COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH
NO. 02-14-00194-CR
BRANDON WILLIAMS APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE
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FROM THE 371ST DISTRICT COURT OF TARRANT COUNTY
TRIAL COURT NO. 1327831D
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MEMORANDUM OPINION 1
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Appellant Brandon Williams appeals from his conviction for aggravated
sexual assault and 99-year sentence. In his sole point, Appellant argues that the
trial court’s jury charge at punishment violated his rights to due process and due
course of law. Because Appellant’s argument has been rejected by the court of
criminal appeals, we affirm.
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See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.
After a jury found Appellant guilty of aggravated sexual assault and heard
evidence regarding punishment, the trial court charged the jury and included the
statutory instruction regarding the possible effect of good-conduct credits on
Appellant’s sentence. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 37.07, § 4(a) (West
Supp. 2014). As required, the instruction informed the jury that it could not
“consider the extent to which good conduct time may be awarded to or forfeited
by [Appellant] . . . [or] the manner in which the parole law may be applied” to
Appellant. See id. Under the law applicable to Appellant’s conviction for
aggravated sexual assault, Appellant was not eligible for release on mandatory
supervision based on good-conduct credits. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann.
§§ 508.145(d), 508.149(a) (West Supp. 2014); Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 22.021(a)
(West Supp. 2014). Appellant argues that the inclusion of the good-conduct-time
instruction violated his constitutional rights because it did not apply to his
conviction.
Showing the highest degree of professionalism, counsel for Appellant
candidly recognizes that this issue has been firmly decided against his position.
Indeed, the court of criminal appeals has held that the instruction under article
37.07, section 4 is statutorily required to be given even if the instruction has no
effect on a defendant’s eligibility for mandatory supervision. Luquis v. State, 72
S.W.3d 355, 363 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002). The court further concluded that the
statutorily required instruction did not violate a defendant’s due-process or due-
course-of-law rights even though inapplicable. Id. at 364–68. We are bound by
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this precedent and, therefore, conclude that the trial court did not err by including
the required good-conduct-time instruction even though inapplicable to Appellant.
See Sanders v. State, 255 S.W.3d 754, 765–66 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2008,
pet. ref’d). We overrule Appellant’s point and affirm the trial court’s judgment.
See Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(a).
/s/ Lee Gabriel
LEE GABRIEL
JUSTICE
PANEL: LIVINGSTON, C.J.; MEIER and GABRIEL, JJ.
DO NOT PUBLISH
Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)
DELIVERED: December 23, 2014
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