Steven Wayne Simmons v. State ( 2018 )

AFFIRMED and Opinion Filed November 20, 2018
S In The
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
No. 05-17-00786-CR
STEVEN WAYNE SIMMONS, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 422nd Judicial District Court
Kaufman County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 16-90142-422-F
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Justices Stoddart, Whitehill, and Boatright
Opinion by Justice Whitehill
A jury found appellant Steven Wayne Simmons guilty of burglary of a habitation, a first-
degree felony. Appellant elected for the court to assess punishment, and the judge imposed a
thirty-year prison sentence. Appellant raises two issues on appeal: (i) the sentence violates the
Eighth Amendment because it is grossly disproportionate to the offense and inappropriate to the
offender and (ii) the sentence violates Texas Constitution article I, § 13, for the same reasons.
We overrule appellant’s issues because he did not preserve them in the trial court.
Error preservation is a systemic requirement on appeal, and the court of criminal appeals
has instructed us not to address the merits of unpreserved issues. See Ford v. State, 305 S.W.3d
530, 532 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009); see also TEX. R. APP. P. 33.1(a)(1). The constitutional rights
appellant invokes must be preserved in the trial court. See, e.g., Sims v. State, No. 05-16-00669-
CR, 2017 WL 2224543, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas May 22, 2017, no pet.) (mem. op., not
designated for publication); Bell v. State, 326 S.W.3d 716, 724 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2010, pet.
dism’d, untimely filed).
Appellant did not object when the trial court pronounced his sentence. Although he filed
a new trial motion, the motion raised no complaint about his sentence. Accordingly, appellant did
not preserve his issues for appellate review, and we overrule them. See Cox v. State, No. 05-17-
00522-CR, 2018 WL 1149568, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Mar. 5, 2018, no pet.) (mem. op., not
designated for publication).
We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
/Bill Whitehill/
BILL WHITEHILL
JUSTICE
Do Not Publish
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b)
170786F.U05
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S
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
JUDGMENT
STEVEN WAYNE SIMMONS, Appellant On Appeal from the 422nd Judicial District
Court, Kaufman County, Texas
No. 05-17-00786-CR V. Trial Court Cause No. 16-90142-422-F.
Opinion delivered by Justice Whitehill.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee Justices Stoddart and Boatright
participating.
Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, the judgment of the trial court is AFFIRMED.
Judgment entered November 20, 2018.
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