Darling Francisco Cruz v. State
05-15-00368-CR
Tex. App.Jul 2, 2015Background
- Appellant Francisco Darling Cruz was indicted for aggravated robbery with a deadly-weapon (firearm) allegation; the charge arose from a November 10, 2013 incident involving Rodrigo Soto.
- The State filed a motion to reduce the charged offense to the included offense of robbery and struck the deadly-weapon allegation before plea.
- Cruz entered a guilty plea to robbery pursuant to a plea agreement reflecting no deadly-weapon finding; his judicial confession has the deadly-weapon language struck.
- At sentencing the trial court did not announce or enter an affirmative deadly-weapon finding, and the record reflects conviction for robbery without such a finding.
- Despite the plea and record, the written judgment erroneously includes a deadly-weapon finding.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the judgment should be reformed to delete an affirmative deadly-weapon finding | Cruz: Plea agreement and judicial confession struck the deadly-weapon allegation; record contains no finding, so judgment is erroneous and should be reformed. | State: (implicit) judgment should stand unless court recognizes clerical error or enforces plea terms — no record support for a weapon finding. | The judgment should be reformed to delete the deadly-weapon finding and enforce the plea agreement (remedy available under appellate rule). |
Key Cases Cited
- Drichas v. State, 175 S.W.3d 795 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (authorizing correction of judgments to reflect plea agreements and remove improper findings)
- Williams v. State, 970 S.W.2d 566 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (reviewing deletion of improper deadly-weapon findings)
- Narron v. State, 835 S.W.2d 642 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) (addressing reformation of judgments to correct weapon findings)
- Ex parte Hopson, 688 S.W.2d 545 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985) (authority on correcting clerical/judicial errors in criminal judgments)
- Turner v. State, 664 S.W.2d 86 (Tex. Crim. App. 1983) (discussing appellate power to reform judgments)
- Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257 (1971) (plea agreement enforcement: specific performance or withdrawal)
- Medina v. State, 962 S.W.2d 83 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1997) (recognizing right to seek deletion of improper deadly-weapon finding)