Opinion
NO. PD-0246-19
05-12-2021
DEVLON DEAQUEL JOHNSON, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS
ON STATE'S AND APPELLANT'S PETITIONS FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW FROM THE FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS BELL COUNTY
Per curiam. YEARY, J., filed a dissenting opinion in which SLAUGHTER, J., joined. OPINION
Appellant was convicted of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to 18 months in a state jail. In the bill of costs, the trial court assessed Appellant a $25 time payment fee. See TEX. LOCAL GOV'T CODE § 133.103. On appeal, the Court of Appeals struck a portion of that fee as being unconstitutional. Johnson v. State, 573 S.W.3d 328 (Tex. App. - Houston [14th Dist.] 2019).
The State has filed a petition for discretionary review arguing that the time payment fee was prematurely assessed. We recently handed down our opinion in Dulin v. State, Nos. PD-0856-19 & PD-0857-19, 2021 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 273 (Tex. Crim. App. Mar. 31, 2021), in which we held that the time payment fee was assessed prematurely because the pendency of appeal suspends the obligation to pay court costs.
Accordingly, we grant ground one of the State's petition for discretionary review, vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and remand this case to the Court of Appeals for proceedings consistent with this opinion. The State's other grounds are refused. Appellant's petition is also refused. DATE DELIVERED: May 12, 2021 DO NOT PUBLISH