Opinion
06-23-00249-CR
06-21-2024
PAULA DENISE DIXON HAWKINS, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
Do Not Publish
Submitted: June 20, 2024
On Appeal from the 188th District Court Gregg County, Texas Trial Court No. 53960-A
Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Jeff Rambin Justice
Paula Denise Dixon Hawkins pled guilty to felony injury to a child. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 22.04(f) (Supp.). After a bench trial on punishment, the trial court sentenced Hawkins to eight years' imprisonment and ordered her to pay $355.00 in court costs.
In companion cause numbers 06-23-00250-CR and 06-23-00251-CR, Hawkins appeals from two other convictions for felony injury to a child.
In her sole point of error in this appeal, Hawkins argues that the trial court's sentence is grossly disproportionate to her offense and constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The State argues that this issue is unpreserved, and we agree.
An objection based on cruel and unusual grounds can be lodged in the trial court immediately after pronouncement of sentence. See Hallmark v. State, 541 S.W.3d 167, 169 (Tex. Crim. App. 2017). "A party is not excused from the procedural requirements for objecting at trial merely because an error involves a constitutional right." Jimenez v. State, 32 S.W.3d 233, 235 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000). "To preserve for appellate review a complaint that a sentence is grossly disproportionate, constituting cruel and unusual punishment, a defendant must present to the trial court a timely request, objection, or motion stating the specific grounds for the ruling desired." Davis v. State, 614 S.W.3d 223, 232 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2020, no pet.) (quoting Navarro v. State, 588 S.W.3d 689, 690 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2019, no pet.)); see Jackson v. State, 989 S.W.2d 842, 844 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 1999, no pet.).
In 1995, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that an objection in the trial court is required to preserve an Eighth Amendment claim. Curry v. State, 910 S.W.2d 490, 497 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995) ("The appellant never objected at trial concerning cruel and unusual punishment."). The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals re-affirmed this principle as recently as 2017: "failure to preserve [an] Eight[h] Amendment claim at trial forfeits the claim for appellate review." Ex parte Scott, 541 S.W.3d 104, 118 n.14 (Tex. Crim. App. 2017) (orig. proceeding) (citing Curry, 910 S.W.2d at 497).
A review of the record shows that Hawkins lodged no complaint about her sentence, including constitutionality or disproportionality, at trial. Also, she filed no motion for new trial raising this issue. Because she did not present it to the trial court, we find Hawkins's sole point of error unpreserved for our review.
We affirm the trial court's judgment.