Opinion
NO. WR-86,111-01
09-27-2017
EX PARTE MICHAEL ALLEN CHAMBERLAIN, Applicant
ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS CAUSE NO. 5332A IN THE 100TH DISTRICT COURT FROM CARSON COUNTY
Per curiam. ORDER
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the clerk of the trial court transmitted to this Court this application for a writ of habeas corpus. Ex parte Young, 418 S.W.2d 824, 826 (Tex. Crim. App. 1967). Applicant was convicted of indecency with a child as a second-degree felony and was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. The Seventh Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction. Chamberlain v. State, No. 07-14-00011-CR (Tex. App.—Amarillo Apr. 16, 2015).
Applicant states that he was led to believe he had a plea agreement for deferred adjudication on a third-degree felony charge of indecency by exposure, which is punishable by a maximum of ten years in prison, but he was convicted upon adjudication with second-degree indecency by contact and received the maximum sentence of twenty years. The appellate court described the plea agreement as "imprecise and somewhat misleading." Applicant claims that his guilty plea was involuntary, that trial and appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance, that his plea agreement was breached, and that he has been denied due process.
Trial counsel states in an affidavit that the plea agreement was for third-degree-felony indecency-by-exposure as Applicant claims. Even so, the trial court finds that it orally admonished Applicant as to the correct second-degree felony punishment range at the plea hearing, so it recommends denying habeas relief.
We order that this application be filed and set for submission to determine whether Applicant is entitled to have the conviction set aside and be returned to answer the indictment under these circumstances. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984); Ex parte Rich, 194 S.W.3d 508 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006). The parties shall brief these issues.
The trial court shall determine whether Applicant is indigent. If Applicant is indigent and desires to be represented by counsel, the trial court shall appoint an attorney to represent Applicant. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art 26.04. The trial court shall send to this Court, within 60 days of the date of this order, a supplemental transcript containing either the order appointing counsel or a statement that Applicant is not indigent. All briefs shall be filed with this Court within 120 days of the date of this order. Delivered: September 27, 2017
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