Opinion ID: 39680
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Robert Franklin Caldwell

Text: Robert Franklin Caldwell was indicted for the felony offense of aggravated assault. He pleaded guilty to the charges, and on June 17, 1998, the state trial court placed Caldwell on ten years of deferred adjudication probation. An order of deferred adjudication, by definition, defers an adjudication of guilt or innocence. Pursuant to the order of deferred adjudication, Caldwell was placed on probation for a period of ten years. Caldwell did not seek direct review of the deferred adjudication order. Caldwell subsequently violated the terms of his probation, and on April 28, 2000, the state trial court revoked his probation. Pursuant to his earlier guilty plea, the state trial court issued a judgment finding Caldwell guilty of aggravated assault. Caldwell was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. He timely appealed to the court of appeals, which dismissed the portion of his appeal regarding the state trial court’s judgment to proceed with adjudication for lack of jurisdiction. The court 3 of appeals affirmed the remainder of the judgment, issuing a mandate in November of 2001.3 Caldwell filed his second4 state application for habeas corpus relief challenging his conviction in February 2002. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied habeas relief without written order. On September 5, 2002, Caldwell filed a petition for federal habeas relief. The magistrate judge found that AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations had began to run on July 17, 1998, thirty days after the trial judge entered the order of deferred adjudication community supervision, and expired on July 17, 1999. The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation and dismissed Caldwell’s petition as untimely. Caldwell timely filed a notice of appeal. The district court granted Caldwell a certificate of appealability to this court on whether the district court erred in determining that all issues relating to Caldwell’s guilty plea and the deferred 3 A decision becomes final thirty days from the date the judgment is issued, where thirty days is the period for filing a petition for discretionary review in state court. “[T]he issuance of the mandate by the state court of appeals is of no consequence for the purposes of § 2244(d)(1)(A).” Roberts v. Cockrell, 319 F.3d 690, 694-95 (5th Cir. 2003). 4 Caldwell filed his first state application for habeas corpus relief on June 22, 2000. On August 16, 2000, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed his first habeas application due to the fact that his direct appeal was still pending. This state application would have tolled the one-year statute of limitations period had it been filed prior to its expiration. 4 adjudication community supervision became final thirty days after the order was imposed, rather than thirty days after the formal adjudication of guilt.