Opinion
06-21-00097-CR
05-20-2022
KARL H. HILL, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
Do Not Publish
Submitted: March 7, 2022
On Appeal from the 124th District Court Gregg County, Texas Trial Court No. 50017-B
Before Morriss, C.J., Stevens and van Cleef, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Josh R. Morriss, III Chief Justice.
After a jury found Karl H. Hill guilty of aggravated robbery, he was sentenced to thirty-two years' confinement in prison and was ordered to pay court costs. Hill appeals, maintaining that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict, (2) the trial court erroneously admitted evidence identifying Hill as a gang member, (3) the trial court erred when it assessed duplicative court costs, and (4) the trial court erred when it assessed time payment fees in the amount of $15.00. We deleted the court costs in Hill's appeal in our cause number 06-20-00096-CR. Consequently, the issue is moot in this appeal.
Hill also appeals the judgment of conviction in companion cause number 06-20-00096-CR
We addressed these issues in detail in our opinion of this date in Hill's appeal in our cause number 06-20-00096-CR. For the reasons stated therein, we modify the trial court's judgment and the bill of costs in this cause by deleting the $15.00 time payment fee. We affirm the judgment, as modified.
The bill of costs included a $15.00 time payment fee, which is incorporated in the trial court's judgment ordering Hill to pay that fee. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has concluded that a time payment fee like the one imposed here "must indeed be struck for being prematurely assessed because a defendant's appeal suspends the duty to pay court costs and therefore suspends the running of the clock for the purposes of the time payment fee." Dulin v. State, 620 S.W.3d 129, 129 (Tex. Crim. App. 2021). "As a consequence, even now, assessment of the time payment fee in this case would be premature because appellate proceedings are still pending." Id.