Donald Quinn v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals, Second Appellate District, affirmed Donald Quinn’s conviction and 35-year sentence for failing to comply with sex-offender registration requirements. The court held that Quinn failed to preserve his Eighth Amendment gross-disproportionality challenge because he did not object at sentencing or raise the issue in a motion for new trial. The court also noted that the sentence was within the statutory punishment range.

Holdings

1. A defendant must preserve a complaint that a sentence is grossly disproportionate by objecting in the trial court when the sentence is imposed or, at the latest, raising the issue in a motion for new trial. Because Quinn did neither, his Eighth Amendment sentencing complaint was not preserved for appellate review.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Quinn preserved for appellate review his claim that his thirty-five-year sentence was grossly disproportionate to the offense and violated the Eighth Amendment.

Disposition

affirmed