Xavier Mushawn Applin v. the State of Texas

Summary

The Eleventh Court of Appeals of Texas affirmed Xavier Mushawn Applin’s fifty-year sentence for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. The court held that Applin waived his cruel-and-unusual-punishment claim by failing to object in the trial court and alternatively concluded that the sentence was not grossly disproportionate under the Eighth Amendment. The court emphasized the death resulting from the robbery, Applin’s culpability, and that the sentence fell within the statutory range.

Holdings

1. Appellant failed to preserve his complaint because he did not object in the trial court at sentencing or in a posttrial motion that his sentence was cruel, unusual, excessive, or disproportionate.
2. Even assuming preservation, Appellant's fifty-year sentence was not cruel and unusual because it was within the statutory punishment range and was not grossly disproportionate to the aggravated robbery, which involved a death caused by Appellant's conduct.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Appellant preserved his Eighth Amendment challenge that his fifty-year sentence was cruel and unusual or grossly disproportionate.
2. Whether, even if preserved, Appellant's fifty-year sentence for first-degree aggravated robbery was grossly disproportionate in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Disposition

affirmed