Carlos MacIas v. State ( 2018 )

Opinion issued March 8, 2018
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
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NO. 01-18-00074-CR
NO. 01-18-00075-CR
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CARLOS MACIAS, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 176th District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause Nos. 1486865 & 1486866
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant, Carlos Macias, was indicted for the first-degree felony offense of
super-aggravated sexual assault of a child under six years of age in the underlying
trial court cause number 1486865, which carried a minimum prison term of twenty-
five years.1 Appellant was separately indicted for the first-degree felony offense of
continuous sexual abuse of a child, involving a different child, in the related trial
court cause number 1486866, which also carried a minimum prison term of twenty-
five years.2 The State agreed to reduce the charges in both cases to the first-degree
felony offenses of aggravated sexual assault of a child under fourteen years of age,
with an agreed punishment recommendation of twenty years’ confinement in each
case.3 Appellant pleaded guilty to the reduced first-degree felony offenses of
aggravated sexual assault of a child under fourteen years of age with the agreed
twenty-year confinement recommendation in each case.
In accordance with his plea bargains with the State, the trial court found
appellant guilty and assessed his punishment at twenty years’ confinement in each
of the trial court cause numbers 1486865 and 1486855, with the sentences to run
concurrently.4 The trial court certified that these were plea-bargained cases and that
appellant had no right of appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2). Appellant timely
1
See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.021(a)(1)(B)(iii), (e), (f)(1) (West 2011).
2
See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 21.021(b), (c)(2), (4), (h) (West 2011).
3
See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. §§ 22.011(c)(1), 22.021(a)(1)(B)(iii), (b)(1), (e)
(West 2011).
4
See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 12.32(a) (West 2011).
2
filed a pro se notice of appeal and the trial court appointed counsel in each case. See
id. 26.2(a)(1). We dismiss these appeals for want of jurisdiction.
In a plea-bargain case, a defendant may only appeal those matters that were
raised by written motion filed and ruled on before trial or after getting the trial court’s
permission to appeal. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 44.02 (West 2017); TEX. R.
APP. P. 25.2(a)(2). An appeal must be dismissed if a certification showing that the
defendant has the right of appeal has not been made part of the record. TEX. R. APP.
P. 25.2(d); see Dears v. State, 154 S.W.3d 610, 613 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005).
Here, the trial court’s certifications, included in the clerk’s record in each case,
stated that these were plea-bargained cases and that appellant had no right of appeal,
and the trial court did not give its permission to appeal any matters. See TEX. R.
APP. P. 25.2(a)(2), (d); Dears, 154 S.W.3d at 615. The clerk’s records in each case,
including the plea waivers and plea terms, confirm that appellant pleaded guilty to
the reduced first-degree felony offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child under
fourteen years of age in exchange for the State’s reduction of the original charges
and the twenty-year punishment recommendations.
Thus, the records support the trial court’s certifications. See Dears, 154
S.W.3d at 615; Shankle v. State, 119 S.W.3d 808, 813 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003)
(noting that agreement to plead guilty in exchange for State’s reduction of charge is
plea bargain under Rule 25.2(a)(2)). Because appellant has no right of appeal, we
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must dismiss these appeals. See Chavez v. State, 183 S.W.3d 675, 680 (Tex. Crim.
App. 2006) (“A court of appeals, while having jurisdiction to ascertain whether an
appellant who plea-bargained is permitted to appeal by Rule 25.2(a)(2), must dismiss
a prohibited appeal without further action, regardless of the basis for the appeal.”).
Accordingly, we dismiss these appeals for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R.
APP. P. 43.2(f).
PER CURIAM
Panel consists of Justices Jennings, Keyes, and Higley.
Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
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