EX PARTE DENNIS LEE GIDDINGS, Applicant (Other)
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IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS NO. WR-79,815-01 EX PARTE DENNIS LEE GIDDINGS, Applicant ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS CAUSE NO. 4739-A IN THE 216TH DISTRICT COURT FROM KENDALL COUNTY Per curiam. ORDER Pursuant to the provisions of Article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the clerk of the trial court transmitted to this Court this application for a writ of habeas corpus. Ex parte Young, 418 S.W.2d 824, 826 (Tex. Crim. App. 1967). Applicant was convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. His did not appeal his conviction. Applicant contends that trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance because he told Applicant that if he waited for a retrial, he would sit in the county jail for years, the trial judge would find him guilty, and he would be sentenced to life. Applicant also contends that Article 26.13 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is unconstitutional. This second ground is without merit. Applicant has alleged facts that, if true, might entitle him to relief. Strickland v. Washington, 2 466 U.S. 668 (1984); Ex parte Patterson, 993 S.W.2d 114, 115 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999). In these circumstances, additional facts are needed. As we held in Ex parte Rodriguez, 334 S.W.2d 294, 294 (Tex. Crim. App. 1960), the trial court is the appropriate forum for findings of fact. The trial court shall order trial counsel to respond to Applicant s claim. The trial court may use any means set out in TEX . CODE CRIM . PROC. art. 11.07, ยง 3(d). If the trial court elects to hold a hearing, it shall determine whether Applicant is indigent. If Applicant is indigent and wishes to be represented by counsel, the trial court shall appoint an attorney to represent Applicant at the hearing. TEX . CODE CRIM . PROC. art. 26.04. The trial court shall determine whether counsel told Applicant that if he waited for a retrial, he would sit in the county jail for years, the trial judge would find him guilty, and he would be sentenced to life. If the trial court finds that counsel told Applicant this, it shall also determine whether this advice was deficient and rendered Applicant s plea involuntary. The trial court shall also make any other findings of fact and conclusions of law that it deems relevant and appropriate to the disposition of Applicant s claim for habeas corpus relief. This application will be held in abeyance until the trial court has resolved the fact issues. The issues shall be resolved within 90 days of this order. A supplemental transcript containing all affidavits and interrogatories or the transcription of the court reporter s notes from any hearing or deposition, along with the trial court s supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law, shall be forwarded to this Court within 120 days of the date of this order. Any extensions of time shall be obtained from this Court. Filed: September 11, 2013 Do not publish
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