No s

. 06

- 15

- 00138

- CR; 06

- 15

- 00139

- CR

In the

Sixth Court of Appeals

at Texarkana, Texas

_______________________

Adeli Medina Carranza

, Appellant,

v.

The State of Texas,

Appellee.

_______________________________ On Appeal from the

6 th District Court of Lamar County

Hon. William Harris, Presiding

_______________________________ A PPELLANT ’ S B RIEF

( IN ACCORDANCE WITH A NDERS V

. C ALIRFORNIA )

D ON B IARD

S TATE B AR N O

. 24047755

COUNSEL FOR APPELLAN T

ORAL ARGUMENT NOT RE QUESTED ACCEPTED

06-15-00138-CR

SIXTH COURT OF APPEALS

TEXARKANA, TEXAS

12/14/2015 3:33:49 PM

DEBBIE AUTREY

CLERK1 P REAMBLE

I have submitted this brief in accordance with Anders v. California , 386 U.S. 738

(1967) and High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807 (Tex. Crim. App. 1978)

. After having

carefully examined this record and after having researched the relevant issues and

case law, I have concluded that this appeal presents only legally frivolous issues.

Therefore, I request the Court’s permission to withdraw as attorney of record and

to all ow Appellant, Adeli Medina Carranza, to file any further briefs he deems

necessary.2 I DENTITY OF P ARTIES AND C OUNSEL

Defendant Below

Appellant in this Court

Adeli Medina Carranza

Counsel for Appellant:

Don Biard (on appeal)

State Bar No. 24047755

38 First Northwest

Paris, Texas 75460

Tel: (903)785

- 1606

Fax: (903)785

- 7580

David C. Turner, Jr. (at trial)

State Bar No. 20337000

1116 Lamar Avenue

Paris, Texas 75460

Tel: (903)785

- 8511

Fax: (903)785

- 8513

Appellee in this Court

The State of Texas

Counsel for Appellee:

Lamar County District and County Atto rney’s Office

119 N. Main Street

Paris, Texas 75460

Tel: (903)737

- 2458

Fax: (903)737

- 24553 T ABLE OF C ONTENTS

Preamble..............

.......... ............................................................................................1

Identity of Parties a nd Counsel

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ............ .............................2

Table of Cont ents.....................

... ... ... ... ... .. .............................................3

Index of Author ities................................................

.. ..............................4

Statement of the Case....................................................... .......................5

Issues Presented................................

.................. .............. ..................... 5

Procedural Hi s tory..........................

.............................. ...................... .6

- 7

Facts......

................................................. ....................................... 8

- 9

Argument and Authori ties..........................................

... .. ..... .............. 10

- 15

Prayer.................................................

............... ..............................16

Certificate of Se r vice................................................

... ... ... .. .................17

Certificate of Compliance with TRAP 9.4(i)(3)................................

.......... ............184 I NDEX OF A UTHORITIES

Caselaw

Anders v. California

, 386 U.S. 738 (1967)..................

........ ......... ... . ...... 1, 16

High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807 (Tex. Crim. App. 1978)...............

.. ...... ... .. .. 1, 16

Statutes

Tex. Pen. Code §12.42

............................... ......... ...................................................... . 6

Tex. Pen. Code §46.04

.............................. .......................... .................. .. 6

Tex. Health & Safety Code § 481.115

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6

Tex. Health & Safety Code § 481.13 4

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6

Tex. Govt. Code §25.0003...........................

.................. .......... .............................. ..10

Tex. Govt. Code §25.1412...................................................

........ . ........................ . ..13

Rules of Procedure

Tex. Code Crim. Pr o. Art. 26.13..............................

............... ... ... ... . ...115 S TATEMENT OF THE C ASE

Nature of the Case: Guilty plea to one charge of Possession of a

Controlled Substance in a Drug Free Z one and one

charge of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a

Felon

Trial Court: The Honorable William Harris

6 th District Court, Lamar County, Texas

Trial Court Disposition: The trial court accepted Appelant’s guilty plea,

found Appellant guilty of the charged offense s,

and sentenced Appellant to 18 years’

imprisonment.

I SS UE S P RESENTED

M y review of the record reveals no issues which can be advanced in good faith.

Any arguable points that could exist would arise from Appellant’s guilty plea

and/or his subsequent sentencing. Thus, the questions raised in this Anders appeal

are:

I. Whether the trial court erred in denying Appellant ’ s request for new trial

counsel?

I I

. Whether the trial court reversibly erred at Appellant’s guilty plea?

