Johnson, Devlon Deaquel ( 2021 )

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
OF TEXAS
NO. PD-0246-19
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 T EX. LOCAL G OV’T C ODE § 133.103. On appeal, the Court of Appeals
JOHNSON - 2
struck a portion of that fee as being unconstitutional. Johnson v. State, 573 S.W.3d 328 (Tex.
App. – Houston [14 th 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DO NOT PUBLISH