Tomika Shanee Oliver v. the State of Texas

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 10th District (Waco)
• Decided: March 26, 2026
• Docket: 10-25-00165-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals Tenth Appellate District of Texas

10-25-00165-CR

Tomika Shanee Oliver, Appellant

v.

The State of Texas, Appellee

On appeal from the 369th District Court of Leon County, Texas Judge Charles Michael Davis, presiding Trial Court Cause No. 24-145-DCCR-00155

JUSTICE SMITH delivered the opinion of the Court.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

After a jury trial, Tomika Shanee Oliver was convicted of the felony

offense of evading arrest or detention with a vehicle. See TEX. PENAL CODE

ANN. § 38.04(b)(2)(A). The jury found two felony enhancement paragraphs to

be true and assessed punishment at ninety-nine years in prison. Oliver

presents one issue on appeal: whether the State’s discussion of parole law

during the final argument of the punishment phase warrants a new trial. Oliver concedes that she did not object to the State’s final jury argument.

A defendant’s failure to object to a jury argument forfeits her right to complain

about the argument on appeal. Cockrell v. State, 933 S.W.2d 73, 89 (Tex. Crim.

App. 1996). Because an objection was necessary to preserve error, if any,

regarding this issue, we overrule Oliver’s sole issue on appeal and affirm the

judgment of the trial court. See Sanders v. State, No. 10-12-00019-CR, 2012

WL 5974017, at *3 (Tex. App.—Waco Nov. 29, 2012, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not

designated for publication) (holding an objection was necessary to preserve

error regarding jury argument on parole law).

STEVE SMITH Justice

OPINION DELIVERED and FILED: March 26, 2026 Before Chief Justice Johnson, Justice Smith, and Justice Harris Affirmed Do not publish CRPM

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