Summary
The Fourth Court of Appeals of San Antonio dismissed Endee Raejean Stell’s appeal from a plea-bargained criminal conviction. The court held that the trial court’s certification accurately stated that Stell had no right to appeal because the sentence did not exceed the agreed recommendation, and no amended certification granting a right to appeal was filed.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the court of appeals had jurisdiction to consider an appeal from a plea-bargain case when the trial court certified that the defendant had no right to appeal and had waived that right.
- Whether the appeal should be dismissed when the record contained no amended certification establishing a right to appeal or any trial-court permission to appeal.
Holdings
- Because the written plea agreement established that the punishment assessed did not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by Stell, the trial court's certification accurately identified the case as a plea-bargain case in which Stell had no right to appeal and had waived that right.
- The appeal was dismissed because no amended trial-court certification showing Stell had a right to appeal was filed after notice and the record did not contain permission to appeal.
Factual background
Stell entered a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to theft of property valued at less than $2,500 with two or more previous convictions, a state jail felony. He also pleaded true to the State's enhancement paragraphs, and the trial court assessed punishment within the range elevated to a third-degree felony: four years' confinement, probated for four years, and a $1,500 fine. The written plea agreement showed that the punishment did not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by Stell.
Procedural history
Stell pleaded guilty to theft of property valued at less than $2,500 with two or more prior convictions and pleaded true to enhancement paragraphs. The trial court sentenced him to four years' confinement, probated for four years, and a $1,500 fine. The trial court certified that the case was a plea-bargain case in which Stell had no right to appeal and had waived that right. Although Stell filed a notice of appeal asserting that the trial court had granted permission to appeal, the clerk's record contained no such permission. After the appellate court gave notice that the appeal would be dismissed absent an amended certification establishing a right to appeal, no amended certification was filed.