Daniel Clayton Stogner v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals, Thirteenth District, affirmed Daniel Clayton Stogner’s conviction for possession of four or more but less than 200 grams of methamphetamine and his five-year prison sentence. The court held that the evidence was legally sufficient to establish knowing possession and rejected challenges to the assessment of court costs and a fine against an indigent defendant, including claims concerning the absence of a separate hearing.

Holdings

1. The evidence was legally sufficient for a rational juror to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Stogner knowingly or intentionally possessed at least four grams of methamphetamine.
2. The trial court did not err by assessing $290 in mandatory court costs against Stogner, despite his indigency, with payment ordered upon release from confinement.
3. The trial court did not err by leaving intact the $2,500 fine imposed on Stogner despite his indigency.
4. Stogner forfeited any right to an on-the-record ability-to-pay inquiry by failing to request one or object to its absence in the trial court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether legally sufficient evidence supported Stogner's conviction for knowingly possessing four grams or more but less than 200 grams of methamphetamine.
2. Whether the trial court could assess mandatory court costs against Stogner despite his indigency.
3. Whether the trial court could impose the $2,500 fine despite Stogner's indigency.
4. Whether the assessment of court costs and the fine was invalid because the trial court did not conduct an on-the-record ability-to-pay hearing.
5. Whether Stogner preserved his challenge to the absence of an ability-to-pay inquiry.

Disposition

affirmed