App.1980) (op. on reh’g), overruled on other grounds, Bender v. State, 758 S.W.2d 278, 280 (Tex.Crim.App.1988); Massey, 777 S.W.2d at 740; see also Jack v. State, 871 S.W.2d 741, 743 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). The evidence supporting the judgment “may be stipulated if the [accused] consents in writing, in open court, to waive the appearance, confrontation, and cross-examination of witnesses.” Tex.Code Crim.ProcAnn. art. 1.15 (Vernon Supp.1995); see also Thornton, 601 S.W.2d at 347 (“in Texas, evidence is received to support the judgment, not to accept the plea”).

After the PSI was prepared, the trial court held a hearing. At the conclusion of this hearing, the trial court found appellant guilty “based upon [appellant’s] Plea of No Contest and the evidence considered herein.” The evidence presented consisted of: 1) the Plea of No Contest, 2) the Written Admonishment, and 3) the PSI. The state did not offer any other evidence in the form of affidavits or testimony in support of the judgment.

The state argues that the documents executed in this case were sufficient to satisfy the requirements of article 1.15 of the code of criminal procedure. The documents executed show that appellant entered a no contest plea and are an effective waiver of his right to a trial by jury. However, the documents, as modified, are not sufficient to support the judgment. The documents indicate that the state’s witnesses would testify that appellant committed attempted murder. A stipulation that certain testimony could be offered by the state is not a stipulation that the testimony would be true. Pine v. State, 872 S.W.2d 25, 26 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1994, no pet.). “A ‘Stipulation of Evidence’ is not an agreement that the evidence or testimony is admissible or that the testimony is truthful. It is merely an agreement to waive cross-examination of witnesses and agree that the written version of their testimony is the same as it would be if they were in the courtroom.” Stewart v. State, 681 S.W.2d 774, 775 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1984, pet. ref'd) (en banc). The documents executed by appellant do not stipulate to the truth of the allegations. Thus, without additional evidence presented to the trial court, the documents do not provide sufficient evidence of guilt to support the conviction.2 Cf. Brewster v. State, 606 S.W.2d 325 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1980) (trial court admonished defendants that stipulations were “the same thing as judicial confession[s] ” (emphasis in original)).

In the alternative, the state argues that based on DeGarmo v. State, 691 S.W.2d 657 (Tex.Crim.App.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 973, 106 S.Ct. 337, 88 L.Ed.2d 322 (1985), we should review the PSI to support the finding of guilt. The PSI was prepared so that the trial court could determine an appropriate punishment. In DeGarmo, the Court of Criminal Appeals reviewed a direct appeal of a capital murder, death penalty conviction. During the punishment phase of the trial, DeGarmo took the stand and admitted that he killed a twenty-year-old female. The court reiterated that, under Texas law, if the accused takes the stand during the punishment phase of trial and admits his guilt, he waives any sufficiency of the evidence complaint. Id. at 661. The court also stated:

[573]*573[I]t has long been the law of this State that in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court will look to all of the evidence in the case that was adduced at both stages of the trial, and not just that offered or presented by the State. Thus, evidence presented at the punishment stage of the trial may be considered in determihing whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain a guilty verdict for the primary offense.

Id. (citations omitted).

However, in Munoz v. State,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Stone v. State
919 S.W.2d 424 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Burger v. State
920 S.W.2d 433 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Stone v. State
909 S.W.2d 570 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
909 S.W.2d 570, 1995 WL 536280, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stone-v-state-texapp-1995.