Appeal results in published opinion

One of my recent appeals has resulted in the Third Court of Appeals siding with my arguments, and agreeing to publish the case. The case is Christopher Daniel Burke v. The State of Texas, Cause Number 03-08-0035-CR. The opinion is dated August 14, 2008.

The issue was whether a trial court could order a defendant to pay court appointed attorney fees in an amount to be determined at a later date (presumably when the attorney got around to submitting a bill). The Third Court agreed with my argument that the trial court cannot fail to set an amount. The Court held that the amount does not have to be stated in front of the defendant while he is standing there in court at his or her sentencing hearing, but it does have to set the amount at some point before the judgment becomes final.

The result of this earth-shattering opinion is that the court can file a judgment nunc pro tunc to correct the amount of court appointed attorneys fees owed by a defendant, so long as it does so before the judgment becomes final.

HTML version here. PDF version here.

Prosecutor’s comments on defendant’s courtroom conduct

Commenting on the in-courtroom demeanor of a non-testifying defendant is an impermissible comment on material not in evidence. Sledge v. State, 2004 WL 438958 (Tex. App.–-Austin 2004).