Block, Patricia Elaine v. State ( 2004 )

Affirmed and Memorandum Opinion filed January 13, 2004

Affirmed and Memorandum Opinion filed January 13, 2004.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

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NO. 14-03-00208-CR

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PATRICIA ELAINE BLOCK, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

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On Appeal from the 351st District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 923,163

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M E M O R A N D U M   O P I N I O N

            Appellant Patricia Elaine Block pleaded guilty to the offense of injury to a child without an agreed punishment recommendation from the State.  In one issue, she contends her plea was not knowing and voluntary.  Because all dispositive issues are clearly settled in law, we issue this memorandum opinion and affirm.  See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.

Discussion

            Appellant claims her guilty plea was not knowing or voluntary because she proclaimed her innocence shortly after she entered her plea. A showing in the record that a defendant was admonished by the trial judge, as appellant was, is prima facie proof that a guilty plea was knowing and voluntary. See Ex parte Williams, 704 S.W.2d 773, 775 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986).  The burden then shifts to the defendant to show she did not understand the consequences of her plea.  Miller v. State, 879 S.W.2d 336, 338 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1994, pet ref’d).  Once an accused attests that she understands the nature of her plea and that it is voluntary, she has a heavy appellate burden to prove involuntariness.  Edwards v. State, 921 S.W.2d 477, 479 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, no pet).

            According to police and hospital records, appellant pushed her daughter off a porch causing her daughter to break her wrist.  After pleading guilty to injury to a child, appellant sent a letter to the trial court claiming that she had accidentally pushed her daughter. Appellant claimed her daughter and son were hitting her, and appellant pushed her daughter in self-defense. Although her daughter had previously told police appellant had hit and pushed her, she corroborated appellant’s version of events in the pre-sentence investigation report.

            Appellant contends her claim of innocence and the corroboration by her daughter show that her plea was involuntary.  However, protestations of innocence do not render a plea involuntary. See North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 37 (1970); Ford v. State, 1993 WL 433973, at *2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Oct. 28, 1993, no pet.) (not designated for publication).  We additionally note that even when a defendant protests her innocence, various considerations may motivate her to plead guilty.  See Mallett v. State, 65 S.W.3d 59, 64 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001). Therefore, appellant has not met her burden of proving her plea was involuntary.  Accordingly, appellant’s issue is overruled.

            We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

                                                                        /s/        Charles W. Seymore

                                                                                    Justice

Judgment rendered and Memorandum Opinion filed January 13, 2004.

Panel consists of Chief Justice Hedges and Justices Anderson and Seymore.

Do Not Publish — Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).