In The

Court of Appeals

Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-19-00152-CR

JOHN ELIE LEBLANC, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 188th District Court

Gregg County, Texas

Trial Court No. 45834-A

Before Morriss, C.J., Burgess and Stevens, JJ.

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Stevens
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MEMORANDUM OPINION

On July 3, 2019, John Elie LeBlanc’s deferred adjudication community supervision was 

revoked, his guilt was adjudicated, and he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. On appeal, 

LeBlanc complains that the clerk’s certified bill of costs erroneously reflects that the trial court 

assessed him an attorney fee of $816.00 and that he was assessed a fine of $1,500.00 when no fine 

was orally pronounced at his sentencing. We agree. Because the bill of costs was incorporated 

into the judgment, we will modify the trial court’s judgment and the clerk’s bill of costs by 

changing the attorney fee to $476.00 and the fine to $0.00.

I. Background

On February 17, 2017, LeBlanc pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault. The trial 

court received his plea and, pursuant to a plea agreement, deferred adjudication of his guilt;

assessed him a $1,500.00 fine, court costs of $249.00, and attorney fees of $476.00; and placed 

him on community supervision for ten years. Two and one-half years later, the trial court revoked 

LeBlanc’s community supervision, adjudicated his guilt, and sentenced him to five years’ 

imprisonment. When pronouncing LeBlanc’s sentence, the trial court did not orally impose a fine 

as part of his sentence. 

The first page of the trial court’s written judgment adjudicating guilt reflects a punishment 

of five years and contains no entries under the headings “Fine” and “Court Costs.” At the bottom 

of the second page, the judgment recites the following under the heading “Special Findings and 

Orders: 

THE COURT ORDERS ALL COURT-ORDERED PAYMENTS, IF ANY, 

SUSPENDED WHILE DEFENDANT IS IN CUSTODIAL SUPERVISION, AND 
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SUCH PAYMENT SHALL BE REINSTATED THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE 

DATE OF DEFENDANT’S DISCHARGE FROM CUSTODIAL SUPERVISION.

Page 3 of the judgment contains a certified bill of costs reflecting total costs of $2,780.00, 

including $816.00 for “Attorney Fee,” and $1,500.00 for “Fine.” The final page of the judgment 

contains the signature of the trial judge. Thus, it appears that the trial court intended to incorporate 

the bill of costs into its written judgment.

II. The Judgment and Bill of Costs Must Be Modified

In his first issue, LeBlanc complains that the bill of costs erroneously assessed him courtappointed attorney fees.1

 A trial court may order the reimbursement of court-appointed attorney 

fees only “[i]f the judge determines that a defendant has financial resources that enable the 

defendant to offset in part or in whole the costs of the legal services provided . . . including any 

expenses and costs.” TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 26.05(g) (Supp.). “[T]he defendant’s 

financial resources and ability to pay are explicit critical elements in the trial court’s determination 

of the propriety of ordering reimbursement of costs and fees” of legal services provided. 

Armstrong, 340 S.W.3d at 765–66 (quoting Mayer v. State, 309 S.W.3d 552, 556 (Tex. Crim. App. 

2010)).

The record in this case shows that LeBlanc was found to be indigent and that LeBlanc was 

represented by court-appointed counsel throughout these proceedings. Once a defendant is found 

to be indigent, he “is presumed to remain indigent for the remainder of the proceedings in the case 

unless a material change in the defendant’s financial circumstances occurs.” TEX. CODE CRIM.

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Court-appointed attorney fees contained in a certified bill of costs are effective, whether orally pronounced and 

whether incorporated in the written judgment. Armstrong v. State, 340 S.W.3d 759, 767 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011). 
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PROC. ANN. arts. 26.04(p) (Supp.); Walker v. State, 557 S.W.3d 678, 689 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 

2018, pet. ref’d). 

The record shows that LeBlanc was assessed $816.00 in court-appointed attorney fees. 