II I

. Whether the trial court reversibly erred at Appellant’s sentencing?6 P ROCEDURAL H ISTORY 1

On February 12, 2015 , a grand j ury indicted Appellant for u nlawful

p ossession of a f

irearm by a f

elon, a third degree felony in violation of Texas Penal

Code §46.04

. 2 On A pril 5, 2015, a grand jury indicted Appellant for P ossession of

Methamphet amine in an amount more than one gram but les s than four grams

within 1000 feet of a school

, also a third degree felony in violation of Texas Health

and Safety Code § 481.115 and § 481.134

. 3 Appellant was also alleged to have been

a repeat offender under the provisions of Texas Penal Code 12. 42(b). 4

On June 19, 2015 , Appellant plead guilty to the ch arged offense s an d pled

true to the drug free zone finding

. 5 The plea of guilty was made pursuant to a plea

bargain in which the defendant would have the trial judge assess punishment

.

There was no cap placed on the pe rmitted punishment

. 6 On July 8, 2015 , a

sentencing hearing was hel d and the court sentenced Appellant to 10 years ’

imprisonment on the unlawful possession of a firearm charge and 18 years ’

1 All references to the record on appeal are made in the following manner : CR, pg.# and RR,

pg.#. CR designates the Clerk’s Record and RR designates the Reporter’s Record , followed by

the particular page in that record. CR, V o l. 1, designates the Clerk ’ s Record in Cause No.

26122. CR, Vol. 2, designates the Clerk ’ s Reco rd in Cause No. 26186.

2 CR, Vol. 1, pg. 7

3 CR, Vol. 2, pg. 11

4 CR, Vol. 2, pg. 14

5 RR, Vol. 2 , pg. 28, 34

6 CR, Vol. 1, pg. 457

imprisonment on the possession of methamphetamine charge. The s entences were

ordered to run concurrently

. 7 Appellant timely filed notice of appeal. 8

7 RR, Vol. 3, pg. 116

8 CR, Vol. 1, pg. 698 F ACTUAL B ACKGROUN D

I n January 2015, Leigh Foreman, a detective with the Paris Police

Depar tment, received information that someone was selling drugs from a room at a

local hotel

. That hotel is located near a daycare and prescho ol as well as an

elementary school. 9

On January 19, 2015, Detective Foreman and another detective went to the

hotel to investigate. 10 Detective Foreman knocked on the door of the one rooms at

the hotel and found Appellan t inside. 11 Detective Foreman testified he noticed the

odor of marijuana coming from inside the room. 12

Detective Foreman talked to Appellant in the doorway of the room. At some

point, they became engaged in a struggle. 13 During the struggle, Foreman noticed

Appellant kept reaching towards a trash can with his right hand. 14 Foreman

ev entually subdued Appellant.

A search of Appellant ’ s room uncovered two handguns

– a .38 caliber

revolver in a trash can by the door and a .380 semi

- automatic handgun in the

9 RR, Vol. 3. P g. 9

- 10

10 RR, Vol. 3, pg. 9

11 RR, Vol. 3, pg. 13

12 RR, Vol. 3, pg. 13

13 RR, Vol. 3, pg. 14

14 RR, Vol. 3, pg. 159

opposite corner of the room. 15 The detectives al so found 1.36 grams of

methamph etamine in the room. 16

15 RR, Vol. 3, pg. 18

16 RR, Vol. 3, pg. 2210 S UMMARY OF THE A RGUMENT

Appellate counsel has reviewed the record thoroughly and has failed to

identify any legally non

- frivolous issues. The only areas in which arguabl e issues

could arise would be: (1) the trial court ’ s denial of Appellant ’ s request for new

trial counsel; (2) the guilty plea; and (3 ) the sentencing.

The record does not show that the tr ial court erred in failing to appoint

Appellant new trial counsel. The record shows the t rial court substantially

complied with Tex. Code Crim. Pro. Art. 27.13 and Art. 26.13 when accepting

Appellant ’s plea. The trial court also issued a sentence within the permissible

range of punishment , and within the parameters of Appellants ’s plea bargain, when

it sentenced Appellant to 18 years’ imprisonment.11 A RGUMENT

I. Whether the trial court reversibly erred in failing to appoint Appellant a

different attorney?

Analysis

Prior to entering his plea, Appellant asked the trial court to appoint him new

trial counsel. 17 The trial court denied this request.

The record contains insufficient evidence to make a good faith argument that

Appellant ’ s appointed trial counsel was ineffective or that the trial court erred in

failing to appoint Appellant new trial counsel. 18

17 RR, Vol. 2, pg. 5

18 RR, Vol. 2, pgs. 5

- 1112

I I

. Whether the trial court reve rsibly erred in accepting Appellants ’s guilty

plea?

