Background
The Brazos County District Attorney’s Office, acting for the State of Texas, appealed a district-court judgment granting D.A.P. an expunction.
During the appeal, the parties reached an agreement. In exchange for the district attorney’s office ending its prosecution of the appeal, D.A.P. waived any right or privilege to expunction of that office’s records and files concerning his September 17, 1994 arrest for aggravated assault. The parties jointly asked the appellate court to modify the judgment accordingly and affirm it as modified.
The Court’s Holding
The Texas Tenth Court of Appeals granted the parties’ motion under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 42.1(a)(2)(A) and rendered judgment effectuating their agreement.
The court modified the trial court’s judgment to provide that the Brazos County District Attorney’s Office may retain its records and files related to D.A.P.’s September 17, 1994 aggravated-assault arrest. It affirmed the expunction judgment as modified.
Key Takeaways
- The appellate court approved the parties’ agreed resolution of the State’s challenge to the expunction judgment.
- The district attorney’s office may retain its records and files concerning the specified 1994 arrest.
- The remainder of the trial court’s expunction judgment was affirmed as modified.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates how parties may resolve an expunction appeal through an agreed appellate judgment that preserves a particular agency’s records while leaving the balance of the expunction judgment intact.