Wallace Ray Jackson v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 20, 2019
Docket09-17-00431-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Wallace Ray Jackson v. State (Wallace Ray Jackson 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
Wallace Ray Jackson v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont ____________________ NO. 09-17-00431-CR _______________________

WALLACE RAY JACKSON, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 1A District Court Jasper County, Texas Trial Cause No. 10418JD

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, Wallace Ray Jackson pleaded guilty to

aggravated sexual assault. The trial court deferred further proceedings and placed

Jackson on community supervision for ten years and assessed a $5,000 fine.

Subsequently, the State filed an Amended Motion for Adjudication of Guilt alleging

Jackson violated several conditions of his community supervision.

Jackson pleaded “true” to violations as alleged by the State: that he violated

condition (d) that required him to report weekly to his Supervision Officer by failing 1 to report on certain dates; that he violated conditions (i), (k), (l), and (m) that required

him to pay supervision fees, court costs, restitution, and court-appointed attorney’s

fees by failing to pay; that he violated condition (p) that required him to abstain

from alcohol and illegal controlled substances by testing positive for illegal

controlled substances on some dates; that he violated condition (q) that required him

to submit to substance abuse testing and pay testing fees by refusing to submit to a

urinalysis on October 6, 2016 and failing to pay testing fees; that he violated

condition (r)(2) that required him to attend and participate in Sexual Offender Group

Therapy by failing to attend and participate since February 13, 2017; and that he

violated condition (s) that required him to attend at least one Celebrate Recovery

meeting per week by failing to attend as directed.

Jackson pleaded “not true” to the State’s allegations that he violated condition

(h) requiring him to notify the court if he moved from Jasper County and condition

(n) requiring him to perform 240 hours of community service at the minimum rate

of sixteen hours per month, as well as to condition (r)(7) requiring him to have his

place of residence approved by the Supervision Officer and condition (r)(12)

prohibiting him from possessing or using a computer with access to any on line

computer service without his Community Supervision Officer’s prior written

approval.

2 After the State presented evidence on the allegations to which Jackson pleaded

“not true,” the trial court found that Jackson violated the conditions of his

community supervision, adjudicated him guilty of aggravated sexual assault, and

sentenced him to twenty-five years in prison. Jackson appealed.

On appeal, Jackson argues the trial court abused its discretion when it revoked

Jackson’s community supervision (1) by allowing evidence about Jackson’s alleged

Facebook activity and interjecting the trial court’s own knowledge about Facebook

in the hearing; (2) on the allegation that Jackson violated a condition of his

community supervision by not paying fees levied when he had no ability to pay; (3)

on the allegation he had moved without notifying community supervision when he

never moved but temporarily went to Port Arthur after Hurricane Harvey “to help

his wife escape from the rising flood waters[;]” (4) on the allegation that he had not

completed his community service hours or classes assigned as part of his community

supervision even though his probation period had not expired; (5) on the allegation

that he failed to report as directed when he only stopped reporting because his

probation officer advised him not to report; (6) and on the allegation that he failed

drug tests when he was unable to treat his substance abuse issue because he did not

qualify for substance abuse placement due to his felony conviction and because he

was not ordered to other rehabilitation programs that he could have participated in.

3 We review a trial court’s revocation of deferred adjudication community

supervision for abuse of discretion. Staten v. State, 328 S.W.3d 901, 904-05 (Tex.

App.—Beaumont 2010, no pet.). The State must prove a violation of the terms or

conditions of community supervision by a preponderance of the evidence. Rickels v.

State, 202 S.W.3d 759, 763 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006). The State satisfies this burden

when the greater weight of credible evidence before the trial court creates a

reasonable belief demonstrating it is more probable than not that the defendant has

violated a condition of his community supervision. Staten, 328 S.W.3d at 905. We

view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling. Cardona v.

State, 665 S.W.2d 492, 493 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984). Proof of a single violation will

support revocation. Moore v. State, 605 S.W.2d 924, 926 (Tex. Crim. App. 1980).

In general, “[a] plea of true, standing alone, is sufficient to support the revocation of

community supervision and adjudicate guilt.” Tapia v. State, 462 S.W.3d 29, 31 n.2

(Tex. Crim. App. 2015) (citing Moore, 605 S.W.2d at 926)).

In addition to his pleas of true to several violations, the trial court heard

evidence about several other alleged violations to which Jackson pleaded “not true.”

For example, condition (h) required Jackson to notify the court of any change in

address, and Jackson’s probation officer testified that when Jackson was placed on

probation his address was in Bon Wier. According to the probation officer, she had

4 been on several field visits to the address in Bon Wier, and Jackson’s grandmother

that lives there indicated that Jackson had not been there for a while. The probation

officer also testified that she called the Newton Sheriff’s Department, they went out

to do a check, and notified the probation officer that Jackson was not living at the

Bon Wier address. Jackson’s wife testified that her apartment in Port Arthur flooded

during Hurricane Harvey and that she was taken out by boat and flown to Dallas to

a shelter. According to Jackson’s wife, Jackson stayed in Dallas for about a little

over a week. Jackson testified that he did not move but went to help his wife in Port

Arthur during Hurricane Harvey and then flew to Dallas to the shelter.

As to condition (n) which required Jackson to perform 240 hours of

community service at a rate of 16 hours pers month, Jackson’s probation officer

testified that he worked a total of three hours of community service. Jackson

admitted he “did some hours[]” of his community service but “[n]ot as much as [he]

was supposed to[,]” and Jackson explained that he did not have transportation at the

time.

As to condition (r)(7) which required him to have his place of residence

approved by the Supervision Officer, Jackson’s probation officer testified that she

did not know where Jackson was living after he left his home in Bon Wier. Jackson

testified his residence in Bon Wier was approved and that he never moved.

5 As to condition (r)(12), which prohibited him from possessing or using a

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Related

Brooks v. State
153 S.W.3d 124 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2004)
Moore v. State
605 S.W.2d 924 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1980)
Cardona v. State
665 S.W.2d 492 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Rickels v. State
202 S.W.3d 759 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Staten v. State
328 S.W.3d 901 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Hull v. State
67 S.W.3d 215 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Bigley v. State
865 S.W.2d 26 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Armstrong v. State
340 S.W.3d 759 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Tapia, Gilbert Jr.
462 S.W.3d 29 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2015)

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