Guadalupe Padilla v. The State of TexasAppeal from 167th District Court of Travis County (Memorandum Opinion )

SUPREME COURT CASES

Laws-info.com » Cases » Texas » 3rd District Court of Appeals » 2013 » Guadalupe Padilla v. The State of TexasAppeal from 167th District Court of Travis County (Memorandum Opinion )

State: Texas

Court: Texas Northern District Court

Docket No: 03-12-00301-CR

Case Date: 06/20/2013

Plaintiff: Guadalupe Padilla

Defendant: The State of TexasAppeal from 167th District Court of Travis County (Memorandum Opinion )

Preview:TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-12-00299-CR NO. 03-12-00300-CR NO. 03-12-00301-CR

Guadalupe Padilla, Appellant v. The State of Texas, Appellee

FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, 167TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT NO. D-1-DC-95-952802, THE HONORABLE MICHAEL LYNCH, JUDGE PRESIDING

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Guadalupe Padilla is serving a thirty-seven-year prison sentence concurrently with a fifteen-year prison sentence imposed following his convictions for aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact. Padilla now appeals three trial court orders entered in connection with his pro se request for subsequent post-conviction forensic DNA testing under Chapter 64 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the trial court's order denying further post-conviction DNA testing and dismiss the appeals of the trial court's order denying the appointment of counsel and the trial court's order denying five ancillary motions.

BACKGROUND In October 1994, Guadalupe Padilla was on parole from a prison sentence for burglary and living in Austin with his girlfriend and her eleven-year-old daughter. See Padilla v. State, No. 03-02-00345-CR, 2003 WL 21401256, at *1 (Tex. App.--Austin June 19, 2003, pet. ref'd) (mem. op., not designated for publication). On the night of October 22, Padilla sexually assaulted the young girl while his girlfriend was at work. Id. The girl told her mother about the assault when she returned home that evening after work. Id. The mother confronted Padilla and told him she was going to call the police. Id. He fled the house that night never to return. Id. A grand jury indicted Padilla for the sexual abuse of the child on June 6, 1995. Id. Although Padilla was arrested multiple times between 1995 and 2000 for parole violations, he was not arrested on the outstanding capias for the sexual abuse charges until May 3, 2000. Id. At trial, the State presented evidence of the results of DNA testing performed on the biological evidence in the case prior to trial. This evidence, as reflected in the DPS lab report, showed that testing of the samples taken from the victim during the sexual assault exam detected no semen on the vaginal swabs. The lab report also indicated that DNA testing was done on the bed sheet from the bed where the sexual assault occurred. The test results determined that the victim was excluded as a contributor to the semen stains on the sheet. On January 30, 2002, the jury found Padilla guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact, and assessed his punishment at imprisonment for 37 and 15 years respectively. See Tex. Penal Code

Download 03-12-00301-cr.pdf