Affirmed and Memorandum Opinion filed December 9, 2014.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

NO. 14-14-00122-CR

AARON FRANK DOMANGUEX, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 262nd District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 1388369

M E M O R A N D U M O P I N I O N

Appellant Aaron Frank Domanguex appeals his conviction for aggravated 

assault with a deadly weapon. See Tex. Penal Code § 22.02. In a single issue 

appellant argues the trial court erred in considering evidence of prior convictions,

which was admitted by an invalid stipulation. We affirm.

Appellant pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without 
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an agreement as to punishment. Following his guilty plea the trial court held a 

hearing at which the complainant and appellant testified. At the beginning of the 

hearing, the following discussion took place:

MR. GARZA [defense counsel]: Your Honor, we do have some

stipulations we’d like to introduce first, as far as records, any Brady

material and any convictions and extraneous for the Defendant, also, 

Your Honor.

MR. O’DONNELL [prosecutor]: That’s correct.

THE COURT: You have a stipulation?

MR. O’DONNELL: Yes, we have a stipulation to the Defendant’s 

priors. This is a list of the Defendant’s prior criminal history as well 

as relevant impeachable criminal history of the State’s witness.

THE COURT: Okay. I guess, for purposes of this hearing, I’m going 

to mark the — and really you just, it’s just a Supplemental Notice of 

Intention to Use Evidence of Prior Convictions and Extraneous

Offenses that were filed with the Court. So, for purposes of this 

hearing, I will mark it as State’s Exhibit No. 1.

MR. O’DONNELL: That’s fine, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Is there any objection then to State’s Exhibit No. 1?

MR. GARZA: There is not, Your Honor.

In his sole issue on appeal appellant argues the trial court erred in 

considering State’s Exhibit No. 1 because it was an improper stipulation pursuant 

to article 1.15 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Appellant argues that 

because State’s Exhibit No. 1 was called a “stipulation” that article 1.15 applies to 

the trial court’s consideration of the evidence. 

Article 1.15, entitled “Jury in felony,” provides:

No person can be convicted of a felony except upon the verdict of a 

jury duly rendered and recorded, unless the defendant, upon entering a 

plea, has in open court in person waived his right of trial by jury in 

writing in accordance with Articles 1.13 and 1.14; provided, however, 

that it shall be necessary for the state to introduce evidence into the 
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record showing the guilt of the defendant and said evidence shall be 

accepted by the court as the basis for its judgment and in no event 

shall a person charged be convicted upon his plea without sufficient 

evidence to support the same. The evidence may be stipulated if the 

defendant in such case consents in writing, in open court, to waive the 

appearance, confrontation, and cross-examination of witnesses, and 

further consents either to an oral stipulation of the evidence and 

testimony or to the introduction of testimony by affidavits, written 

statements of witnesses, and any other documentary evidence in 

support of the judgment of the court. Such waiver and consent must 

be approved by the court in writing, and be filed in the file of the 

papers of the cause.

Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 1.15. 

This provision has been interpreted to require the proffer of evidence, 

independent of a simple guilty plea, sufficient to establish culpability. Stringer v. 

State, 241 S.W.3d 52, 58 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007). However, it has been held to 

apply “where a felony-defendant waives the right to trial by jury at the guilt stage” 

of the prosecution. Id. Appellant was not at the guilt stage of the prosecution when 

the State introduced evidence of his prior convictions. Appellant had pleaded 

guilty prior to the punishment hearing. 

Appellant further argues that the trial court erred in considering his “criminal 

history” because State’s Exhibit No. 1 is not a valid stipulation. The stipulation, 

entitled “Supplemental Notice of Intention to Use Evidence of Prior Convictions,” 

contains a list of appellant’s known prior convictions, including two felony 

convictions, 13 misdemeanor convictions, and one felony charge that was reduced 

to a Class A misdemeanor. Three of the misdemeanor convictions were for assault. 

Appellant testified to the two prior felony convictions contained in the stipulation 

and admitted that he had “some assaults on [his] record.” On redirect examination 

appellant acknowledged the prior misdemeanor and felony convictions.
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“Regardless of the plea and whether the punishment be assessed by the 

judge or the jury, evidence may be offered by the state and the defendant as to any 

matter the court deems relevant to sentencing, including but not limited to the prior 

criminal record of the defendant[.]” Tex. Crim. Proc. Code Ann. art. 37.07 § 

3(a)(1). Whether evidence of appellant’s prior criminal record was admitted 

through the “stipulation” or appellant’s testimony, the trial court did not err in 

considering appellant’s prior record in assessing punishment. We overrule 

appellant’s sole issue. See id.

The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Chief Justice Frost and Justices Christopher and Busby.

Do Not Publish — Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).