Matthew John Armindariz v. the State of Texas

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

OF TEXAS

NO. PD-0883-19

MATTHEW JOHN ARMINDARIZ, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

ON STATE’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

FROM THE EASTLAND COURT OF APPEALS

ECTOR COUNTY

Per curiam. YEARY, J., filed a dissenting opinion in which SLAUGHTER, J., joined.

OPINION

Appellant was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. In the bill of costs, the trial court assessed Appellant a $25 time payment fee. See T EX. LOCAL G OV’T C ODE § 133.103. On appeal, the Court of Appeals struck a portion of that fee as MATTHEW JOHN ARMINDARIZ - 2 being unconstitutional. Armindariez v. State, No. 11-19-00021-CR (Tex. App.–Eastland August 15, 2019).

The State has filed a petition for discretionary review arguing that the time payment fee was prematurely assessed. We recently handed down our opinion in Dulin v. State, Nos. PD-0856-19 & PD-0857-19, 2021 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 273 (Tex. Crim. App. Mar. 31, 2021), in which we held that the time payment fee was assessed prematurely because the pendency of appeal suspends the obligation to pay court costs.

Accordingly, we grant ground one of the State’s petition for discretionary review, vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and remand this case to the Court of Appeals for proceedings consistent with this opinion. The State’s other ground is refused.

DATE DELIVERED: May 12, 2021

DO NOT PUBLISH