Christopher West Lopez v. the State of Texas

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN NO. 03-23-00380-CR NO. 03-23-00381-CR Christopher West Lopez, Appellant v. The State of Texas, Appellee FROM THE 427TH DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY NOS. D-1-DC-15-205012 & D-1-DC-15-100158, THE HONORABLE TAMARA NEEDLES, JUDGE PRESIDING M E M O RAN D U M O PI N I O N Appellant Christopher West Lopez challenges the adjudications of guilt and his sentences in two criminal cases for the felony offenses of first-degree aggravated kidnapping and second-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. See Tex. Penal Code §§ 20.04, 22.02. We affirm the trial court’s judgments adjudicating guilt. BACKGROUND Lopez was charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault family violence, endangering a child, and evading arrest. See id. §§ 20.04, 22.02, .041, 38.04. Consistent with a plea-bargain agreement, the trial court, in mid-2016, accepted Lopez’s guilty pleas, deferred the adjudication of guilt for the aggravated-kidnapping and aggravated-assault offenses, placed him on deferred-adjudication community supervision for ten years for those offenses, and sentenced him to eighteen months in a state jail for the endangering offense, taking into consideration the evading arrest offense. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 42A.101; Tex. Penal Code §§ 12.35, 12.45. Subsequently, the State filed motions to adjudicate Lopez’s guilt alleging violations of the terms of his deferred-adjudication community supervision, including: that he “[f]ailed to report to the Supervision Officer on October 9, 2020, October 23, 2020, November 4, 2020, December 29, 2020, and each month thereafter,” and that he had committed multiple criminal offenses. Lopez filed an application for writ of habeas corpus challenging the voluntariness of his guilty pleas. Following a hearing, the trial court denied Lopez’s writ application. 1 Lopez moved for a stay of the adjudication proceedings pending appellate review of the denial of his requested habeas relief. The trial court denied the stay and the adjudication hearing proceeded. The State called Probation Officer Samantha Berry. She testified that she had never met with Lopez, but that she was familiar with his probation file and helped prepare the amended motion to revoke after getting the case reassigned to her from a previous probation officer. She testified that she attempted to set up a meeting with Lopez in December 2020 by sending a letter, which was returned to sender, and through an automated text. She was not able to meet with him and sent his file to the “absconder unit.” She testified that Lopez had missed three scheduled meetings prior to her taking over the case. Berry testified that the last time Lopez checked in with the department was July 9, 2020, and was by phone. The previous probation officer assigned to Lopez’s case sent “failure to 1 Lopez appealed the trial court’s order denying his requested habeas relief, and we affirmed the trial court’s order. Ex parte Lopez, No. 03-23-00272-CR, 2023 WL 8262832, at *1 (Tex. App.—Austin Nov. 30, 2023, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication). 2 report letters,” spoke with Lopez’s family members, and helped file a motion to revoke in October 2020. According to letters returned to the department, Lopez was no longer residing at the address that was on file with the department. Lopez’s phone number on file with the department had been disconnected. Berry testified that Lopez had been “consistently” reporting since July 2016, when he was placed on deferred adjudication community supervision. Lopez had successfully completed a 36-week Batterer’s Intervention Program and outpatient counseling, and all of his drug screens except one had been negative. She was not sure if he had completed his community service but testified that due to “the Covid shutdown” the department had been waiving that requirement. She testified that Lopez’s “pattern of absconding started” around the same time that the department received calls from unspecified individuals notifying the department that Lopez was expressing that he was getting frustrated about continuing community supervision because he believed he was going to jail. On cross-examination, Berry was asked if there was anything in the record about the department being informed about Lopez suffering from “a carbon monoxide poisoning” around April 2020 that could have explained his failure to report. Berry explained that th