holding voluntariness of guilty plea may not be contested on direct appeal following plea-bargain agreement
How later courts described this case
- holding voluntariness of guilty plea may not be contested on direct appeal following plea-bargain agreement
- “A court of appeals, while having jurisdiction to ascertain whether an appellant who plea- bargained is permitted to appeal by Rule 25.2(a)(2), must dismiss a prohibited appeal without further action, regardless of the basis for the appeal.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Opinion issued June 23, 2015
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
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NO. 01-15-00149-CR
NO. 01-15-00150-CR
NO. 01-15-00151-CR
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JAMES E. GUZMAN, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the County Criminal Court at Law No. 4
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Case Nos. 1974171, 1974172, and 2001637
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Pursuant to his agreements with the State, appellant, James E. Guzman,
pleaded guilty to three separate misdemeanor offenses of assault, 1 two of which
were enhanced by a prior conviction of the felony offense of assault on a family
member. The trial court accepted the plea agreements, assessed appellant’s
punishment at confinement for 120 days for each offense, with the sentences to run
concurrently, and certified that these are plea-bargained cases and appellant has no
right of appeal. Appellant filed a pro se notice of appeal in each case. The State has
filed a motion to dismiss each appeal for want of jurisdiction.
We grant the State’s motions and dismiss the appeals.
In a plea-bargained case, a defendant may appeal only those matters that
were raised by written motion and ruled on before trial or after obtaining the trial
court’s permission to appeal. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art 44.02 (Vernon
2006); TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2). An appeal must be dismissed if a certification
showing that the defendant has a right of appeal has not been made part of the
record. TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d).
Here, in each cause, the trial court’s certification is included in the record
and states that the case is a plea-bargained case and appellant has no right of
appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2). The record in each case supports the trial
court’s certification. See Dears v. State, 154 S.W.3d 610, 615 (Tex. Crim. App.
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See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.01(a)(1) (Vernon 2011).
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2005). Because appellant has no right of appeal, we must dismiss these appeals.
See Chavez v. State, 183 S.W.3d 675, 680 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (“A court of
appeals, while having jurisdiction to ascertain whether an appellant who plea-
bargained is permitted to appeal by Rule 25.2(a)(2), must dismiss a prohibited
appeal without further action, regardless of the basis for the appeal.”); see also
Cooper v. State, 45 S.W.3d 77, 77–82 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001) (holding
voluntariness of guilty plea may not be contested on direct appeal following
plea-bargain agreement).
Accordingly, we dismiss each appeal for want of jurisdiction and dismiss all
other pending motions as moot.
PER CURIAM
Panel consists of Justice Jennings, Bland and Brown.
Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
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