Court Opinion

ID: 9838118
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-05 13:08:58.628867+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:34:24.197040
License: Public Domain

Fourth Court of Appeals
                                      San Antonio, Texas
                                  MEMORANDUM OPINION

                                          No. 04-22-00691-CR

                                          The STATE of Texas,
                                               Appellant

                                                   v.

                                    Fernando ROQUIEL-TOPOF,
                                              Appellee

                      From the 49th Judicial District Court, Webb County, Texas
                                Trial Court No. 2022CVK001352D1
                             Honorable Jose A. Lopez, Judge Presiding

Opinion by:       Beth Watkins, Justice

Sitting:          Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice
                  Beth Watkins, Justice
                  Lori I. Valenzuela, Justice

Delivered and Filed: August 30, 2023

AFFIRMED

           The State appeals the trial court’s order granting Fernando Roquiel-Topof habeas relief. We

affirm.

                                             BACKGROUND

           As part of Operation Lone Star, Roquiel-Topof, a noncitizen, was arrested for trespassing

on private property in Webb County. He filed an application for writ of habeas corpus seeking

dismissal of the criminal charge based on a violation of his state and federal rights to equal

protection. Specifically, Roquiel-Topof asserted that the State of Texas was engaging in selective
                                                                                       04-22-00691-CR

prosecution because only men were being charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass. After

holding a hearing at which the State argued the claim was not cognizable, the trial court granted

his requested relief. The State appeals. We affirm.

                                            DISCUSSION

       In State v. Del Campo-Chavez, we considered a State’s appeal from a grant of habeas relief

to a male OLS defendant who sought dismissal of his misdemeanor criminal trespass charge on

equal protection grounds. ___ S.W.3d ___, No. 04-22-00737-CR, 2023 WL 4916433, at *2 (Tex.

App.—San Antonio Aug. 2, 2023, no pet. h.). Del Campo-Chavez argued the State selectively

prosecuted him on the basis of his gender. See id. The State responded that the trial court lacked

jurisdiction, Del Campo-Chavez’s equal protection claim based on gender was not cognizable, and

Del Campo-Chavez failed to carry his burden to prove the prosecution was motivated by a

discriminatory purpose. See id. (citing Ex parte Aparicio, No. 04-22-00623-CR, 2023 WL

4095939, at *1, *8–12 (Tex. App.—San Antonio June 21, 2023, pet. filed) (en banc); Ex parte

Hargett, 819 S.W.2d 866, 869 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991), superseded by statute on other grounds as

stated in Ex parte Villanueva, 252 S.W.3d 391, 397 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008)). Relying on Ex parte

Aparicio, we rejected the State’s arguments and affirmed the trial court’s order. Id. at *2, 3.

       The State’s claims in this case are identical to those we addressed in Del Campo-Chavez.

For the reasons described in that opinion, and in Ex parte Aparicio, we affirm the trial court’s order

granting habeas relief.

                                                   Beth Watkins, Justice

DO NOT PUBLISH

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