Byron Lewis v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Seventh District Court of Appeals of Texas affirmed Byron Lewis’s concurrent eight-year sentences for two convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The court held that Lewis failed to preserve his gross-disproportionality claim because he did not present his motion for new trial to the trial court or object at sentencing. The court also concluded that, even if preserved, the sentences were not grossly disproportionate in light of the offenses and Lewis’s criminal history.

Holdings

1. A defendant does not preserve a sentencing-constitutional challenge merely by filing a motion for new trial; the defendant must bring the motion to the trial court's attention, or must object when sentence is pronounced. Because Lewis did neither, his issue was not preserved for appellate review.
2. Even if Lewis had preserved the claim, the record did not show that his concurrent eight-year sentences were grossly disproportionate to the aggravated-assault offenses.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Lewis preserved his claim that his concurrent eight-year sentences constituted grossly disproportionate and cruel and unusual punishment.
2. Whether, if preserved, the concurrent eight-year sentences were grossly disproportionate to the aggravated-assault offenses in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Disposition

affirmed