Error in Charges for Man Convicted of Online Solicitation of Minor

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Earlier this morning, David Ernest Garcia, 46, had a plea hearing at 9:00 a.m. at the Tom Green County Court House.

Originally, Garcia was sentenced to jail for four years on December 11, 2014 for online solicitation of a minor. The hearing today was to confirm that the defendant was convicted of 33.021(c) instead of 33.021(b), which is reflected in a Judgment and was held as unconstitutional.

Brian Raymond, the defense attorney for Garcia stated, “We were notified that that was unconstitutional, and so Judge Woodward had a hearing on it, to whether or not [Garcia's] sentence should be overturned.”

As of now, Raymond said Woodward is currently looking over the record to make his decision based on whether the mistake was a clerical or judicial error.

If the mistake is a clerical error, Woodward will have the power to go in and change the conviction to the correct statute of 33.021(c). If the mistake is a judicial error, this means that if the judge who convicted Garcia did so on the wrong statute, Raymond and Garcia could then begin from ground zero.

The court ordered the record from Garcia’s indictment. If the record confirms that the defendant was convicted of a Constitutional Offense, then the court will sign a Nunc Pro Tunc Judgment. This Nunc Pro Tunc Judgment will correct the previous judgment to show that the defendant was actually convicted of 33.021(c).