Gareau v. State
Gareau v. State
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
In 1992, James Gareau pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea bargain agreement to the offense of indecency with a child, and the trial court placed him on deferred adjudication for eight years. In 1994, the State moved to proceed to an adjudication of guilt because Gareau had failed to comply with the terms of his probation. He pleaded true to the allegations in the motion to proceed to adjudication of guilt, and the court adjudicated his guilt and sentenced him to ten years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
In his sole point of error, Gareau claims that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at the proceeding to adjudicate guilt and that because of this ineffective assis
DAUPHINOT, J., concurs with opinion.
Concurring Opinion
concurring.
In the case before us, the majority holds that we do not have jurisdiction to review Gareau’s contention that he was denied his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel at the adjudication hearing. As I understand current law, I am constrained to concur.
Article 42.12, section 5(b) has created a veritable Gordian Knot for the intermediate appellate courts.
Section 5(b) also establishes that the defendant may be arrested and detained as provided in section 21 of article 42.12.
The United States Supreme Court has enunciated the minimum requirements of due process that must be observed in probation revocation hearings. They include: written notice of the claimed violations of probation, disclosure to the probationer of the evidence against him, the opportunity to be heard in person, and by counsel, and to present witnesses, the right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses, a “neutral and detached” hearing body, and a written statement by the fact finder as to the evidence relied on and the reasons for revoking probation.
Although case law tells us that the right to appeal a criminal conviction is legislatively created,
When the legislature initially created the deferred adjudication probation, it prohibited
But Senator Washington was mistaken. Although the amendment now allows for appeal before adjudication, unlike appeal from a “regular probation,” it still does not allow for review of the adjudicative procedure.
The question, then, is how to insure the minimal due process guarantees mandated by the Supreme Court in Gagnon, when no review is permitted. Although article 42.12, section 21 requires the allegation of a violation of a condition of community supervision, article 42.12, section 5(b) permits no review. We find ourselves, then, assuring a defendant on deferred adjudication community supervision that he or she is entitled to the fundamental protections of fair play and due process, but we deprive that same defendant of any vehicle for lodging a complaint that such guarantee has been violated.
Judge Overstreet suggests in- his concurring opinion in Olowosuko v. State that the only avenue for redress of the denial of a fundamental, constitutionally guaranteed right is through a post-conviction writ to the Court of Criminal Appeals.
As an intermediate court, we must follow the dictates of the highest criminal court of the state. But we must understand our role in the administration of justice. Currently, we are confused, as is attested by the fact that some intermediate courts deal with constitutional errors in article 42.12, section 5 adjudications,
We may not ignore the mandates of the Court of Criminal Appeals, but we may beg for guidance.
. I have previously voiced these concerns in my concurrence in Jarour v. State, 923 S.W.2d 174 (Tex.App. — Fort Worth, 1996, no pet. h.) (Dau-phinot, J., concurring).
. See Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 42.12, § 5(b) (Vernon Supp. 1996).
. Id.
. Id. § 21(a).
. Id. § 21(b).
. Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 786, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 1761-62, 36 L.Ed.2d 656, 664 (1973); Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 487-90, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 2603-05, 33 L.Ed.2d 484, 498-99 (1972); Ruedas v. State, 586 S.W.2d 520, 523 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1979).
. Phynes v. State, 828 S.W.2d 1, 2 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992).
. Tex Const, art. V, §§ 5, 6.
. See Carter v. State, 656 S.W.2d 468, 469 (Tex.Crim.App. 1983); Smith v. State, 513 S.W.2d 823, 829 (Tex.Crim.App. 1974).
. See McDougal v. State, 610 S.W.2d 509 (Tex.Crim.App. 1981).
. 815 S.W.2d 623 (Tex.Crim.App. 1991).
. Id. at 625.
. Phynes, 828 S.W.2d at 2.
. 826 S.W.2d 940, 942 n. 2 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992) (Overstreet, J., concurring).
. See, e.g., Gilbert v. State, 852 S.W.2d 623 (Tex.App. — Amarillo 1993, no pet.); De Leon v. State, 797 S.W.2d 186 (Tex.App. — Corpus Christi 1990, no pet.); Eldridge v. State, 731 S.W.2d 618 (Tex.App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 1987, no pet.); Dahlkoetter v. State, 628 S.W.2d 255 (Tex.App.— Amarillo 1982, no pet.).
. See, e.g., Collins v. State, 912 S.W.2d 864 (Tex.App. — Beaumont 1995, no pet.); Osborne v. State, 845 S.W.2d 319 (Tex.App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, pet. ref’d); Ballard v. State, 628 S.W.2d 236 (Tex.App. — Amarillo 1982, pet. refd).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- James GAREAU, Appellant, v. the STATE of Texas, State
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published