Background
Steven Harry Croan pleaded guilty to second-degree felony theft in February 2024. The trial court deferred adjudication and placed him on community supervision for ten years. In January 2026, the State moved to adjudicate his guilt, alleging multiple violations of his supervision conditions.
At the adjudication hearing, Croan waived a hearing on the alleged violations, pleaded true, and signed a written waiver of his right to appeal. In exchange, the State recommended that the court adjudicate him guilty and impose ten years’ confinement. The trial court followed that recommendation. Croan nevertheless sought to appeal, and he did not respond when the court of appeals ordered him to explain why the appeal should not be dismissed.
The Court’s Holding
The Texas Eighth Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for want of jurisdiction. It explained that Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 25.2(a)(2), which limits appeals in plea-bargain cases, does not itself bar an appeal merely because a defendant pleads true to allegations in a motion to revoke community supervision.
Croan’s separate waiver of appeal was binding, however. He signed the waiver and pleaded true in exchange for the State’s recommendation of a ten-year sentence, and the trial court imposed that recommended sentence. Because Croan validly waived his right to appeal, Rules 25.2(d) and 43.2(f) required dismissal.
Key Takeaways
- A plea of true to community-supervision violations is not itself a plea bargain governed by Rule 25.2(a)(2)’s appeal restrictions.
- An appeal waiver is binding when the defendant gives it in exchange for a punishment recommendation that the trial court follows.
- Because Croan received the negotiated ten-year sentence and had waived appeal, the appellate court lacked jurisdiction to consider his challenge.
Why It Matters
The decision distinguishes between two routes to limiting appellate review after revocation or adjudication proceedings: Rule 25.2(a)(2) does not automatically foreclose an appeal based on a plea of true, but a negotiated and otherwise valid waiver of appeal can do so.
Defense counsel handling community-supervision proceedings should therefore treat an appeal waiver tied to a sentencing recommendation as consequential. If the trial court follows the recommendation, the defendant generally cannot obtain appellate review of the resulting judgment.