Court Opinion

ID: 9768089
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:42:01.192073+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:36.554468
License: Public Domain

DOUGLAS, Judge
(dissenting).
The State’s motion for rehearing has been overruled without written opinion.
In the opinion on original submission the judgment was reversed on the ground that appellant was denied the right to a speedy trial. The State’s contention is that there is no showing that appellant was prejudiced by the delay. The prior opinion should be withdrawn and the judgment should be affirmed.
The original opinion concluded that appellant was deprived of the possibility of receiving a sentence at least partially concurrent with his federal sentence while more than two years of that sentence passed by. That conclusion was in error.
The original opinion in this cause should be reconsidered in light of our holding in Ex parte Jasper and Broussard, 538 S.W.2d 782 (Tex.Cr.App.1976). That case involved a post conviction habeas corpus proceeding wherein petitioners alleged that the State refused to comply with a plea bargaining agreement. Both petitioners had entered guilty pleas to three indictments charging them with robbery by firearms, as co-defendants, and were each assessed three fifteen year concurrent prison sentences on September 9, 1974. Both petitioners were promised credit for time spent in jail in Louisiana toward the discharge of their Texas sentences as a part of the plea bargaining negotiations. We held that petitioners were entitled to such credit as a matter of due process of law.
We further held that petitioners were entitled to this jail time credit under the mandatory provisions of Article 42.03, Section 2, V.A.C.C.P., effective August 27, 1973. That section reads as follows:
“Sec. 2. In all criminal cases the judge of the court in which the defendant was convicted shall give the defendant credit on his sentence for the time that the defendant has spent in jail in said cause, from the time of his arrest and confinement until his sentence by the trial court.”
The State of Texas placed a detainer on petitioners for the robbery cases on March 19, 1970, which was prior to their convictions and commitments to the Louisiana State Penitentiary. We held that:
*140“Once the Texas detainer was filed against the petitioners in Louisiana, the petitioners were in ‘constructive custody’ of the State of Texas and therefore, since the petitioners were sentenced after the effective date of the amendment of Article 42.03, supra, the petitioners are entitled to flat time credit for the time spent in custody, even in the State of Louisiana, from March 19, 1970, until the present date.”
Likewise, we held in Ex parte Jasper and Broussard that petitioners were entitled to consideration for “good time” credits, as a matter of law, under the authority of Article 42.03, Section 4, Y.A.C.C.P., as amended on August 27, 1973. That section reads as follows:
“Sec. 4. When a defendant who has been sentenced to imprisonment in the Department of Corrections has spent time in jail pending trial and sentence or pending appeal, the judge of the sentencing court shall direct the sheriff to attach to the commitment papers a statement assessing the defendant’s conduct while in jail. On the basis of the statement, the Department of Corrections shall grant the defendant such credit for good behavior for the time spent in jail as he' would have earned had he been in the custody of the department.”
In the instant case, Article 42.03, supra, as amended, is applicable because appellant was tried on November 20, 1974, and sentenced on November 21. Thus, as a matter of law, his Texas sentence ran concurrently, in part, with his federal sentence. He is entitled to flat time credit toward the discharge of his Texas sentence from the time the detainer was placed on him, August 15, 1972, to the time that he was sentenced. He is also entitled to consideration for “good time” credits which may be awarded pursuant to the rules and regulations of the administration of the Texas Department of Corrections. The record before this Court does not reflect whether appellant maintained a good conduct record while in the federal penitentiaries (during the period of delay appellant was apparently transferred from one federal institution to another). The Texas Department of Corrections’ officials could ascertain from the officials of those institutions whatever is required to determine appellant’s conduct record. The Texas officials could then make the appropriate decisions in awarding appellant with good conduct credit, if any, based upon the records from the federal penitentiaries.
In view of the foregoing, there is no indication in the record that appellant was harmed in any manner by the trial delay. While the original opinion concluded that the detainer placed on him by the authorities of this State may have prejudiced his opportunity for clemency, pardon, parole, or trusteeship in federal prison, that conclusion had no support in the record and was, thus, merely speculative. There was no showing of just how many convictions in federal courts appellant had.
He did not subpoena a witness. He does not claim that he lost a witness or that his defense was hampered in any way.
On balance, then, the lack of harm suffered by appellant outweighs the trial delay.
The State’s motion for rehearing should be granted, and the judgment should be affirmed.