Analysis

Appellate counsel has reviewed the record in detail and has identified no

action or inaction on the trial court’s part that suggests harmful error during the

plea admonishments. Nor has counsel identified any aspect of the plea hearing that

would suggest Appellant ’s plea was involuntar y. In fact, the record shows that

both the trial judge and Appellant ’ s trial counsel spent considerable time on the

record informing Appellant about the effect of a guilty plea

. 19 The trial court

fulfilled all of the requirements of Arti cle 26.13 of the Code of Criminal Pro cedure

when accepting A ppellant ’ s plea. These admonishments were given orally by the

judge. 20 In addition, these admonishments were made in writing and signed by

Appellant and his attorney. 21

This Court’s review of the plea hearing will confirm that the trial court

properly inquired into the necessary releva nt areas before accepting Appellant ’s

plea. If the trial court omitted some necessary admo nishments or inquiries, those

o mis s ions were harmless.

19 RR, Vol. 3, pgs. 11

- 23

20 RR, Vol. 3, pgs. 26

- 37

21 CR, Vol 1, pgs. 45

- 56; CR, Vol. 2, pgs. 27

- 38 ; also see Tex. Code Crim. Pro. Art. 26.13(d)13

If a trial court fails to substantially comply with Article 26.13, a harm

analysis is conducted under Tex. R. App. Pro. 44.2(b) . Under that analysis, any

error that does not affect the substantial rights of the accused must be disregarded.

Viewed against the backdrop o f its more

- than

- substantial compliance with Article

26.13, the trial court’s actions to do not give rise to any non

- frivolous appellate

challenge.14

II I . Whether the trial court reversibly erred at Appellant ’s sentencing?

Analysis

a. Jurisdiction of the Trial Court

Appellant ’s case was assigned to the 6 th District Court. However, his guilty

plea and sentencing hearing were heard by Judge William Harris, presiding judge

of the Lamar County Court at Law.

B y statute

, the judge of the Lam ar County Court at Law has jurisdiction to

accept guilty pleas in all felony cases. 22 Further, the judge o f the Lamar County

Court at Law may exchange benches with a judge of a district court and act in any

manner pending before the district court. 23

b. Disproportionate Sentence

A ppellant was sentenced to serve 18 year s ’ in prison on the possession of

methamphetamine charge and 10 years ’ in prison on the unlawful possession of a

firearm charge. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

Appellant faced a minimum sentence of 7 years ’ imprisonment and a

maximum sentence of 20 years ’ imprisonm ent for the drug charge and 10 year s ’

imprisonment for the firearm charge. This amounted to an effective maximum

sentence of 30 years ’ imprisonment if the maximum punishment had been assessed

on each charge and the sentences had be en ordered to run consecutively.

22 Tex. Govt. Code §25.1412(a)(1)(C)

23 Tex. Govt. Code §25.1412(n)15

The trial court ’ s sentence of 18 year ’ s imprisonment fell roughly halfway

between the minimum and maximum possible sentences. There is no evidence that

this sentence exceeds those given for similar crimes in this jurisdiction. Further,

there were several aggravating factors for the trial cour t to consider including

Appellant ’ s criminal history, Appellant ’ s struggle with a police officer during the

arrest

, and Appellant ’ s perceived lack of candor during his testimony. 24

Considering all of the above, counsel for Appellant is unable to make a good

faith argument that Appellant ’ s sentence was excessive on a constitutional

dimension.

24 RR, Vol. 4, pg. 114 ; RR, Exhibits 8

- 1116 PRAYER

In accordance with Anders v. California and High v. State , I have examined

the record for issues which might reasonably support an appeal. In my opinion,

there are none. Consequently, I respectfully move to withdraw from this case in

accordance with Anders and High and ask the Court to rule on this appeal

acco rdingly.

Respectfully Submitted,

/s/ Don Biard_________________

Don Biard

State Bar No. 24047755

McLaughlin, Hutchison & Biard, LLP

38 First Northwest

Paris, Texas 75460

Tel: (903)785

- 1606

Fax: (903)785

- 7580

Counsel for Appellant17 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that on December 14, 2015 a copy of the foregoing Appellant’s Brief was

served to the following parties by the method indicated below.

/s/ Don Biard //

Don Biard

Via Email and Hand Delivery

Hon. Gary Young

Lamar County District Attorney’s Office

119 N. Main Street

Paris, Texas 75460

Tel: (903)737

- 2458

Fax: (903)737

- 2455

Via Certified Mail RRR

Adeli Medina Carrana #02012148

Hutchins Unit

1500 E. Langdon Rd.

Dallas, TX 7524118

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE PURSUANT TO TEXAS RULE OF

APPELLATE PROCEDURE 9.4(i)(3)

___________________ _______________________________________________

TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:

Pursuant to Rule 9.4(i)(3) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure,

Counsel for Appellant files this certification that Appellant’s brief is a computer

generated document that contains 1,980 words. Counsel further certifies that he

relied on the word count of the computer program used to prepare this document.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Don Biard //

Don Biard

State Bar No. 24047755

McLaughlin, Hutchison & Biard

38 First Northwest

Paris, Texas 75460

Tel: (903)785

- 1606

Fax: (903)785

- 7580

Attorney for Appellant