Raymond Sidney Lister, III v. The State of Texas--Appeal from 337th District Court of Harris County

NUMBER 13-99-681-CR

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI

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RAYMOND SIDNEY LISTER, III , Appellant,

v.

 
THE STATE OF TEXAS , Appellee.

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On appeal from the 337th District Court

of Harris County, Texas.

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O P I N I O N

Before Chief Justice Seerden and Justices Hinojosa and Kennedy(1)
Opinion by Justice Kennedy

 
Appellant was charged with sexual assault of a child. He entered a plea of guilty without a plea bargain. The trial court deferred a finding of guilty and placed appellant on probation for five years.(2) Subsequently, the state filed a motion to revoke probation, however, this motion was dismissed after appellant "did 90 days jail therapy." A subsequent motion to revoke was filed based upon appellant's injury to a person by the use of a deadly weapon.

At the hearing on the original plea of guilty, written admonishments were made to appellant by the trial court and the instrument bearing the admonishments was signed by appellant and sworn to before a deputy district clerk. The written admonishments were also signed by the trial judge and the attorneys for the state and the defendant. However, as appellant points out in his sole ground of error, beside each paragraph of the written admonishments form there appears a bracket for the initials of appellant and the opening paragraph of the form contains the words, "the court admonishes you the defendant as follows and instructs you to place your initials by each item if you fully understand it." Appellant did not initial the form where indicated.

Appellant has no standing at this time to raise the issue of his not initialing each paragraph of his admonishments and his original plea of guilty. 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, 661-62 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999).

We also hold that there was no legally mandated reason why appellant was required to initial each paragraph of his admonishments. The requirement for a proper method of admonishment on a plea of guilty or of nolo contendere is set out in the code of criminal procedure as follows:

The court may make the admonitions required by this article either orally or in writing. If the court makes the admonitions in writing, it must receive a statement signed by the defendant and the defendant's attorney that he understands the admonitions and is aware of the consequences of his plea. If the defendant is unable or refuses to sign the statement, the court shall make the admonitions orally.

Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 26.13(d) (Vernon 1989). There is no requirement that the admonishments be subdivided into sections and that each section be initialed by a defendant. While the practice suggested by the form used by the trial court in this case is not forbidden, and may, in fact, be commendable, the usage of a particular court or jurisdiction may not supercede the authority conferred on the legislature to prescribe such requirements.

We overrule the single issue raised by this appeal and AFFIRM the trial court's judgment.

Noah Kennedy

Justice

Do not publish.

Tex. R. App. P. 47.3.

Opinion delivered and filed

this the 29th day of June, 2000.

1. Retired Justice Noah Kennedy assigned to this Court by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas pursuant to Tex. Gov't Code Ann. 74.003 (Vernon 1998).

2. The judge also assessed a fine of five hundred dollars.