Background
Sariah Garcia appealed four judgments adjudicating her guilt, but her combined appellate brief alleged error in only two. This appeal concerned her state-jail-felony conviction for credit card or debit card abuse.
At sentencing, the trial court orally imposed six months’ confinement for each of Garcia’s two state-jail-felony cases. The written judgment in this case, however, recorded a sentence of two years in state jail. The State conceded the variance.
The Court’s Holding
The Texas Sixth Court of Appeals held that the written judgment should be modified to conform to the trial court’s oral pronouncement of sentence. It removed the two-year term and substituted six months’ confinement in state jail.
The court affirmed the judgment as modified. It addressed the arguments in Garcia’s combined brief more fully in companion appellate cause number 06-26-00018-CR.
Key Takeaways
- A written criminal judgment must accurately reflect the sentence orally pronounced by the trial court.
- The appellate court corrected Garcia’s state-jail sentence from two years to six months.
- The conviction and judgment otherwise remained affirmed.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates an appellate court’s authority to correct a written judgment when it conflicts with the sentence imposed in open court. Here, that correction materially reduced the recorded confinement term while leaving the underlying conviction intact.