Loch v. Texas (original by judge yeary)
Annotate this CaseCambodian national and appellant, Vith Loch, pled guilty to murder. A jury sentenced him to life and assessed a $10,000 fine. The Court of Appeals reversed, finding the trial court erred when it failed to properly admonish Appellant about the potential immigration consequences of his guilty plea and, importantly, that the trial court’s error was not harmless. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the State Prosecuting Attorney’s (SPA) petition for discretionary review to determine whether the court of appeals erred by concluding that the failure to admonish Appellant was not harmless. Because Appellant was likely already subject to removal when he entered his guilty plea in this case, and because of the strong evidence of Appellant’s guilt, the Court had "a fair assurance" that Appellant would not have changed his mind about entering the plea, even had he been properly admonished by the trial court. Under these circumstances, the Court concluded Appellant’s substantial rights were not affected. The judgment of the court of appeals was reversed, and this case was remanded to that court for resolution of Appellant’s remaining points of error.
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