Karla Louise Vasquez a/k/a Karla Louise Weathers v. The State of Texas--Appeal from 402nd Judicial District Court of Wood County

In The
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
______________________________
No. 06-06-00135-CR
______________________________
KARLA LOUISE VASQUEZ, A/K/A KARLA LOUISE WEATHERS, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 402nd Judicial District Court
Wood County, Texas
Trial Court No. 15,939-99
Before Morriss, C.J., Carter and Moseley, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Morriss
MEMORANDUM OPINION

Karla Louise Vasquez, a/k/a Karla Louise Weathers, was originally charged in this case (1) with possession of between one and four grams of cocaine. On August 9, 1999, Vasquez was placed on deferred adjudication as a result of the original plea proceeding. On June 17, 2003, as the result of the State's motion to adjudicate and pursuant to a plea agreement, Vasquez's guilt was adjudicated and she was given a ten-year suspended sentence and placed on community supervision. In 2006, the State filed its motion to revoke Vasquez's community supervision. On Vasquez's plea of true, the trial court revoked her community supervision June 13, 2006, and sentenced Vasquez to serve ten years' imprisonment and to pay in full the balance of a previously imposed fine.

Vasquez contends in a single point of error on appeal that we should reverse the conviction because, through no fault of her own, she could not obtain a reporter's record from the 1999 original plea proceeding. We affirm.

Rule 34.6(f) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure provides, among other things, that an appellant is entitled to a new trial if a significant portion of the appellant's requested record, necessary to the appeal's resolution, has been lost or destroyed and cannot be effectively replaced. Tex. R. App. P. 34.6(f). Here, the record from the 1999 plea proceeding can have no effect on this appeal from the 2006 revocation of her community supervision.

The entirety of Vasquez's argument is based on her assumption that she can now effectively appeal from the 1999 deferred adjudication proceeding at which she pled guilty. (2)

A defendant placed on deferred adjudication community supervision may raise issues relating to the original plea proceeding only in appeals taken when deferred adjudication community supervision is first imposed. Manuel v. State, 994 S.W.2d 658 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999). Deferred adjudication defendants may not wait until revocation to appeal matters related to their original plea proceedings. Durgan v. State, 192 S.W.3d 884, 887 (Tex. App--Beaumont 2006, pet. granted); see Manuel, 994 S.W.2d at 661-62. Thus, issues from the 1999 proceeding cannot now be addressed. Counsel has suggested no way in which the record from the 1999 plea proceeding might be necessary in this appeal. Vasquez has not shown herself entitled to a new trial based on her claim of an unavailable record.

 

We affirm the judgment.

 

Josh R. Morriss, III

Chief Justice

 

Date Submitted: April 11, 2007

Date Decided: April 17, 2007

 

Do Not Publish

 

1. Vasquez has four appeals pending in this Court under cause numbers 06-06-00135-CR, 06-06-00136-CR, 06-06-00137-CR, and 06-06-00138-CR. In some documents filed in these cases, Vasquez is referred to as "Karla Louise Vasquez," "Karla Weathers," or "Karla Louise Weathers."

2. At one time, under the statute, a defendant whose deferred adjudication community supervision was revoked could appeal from the original plea proceeding only by demanding final adjudication and then appealing from the revocation and adjudication of guilt. David v. State, 704 S.W.2d 766, 767 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985). That is no longer the law, and has not been the law for some time. The ability to appeal from a plea proceeding was explicitly provided by statute in 1987 with the enactment of Article 44.01(j). See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 44.01(j) (Vernon 2006); Manuel, 994 S.W.2d 658.