IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
OF TEXAS
NO. PD-0169-22
SHOLUNDA KEAIRRA FRANKLIN, Appellee
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS
ON STATE’S PETITION
FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW
FROM THE TYLER COURT OF APPEALS
GREGG COUNTY
Per curiam.
OPINION
Appellee was charged by indictment with two counts of forgery. Each count
alleged that she made a writing that purported to be a one-hundred dollar bill, each with a
different serial number. Appellee moved to quash the indictment, arguing that it failed to
SHOLUNDA KEAIRRA FRANKLIN – 2
provide adequate notice and allege felony offenses because (1) the value of the property
obtained by the actor determines the level of offense for forgery under Texas Penal Code
§ 32.21(e-1) and, even so, (2) the aggregate two hundred dollar amount alleged in the
indictment falls below the property value set forth in Section 32.21(e-1) for a felony
conviction. TEX. PENAL CODE § 32.21(e-1). The trial court granted the motion to quash
and dismissed the indictment. The State appealed.
On appeal, the State argued that section 32.21(e-1) is a discretionary provision
which the State did not elect to invoke and, alternatively, because the indictment on its
face alleged complete felony offenses, there was no way for the trial court to determine
whether the case involved facts which would trigger section 32.21(e-1) without
impermissibly looking beyond the face of the indictment. The Tyler Court of Appeals
adopted and followed the holding and analysis in State v. Green, 613 S.W.3d 571 (Tex.
App.–Texarkana 2020), in which the Texarkana Court upheld a trial court’s order
quashing an indictment in similar circumstances. State v. Franklin, No. 12-21-00001-CR
(Tex. App.–Tyler March 9, 2022)(not designated for publication). The State filed a
petition for discretionary review, noting that this Court had granted the State’s petition for
discretionary review in Green to consider whether the value ladder in section 32.21(e-1)
is mandatory and whether a defendant’s non-statutory purpose for committing forgery is
an element of the offense under section 32.21(e), that had to be pled and proved at trial
under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). The State sought discretionary
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review in the instant case on the same grounds.
The Court has now issued an opinion in Green, which was ultimately consolidated
with another case from the Texarkana Court raising identical issues. Green & Lennox,
PD-1182-20 & PD-1213-20 slip op. (Tex. Crim. App. Jan. 17, 2024). The court of
appeals did not have the benefit of our opinion in Green & Lennox when it adopted and
followed the Texarkana Court’s opinion in Green. We grant the State’s petition, vacate
the judgment of the court of appeals, and remand this cause to the court of appeals for
further proceedings consistent with our opinion in Green & Lennox.
DELIVERED: February 28, 2024
DO NOT PUBLISH