# McClinton v. State

> Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas · December 10, 2003 · 121 S.W.3d 768

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9660656

## Case

- **Full name:** Harold McCLINTON, Jr., Appellant, v. the STATE of Texas
- **Court:** Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
- **Decided:** December 10, 2003
- **Citations:** 121 S.W.3d 768; 2003 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 925; 2003 WL 22902846
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion of the court
- **Judges:** Cochran, Hervey, Johnson
- **Cited by:** 71 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9660656

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- stating, in concurring opinion by Judge Cochran, that “both trial and appellate courts may always take cognizance of an illegal or unauthorized sentence”
- stating, in concurring opinion by Judge Cochran, that A both trial and appellate courts may always take cognizance of an illegal or unauthorized sentence @
- holding that a trial court retains jurisdiction to vacate, modify, or amend its own rulings within its plenary power
- noting that the oral sentence announced in open court is the sentence imposed

## Opinion text

OPINION
The opinion was delivered
PER CURIAM.
Appellant was convicted of possession of cocaine and sentenced to twelve years in prison. Twenty days after his conviction and sentencing, the trial judge modified McClinton’s sentence to ten years in prison. The Court of Appeals affirmed. 1
We granted the State’s petition for discretionary review to address whether a trial court has the power to reform a defendant’s sentence after the defendant has already begun serving the sentence. We have determined that our decision to grant *769 review was improvident. Therefore, the petition is dismissed.
COCHRAN, J., filed a concurring opinion.
HERVEY, J., filed a dissenting opinion in which JOHNSON, J., joined.
. McClinton v. State, 38 S.W.3d 747, 751 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2001).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9660656. Public record. Not legal advice.