High v. State

¶1OPINION ON STATE’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

¶2Appellant was convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to confinement for sixty years. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction because the trial court did not admonish appellant of the consequences of his guilty plea pursuant to Article 26.13(a)(1), V.A.C.C.P. High v. State, 962 S.W.2d 53 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1997). It held that under Ex parte McAtee, 599 S.W.2d 335 (Tex.Cr.App.1980), a complete failure to admonish a defendant on the range of punishment for an offense does not constitute substantial compliance under Art. 26.13(c), and therefore is fundamental, reversible error without regard to whether the defendant was harmed.

¶3The State filed a petition for discretionary review arguing that the Court of Appeals erred by summarily reversing the conviction without conducting a harm analysis pursuant to Tex.R.App.Pro. 81(b)(2).1 At the time the Court of Appeals handed down its opinion, Cain v. State, 947 S.W.2d 262 (Tex.Cr.App.1997) was a final opinion.2 Our opinion in Cainheld, “Except for certain federal constitutional errors labeled by the United States Supreme Court as ‘structural,’ no error, whether it relates to jurisdiction, voluntariness of a plea, or any other mandatory requirement, is categorically immune to a harmless error analysis.” Id. at 264 (footnote omitted). We overruled Morales v. State, 872 S.W.2d 753 (Tex.Cr.App.1994), and all other opinions which conflicted with that holding. We specifically held, “Morales was mistaken to the extent that it may have implied that the absence of substantial compliance ends the inquiry.” Ibid.

¶4Therefore, the Court of Appeals erred by holding that the failure to admonish a defendant under Art. 26.13(a)(1), is automatic reversible error, without regard to harm. Accordingly, we grant the State’s petition, vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and remand the cause to that court to conduct a harm analysis pursuant to Rule 44.2.