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Date: 04-21-2019
Case Style:
Jenna Elise Walton v. The State of Texas
Case Number: 10-18-00212-CR
Judge: REX D. DAVIS
Court: TENTH COURT OF APPEALS
Plaintiff's Attorney: Sterling A. Harmon
Gabriel Price
Barry N. Johnson
Defendant's Attorney: W. Cody Stapp
Description:
Appellant Jenna Elise Walton entered a plea of guilty to the offense of aggravated
perjury. The trial court placed Walton on four years’ deferred adjudication probation
and assessed a fine of $750.00. The State subsequently moved to adjudicate Walton’s guilt
after she violated the terms of her probation. Walton entered a plea of true to allegations
two through thirteen in the State’s first amended motion to adjudicate guilt, and the trial
court sentenced Walton to two years’ incarceration. The written judgment adjudicating
guilt reflects that the trial court additionally imposed a $750.00 fine. Although, as noted,
Walton v. State Page 2
the trial court included a $750.00 fine in the order of deferred adjudication, the
subsequent judgment adjudicating Walton’s guilt set aside that order. See Taylor v. State,
131 S.W.3d 497, 499-500 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004).
In one point of error, Walton asserts that the trial court erred by assessing a fine in
the written judgment because the trial court did not orally pronounce a fine as part of
Walton’s sentence after adjudicating her guilt.1 The State concedes that there was no oral
pronouncement of a fine, which our review of the record confirms.
When there is a conflict between the oral pronouncement of a sentence and the
sentence in the written judgment, the oral pronouncement controls. Taylor, 131 S.W.3d
at 500; Coffey v. State, 979 S.W.2d 326, 328 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998); Freeman v. State, 554
S.W.3d 816, 817 (Tex. App.—Waco 2018, no pet.). Because the trial court did not orally
pronounce the imposition of a fine when Walton was adjudicated guilty, the trial court
erred in including a fine in the judgment.
Outcome: Accordingly, we modify the judgment adjudicating guilt to delete the $750.00 fine.
We affirm the judgment as modified.