However, this amount included $476.00 in court-appointed attorney fees in the order of deferred 

adjudication. Complaints regarding the imposition of court costs in an order of deferred 

adjudication are required to be asserted in a timely appeal of that order. See Perez v. State, 424 

S.W.3d 81, 86 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014). This includes complaints about the assessment of courtappointed attorney fees. Wiley v. State, 410 S.W.3d 313, 318 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013). If a

defendant has knowledge of the imposition of court-appointed attorney fees in a deferred 

adjudication order and fails to make a timely appeal of that order, he forfeits any complaint about 

court-appointed attorney fees assessed in the order. Riles v. State, 452 S.W.3d 333, 337 (Tex. 

Crim. App. 2015); Wiley, 410 S.W.3d at 318, 321. Consequently, he may not assert the complaint 

in an appeal from a judgment adjudicating his guilt. Riles, 452 S.W.3d at 337; Wiley, 410 S.W.3d 

at 321. 

The record in this case shows that LeBlanc signed, and his right thumb print was embossed 

on, the order of deferred adjudication. In addition, the order establishing LeBlanc’s conditions of 

community supervision, also acknowledged by LeBlanc with his signature, provided that he would 

pay $476.00 in court-appointed attorney fees as a term of his community supervision. Under this 

record, we conclude that LeBlanc was aware that he was required to pay the court-appointed 

attorney fees. See Wiley, 410 S.W.3d at 320–21. Since he failed to timely appeal the deferred 
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adjudication order, any complaint regarding the $476.00 in court-appointed attorney fees assessed 

in that order has been forfeited. See Riles, 452 S.W.3d at 338; Wiley, 410 S.W.3d at 321.

Even so, the record contains no evidence (1) that LeBlanc’s financial circumstances have 

changed since the order of deferred adjudication or (2) that he had the ability to pay the courtappointed attorney fees. Consequently, the assessment of the additional $340.00 for courtappointed attorney fees was error. We sustain LeBlanc’s first issue as to the additional $340.00 in 

attorney fees.

In his second issue, LeBlanc complains that it was error to impose a fine of $1,500.00 in 

the written judgment and certified bill of costs since the trial court did not orally pronounce the 

fine at his sentencing. We agree.

In this case, the trial court imposed a $1,500.00 fine in its deferred adjudication order. 

When the trial court adjudicated LeBlanc’s guilt, it did not orally pronounce a fine, yet, a fine was 

included in the certified bill of costs that was incorporated into the written judgment. “[W]hen an 

accused receives deferred adjudication, no sentence is imposed.” Taylor v. State, 131 S.W.3d 497, 

502 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004). If his guilt is subsequently adjudicated, “the order adjudicating guilt 

sets aside the order deferring adjudication, including the previously imposed fine.” Id. When 

there is a conflict between the oral pronouncement of sentence in open court, which includes any 

imposition of a fine, and the written judgment, the oral pronouncement controls. See id. (citing 

Thompson v. State, 108 S.W.3d 287, 290 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003)). Since the trial court did not 

orally pronounce a fine, the assessment of a fine in the judgment and bill of costs was error. We 

sustain LeBlanc’s second issue.
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“Appellate courts ‘have the authority to reform judgments and affirm as modified in cases 

where there is non reversible error.’” Walker, 557 S.W.3d at 690 (quoting Ferguson v. State, 435 

S.W.3d 291, 294 (Tex. App.—Waco 2014, pet. struck) (“comprehensively discussing appellate 

cases that have modified judgments”)). We modify the trial court’s judgment by changing the 

assessment of attorney fees to $476.00 and changing the fine to $0.00. We also modify the certified 

bill of costs by changing the amount for “Attorney Fee” to $476.00, by changing the amount for 

“Fine” to $0.00, and by changing the amount for “Total Costs” to $940.00.

III. Disposition

For the reasons stated, we modify the trial court’s judgment by changing the assessment of 

attorney fees to $476.00 and changing the fine to $0.00. We modify the certified bill of costs by 

changing the amount for “Attorney Fee” to $476.00, by changing the amount for “Fine” to $0.00, 

and by changing the amount for “Total Costs” to $940.00. As modified, we affirm the trial court’s 

judgment.

Scott E. Stevens

Justice

Date Submitted: March 25, 2020

Date Decided: March 26, 2020

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