Court Opinion

ID: 9767759
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:25:47.733002+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:32.720420
License: Public Domain

*360KINKEADE, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the majority’s decision to affirm the trial court’s judgment. I do not concur, however, with its analysis.
If a defendant wishes to appeal a matter that is nonjurisdictional in nature or that occurred prior to the entry of his plea, he must conform to the requirements of rule 40(b)(1) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. Jones v. State, 796 S.W.2d 183, 186 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Tex.R.App.P. 40(b)(1). In its interpretation of Jones and rule 40(b)(1), the majority holds that the trial court’s denial of the evidentiary hearing on the motion for new trial is a matter that occurred after the entry of the guilty plea. I disagree with that holding.
I believe the “matter” to which Jones refers is not the trial court’s denial of the evidentiary hearing on the motion for new trial, but rather it is the substance of that motion. See Jones, 796 S.W.2d at 186. To hold otherwise would allow a defendant to circumvent the effect of Jones. Under the majority’s opinion, a defendant who raised matters that occurred prior to the guilty plea and neglected to meet the notice requirements of rule 40(b)(1) could still obtain appellate review by merely filing a motion for new trial and raising those matters for the first time. This type of procedural maneuvering renders Jones and the notice requirements of rule 40(b)(1) meaningless.
Davis’s motion for new trial raised certain alleged errors that occurred prior to the entry of Davis’s guilty plea. My reading of Davis’s motion shows that he must have known about these complaints prior to entering his plea. Rule 40(h)(1), therefore, mandated that Davis include in his notice of appeal a statement that the trial court granted him permission to appeal on those issues that occurred prior to the guilty plea. Because Davis’s notice of appeal did not include this statement, he waived his right to appeal.