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E X P A R T E C O L T P R E S T O N S T

. J O H N

, A p p l i c a n t

O N A P P L I C A T I O N F O R W R I T O F H A B E A S C O R P U S

C A U S E N O

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I N C R I M I N A L D I S T R I C T C O U R T N U M B E R T H R E E

T A R R A N T C O U N T Y

P E R C U R IA M

. H E R V E Y

, J

. , d i s s e n t s

.

O P I N I O N

P u r s u a n t t o t h e p r o v i s i o n s o f A r t i c l e 1 1

. 0 7 o f t h e T e x a s C o d e o f C r i m i n a l P r o c e d u r e

,

t h e c l e r k o f t h e t r i a l c o u r t t r a n s m i t t e d t o t h e C o u r t t h i s a p p l i c a t i o n f o r a w r i t o f h a b e a s

c o r p u s

. T h e a p p l i c a n t p l e a d e d g u i l t y t o t h e o f f e n s e o f p o s s e s s i o n o f a c o n t r o l l e d s u b s t a n c e 1

a n d w a s s e n t e n c e d t o f

o u r y e a r s ’ i m p r i s o n m e n t

. H e d i d n o t a p p e a l h i s c o n v i c t i o n

.

I n h i s f i r s t c l a i m

, t h e a p p l i c a n t c o n t e n d s t h a t h e w a s d e n i e d d u e p r o c e s s w h e n t h e t r i a l

c o u r t a s s e s s e d “ c o u r t c o s t s ” w i t h o u t f i r s t d e t e r m i n i n g w h e t h e r h e h a d t h e f i n a n c i a l r e s o u r c e s

1

T E X

. C O D E C R I M

. P R O C . art. 11.07, § 3.ST. J OHN — 2

t o p a y t h o s e c o s t s

. I t i s u n c l e a r

, e i t h e r f r o m t h e a p p l i c a n t ’ s p l e a d i n g s o r f r o m t h e f a c e o f t h e

r e c o r d

, w h e t h e r t h e a p p l i c a n t i s c o m p l a i n i n g o f t h e e r r o n e o u s i m p o s i t i o n o f a t t o r n e y f e e s

, 2

o r

, a l t e r n a t i v e l y

, t h e i m p o s i t i o n o f g e n e r a l c o u r t c o s t s

. I n a n y e v e n t

, n e i t h e r o f t h e s e 3

c o m p l a i n t s “ i m p l i c a t e s t h e f a c t o r d u r a t i o n o f

[ t h e a p p l i c a n t ’ s ] c o n f

i n e m e n t p u r s u a n t t o h i s

c o n v i c t i o n a n d

, t h e r e f

o r e

, ” n e i t h e r i s “ t h e p r o p e r s u b j e c t o f a s t a t u t o r i l y g o v e r n e d p o s t

c o n v i c t i o n a p p l i c a t i o n f o r w r i t o f h a b e a s c o r p u s

. ” I n l i g h t o f t h i s

, t h e a p p l i c a n t ’ s f i r s t c l a i m

, 4

i n s o f a r a s i t s e e k s r e l i e f f

r o m c o u r t c o s t s v i a w r i t o f h a b e a s c o r p u s

, “ m u s t b e d i s m i s s e d

. ” 5

I n h i s s e c o n d c l a i m

, t h e a p p l i c a n t c o m p l a i n s t h a t h i s p l e a w a s r e n d e r e d i n v o l u n t a r y

b y t h e t r i a l c o u r t ’ s f

a i l u r e t o a d m o n i s h h i m t h a t

, p u r s u a n t t o t h e a s s e s s m e n t o f c o u r t c o s t s

,

“ h i s p r i s o n T r u s t F u n d c o u l d o r w o u l d b e s e i z e d

. ” H o w e v e r

, t h e t r i a l c o u r t h a s n o d u t y t o

a d m o n i s h t h e d e f

e n d a n t t h a t c o u r t c o s t s m a y b e a s s e s s e d

. F u r t h e r m o r e

, t h e a p p l i c a n t d o e s 6

2

See T E X

. C O D E C R I M

. P R O C

. art. 26.05(g ); In re Daniel

, 396 S.W .3d 545 (Tex. Crim. App.

2013).

3

See T E X

. C O D E C R I M

. P R O C

. arts. 42.15, 42.16; id. ch. 102; Johnson v. State

, 423 S.W .3d

385 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014).

4

Ex parte K

n i g h t

, 4 0 1 S.W .3d 60, 66 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (interna l quotation marks

omitted) (quoting Daniel , 396 S.W .3d at 548).

5

Id. Howeve r, the applicant is not ne cessa rily without r ecour se. We ha ve said that a claim

of the invalid assessment of attorney fee s is cog nizable by way o f an ap plication for writ of

mandamus. See Daniel

, 396 S.W .3d at 548-49 (“[Q]uestions of the validity of order s enter ed under

the authority

of [Article 26.05(g )], we have held, constitute ‘cr iminal law matters’ for purposes of

our manda mus jurisdiction under Article V , Section 5(c) , of the Te x as Constitut ion.”).

6

See T E X

. C O D E C R I M

. P R O C . art. 26.13(a ).ST. J OHN — 3

n o t m a k e a c r e d i b l e a r g u m e n t t h a t

, h a d h e k n o w n t h e m e c h a n i s m b y w h i c h t h e s e c o s t s m i g h t

b e a s s e s s e d

, h e w o u l d h a v e i n s i s t e d o n p r o c e e d i n g t o t r i a l r a t h e r t h a n e n t e r i n g a p l e a o f

g u i l t y

. T h i s c l a i m i s w i t h o u t m e r i t a n d i s d e n i e d

.

I n h i s t h i r d c l a i m

, t h e a p p l i c a n t c o m p l a i n s t h a t h i s “ F o u r t h A m e n d m e n t r i g h t w a s

v i o l a t e d w h e n h i s p r i s o n t r u s t f u n d w a s u n r e a s o n a b l y s e i z e d a n d e n c u m b e r e d

. ” A s w i t h h i s

f i r s t c l a i m

, t h i s c o m p l a i n t i m p l i c a t e s n e i t h e r t h e f a c t n o r t h e l e n g t h o f t h e a p p l i c a n t ’ s

c o n f i n e m e n t

. T h e a p p l i c a n t ’ s t h i r d c l a i m i s d i s m i s s e d

.

T h e i n s t a n t a p p l i c a t i o n f o r w r i t o f h a b e a s c o r p u s i s d e n i e d i n p a r t a n d d i s m i s s e d i n

p a r t

.

D E L I V E R E D : M A Y 2 1

, 2 0 1 4

D O N O T P U B L I S H