Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of January 10, 2019.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Harper v. State, No. 02-17-00016-CR (Jan. 10, 2019) (Kerr, J., joined by Gabriel and Birdwell, JJ.).

Held:  An “open plea” that is the product of a charge bargain is subject to article 44.02 of the code of criminal procedure and rule 25.2(a)(2) of the rules of appellate procedure. Because Appellant pleaded guilty only after reaching a charge bargain, and because the trial court did not grant him permission to appeal, we lacked jurisdiction over two of his appellate points. But as authorized by article 44.02 and rule 25.2(a)(2), we addressed Appellant’s point attacking the trial court’s pretrial order denying his written motion to dismiss based on the State’s allegedly violating his right to a speedy trial. The trial court neither abused its discretion factually nor erred legally by denying his motion.