### TEXA S C OU R T OF A PPEAL S, THIR D DIST R ICT , AT AU STIN

NO. 03-0 8 -00 675 -CV

Ant honyF ulle r , A ppe lla nt

v. The State of Texas , Appellee

F ROM THE DISTRICT CO URT OF B ELL COUNTY , 169TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT NO. 226, 310- C , HO NORAB LE GORDO N G. ADAMS , JUDGE PRESIDI NG

M E M O R

A N D U M O P I N I O N Anthony Fuller appea ls a district court order deny ing his pe tition t o expunge r ecor ds related to his arre sts on two counts of possessing c hild pornog raphy that were i n d i ct ed but ultimately d is mi s s e d
. F u ll e r s o u g h t t o e s ta

b li s h h is e n ti tl e me n t t o e xp u n c ti o na s a matt e r o f r ig ht under a rticle 55.01(a )(2) of the c ode of c ri m i n al proc edure
. See Tex. Code Crim. P roc. A nn.
art . 5 5. 01 (a )( 2) (We st 2 00 6) ; se e als o He inev . Te x as De p’ t of Pu b. Sa fe ty , 92 S.W
. 3 d 642, 648 (Tex. A p p . —

A u s ti n2 0 0 2 , p e t. d e n ie d ) ( e xp la in in g th a t i f p e ti ti o n e r

p r o v e s e a c h c o n d it io nf or
e xpun c tio n und e r a

rt ic le 55 .0 1( a )( 2) , tr ia l c ourt ha s ma nd a tor y du ty to g ra

nt that re me dy

). Th e re is
no dispute that Fuller met his burden except with re g ard to the c onditions set forth in parag raph ( A) of ar ticle 55.01(a )(2) : (A) a n indictment or information cha rg ing the person with commission of a fe lony has not bee n prese nted ag ainst the person for an offense arising out of the transa ction for w h ic hth e p e r s o nw a s ar r e s te d o r , if anin d ic tm e n t o r

in f o r mati o nc h ar g in g the2

person with commission of a fe lony was pre sented, the indictment or inf ormation has been dismissed or qua shed, and: (i) the limitations period expired befor e the date on which a petition for e x punction was filed unde r Article 55.02; or (ii) the cour

t f inds that the indictment or information wa s dismis sed or quashe d beca

use the pre sentment had b ee n made be cause of mistake, false information, or other similar re ason indicating absenc e of proba ble ca use at the time of the dismiss al t o b el ieve the pe rson committed the offe nse or be cause it was void;
See T ex . C o d e C ri m. Proc. Ann. ar t. 55.01(a)( 2)(A) . I t is undisput ed that, in district court Cause Nos. 55,192 a

nd 55,193, i n dictments were prese nted cha rg ing F uller with possession of ch il d p o r n o g r a p h y , a f e lo n y , an d th a t b o th in d ic tm e n ts w e r e d is mi s s e d o n N o v e mb e r 2 4, 2004, for the r eason that Fuller ha d been se n t en ce d i n another felony proce eding . Fuller

has conc eded that he c ann ot s a tis fy

the re qu ir e me nts in s ub pa ra g ra ph(i i) of pa ra g ra ph(A ). Ho we ve r, he a sse rt s t h at h e m et h i s burden unde r subpar ag raph ( i) to prove that the limitations periods for the alleg ed child pornog raphy

possession offense s had expired and that this suffice s to satisfy p ar agraph (A)
. The State a

rg ues that F uller could satisfy para g raph ( A) only

by proving the re quirements of subpara g raph ( ii) and that subpara g raph (i) applies onl y in case s when no indictment or infor mation char g ing a

felony offe nse is prese nted. I n T. C.R. v. Bell Co. Dist. Att orney’ s Office , N o . 0 3
- 0 8
- 0 0 6 2 7
- CV , _ __ S.W .3d ____, 20 09 Te x. Ap p. L EX I S __

__ (T e x. Ap p. —A us tin Au g . 6, 20 09 , no pe t. h .) , w e de te rm ine d th a t in
c a se s wh e re an ind ic tme nt or inf or ma tio n c ha

rg inga fe lony ha s b e e n p re se nte d in

c on ne c tio n w ith the petit i o n er ’s ar rest and later dismissed or quashe d, the petitioner c an satisfy para g raph ( A) by p ro v i n g either

the re qu ir e me nts of

su bp ara g ra ph(i ) o r ( ii) . Co ns e qu e ntl y , Ful ler is e nti tle d toAs in T.C.R. , we e x press no opinion reg arding wh ether the circ umstances of Fuller ’s 1 dis mis sa ls m ig ht i mpl ic a te oth e r c on dit ion s in art ic le 55 .0 1( a )( 2) , a s th a t que sti on is n ot b e fo re us . 3 expunction if he met his burden of pr oving that the limit ations periods for his child p o rn o gra p hy possession offense s expi red be fore his ex punction petition was filed. The State disputes whether Fuller met this burden. Howe ver, the rec ord demonstrates conc lusively that he did. The St a te a c kn o w le d g e s th a t th e s tatute o f li mi tati o n s f o r p o s s e ssion of child pornog raphy is three y ear s. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 12.01( 6) (West Supp. 2008). The district cour

t found that both indictments c harg ing Fuller with this offe nse we re dismissed on No ve mbe r 2 4, 20 04 . T he se fi nd ing s h a ve no t be e n c ha lle ng e d b y e ith e r p art

y . Al tho ug h F ull e r d id not present e vidence establishing w hen h e al l egedly committed the offe nses or e ven whe n he was indicted f

or them, the re cord r efle cts that the file- stamped date of his live expunction petiti on is J uly 25, 2008. This date is more t h an t h re e y ear s after the date F uller’s indictments for child pornog raphy

possession were dismiss ed. Thus, Fuller necessar ily filed this pleading afte r the three -y ear limit ations period for

the offe nses had e x pired. Conseque ntly , Fuller has satisfied the require ments of par ag raph ( A) a s a matter of law. As the re is n o d isp ute that F ull e r a lso satis fi e d a rt ic le 55 .0 1( a )( 2) ’s oth e r c on dit ion s, 1 the di strict court ha d a mandatory duty to gr ant his expunction petit ion, and, conse quently , abused its discretion in deny ing it. See H eine , 92 S.W .3d at 648. Acc ording ly , we r ever se the district court’s de nial of F uller’s e x punction petition and rema nd to the district court for the entry

of appropr iate orde rs expungingthe files and r ecor ds relate d to Cause Nos. 55,192 an d 55,193. See Tex. Code Crim. P roc. A nn. art. 55.02 (West Supp. 2008).4 _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______________________ Bob Pembe rton, J ustice Be fore J ustices Patterson, Pember ton and Waldrop Reverse d and Remande d Filed: August 6, 2009