Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

524 S.W.2d 712

Walker v. State

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas · decided 1975-06-25

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“"(a) Prior to accepting a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere, the court shall admonish the defendant of: "(1) the range of punishment attached to the offense ..."”

quoted by 2 later decisions, including Whitten v. State, Pinson v. State

““(a) Prior to accepting a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere, the court shall admonish the defendant of: “(1) the range of the punishment attached to the offense; [[Image here]] “(c) In admonishing the defendant as herein provided, substantial compliance by the court is sufficient, unless the defendant affirmatively shows that he was not aware of the consequences of his plea and that he was misled or harmed by the admonishment of the court.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including Taylor v. State

Relies on Valdez v. State · Ex Parte Taylor · Guster v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1975-06-25

How this case has been cited

Cited by 16 later decisions — most recently November 1999

16 state decisions

70197519801990decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1OPINION ON APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR REHEARING

ODOM, Judge.

¶2Our prior opinion in this cause is withdrawn.

¶3On motion for rehearing appellant urges that his conviction be reversed because the trial court wholly failed to advise him of the range of punishment at the time of his plea of guilty, as required by Article 26.13, Vernon’s Ann.C.C.P.1

¶4In Guster v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 522 S.W.2d 494, this Court held:

“. . . where there is no showing that a defendant was prejudiced or injured by the failure of the trial court to fully comply with Article 26.13, supra, and where no objection is made to such failure at the time the plea is accepted or by motion for new trial, that failure to fully comply will not constitute reversible error on appeal.”

¶5In the instant case, there was a total failure to explain or even mention the range of punishment to appellant. It is, therefore, not within the scope of the rule stated in Guster v. State, supra. See also Williams v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 522 S.W.2d 488, and Ex parte Taylor, Tex.Cr.App., 522 S.W.2d 479.

¶6In Tellez v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 522 S.W.2d 500, decided the same day as Guster, supra, and Williams, supra, this Court held that, if a trial court in admonishing an accused of the consequences of his plea misstates the range of possible punishment, but the accused is not misled to his prejudice by such erroneous admonishment, the error is harmless. See also Cameron v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 508 S.W.2d 618; Jorden v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 500 S.W.2d 117; Valdez v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 479 S.W.2d 927. That rule likewise does not apply in this case because the trial court gave absolutely no admonishment respecting the range of possible punishment.

¶7Because the trial court here did not merely fall short of full compliance, but in fact totally failed to admonish appellant of the *714consequences of his plea, in total disregard of Article 26.13, Y.A.C.C.P. (see concurring opinion in Cameron v. State, supra), the conviction is reversed.

¶8Appellant’s motion for rehearing is granted; the judgment affirming the conviction is set aside; and the judgment is reversed and remanded.

¶9. We note that Article 26.13, supra, has recently been amended (S.B. 122) and effective June 19, 1975, provides:

“Article 26.13. PLEA OF GUILTY, (a) Prior to accepting a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere, the court shall admonish the defendant of:
“(1) the range of punishment attached to the offense; and
“(2) the fact that any recommendation of the prosecuting attorney as to punishment is not binding on the court.
“(b) No plea of gulty or a plea of nolo contendere shall be accepted by the court unless it appears that the defendant is mentally competent and the plea is free and voluntary.
“(c) In admonishing the defendant as herein provided, substantial compliance by the court is sufficient, unless the defendant affirmatively shows that he was not aware of the consequences of his plea and that he was misled or harmed by the admonishment of the court.”
/524/sw2d/712 · .json · Public domain