Jerry Dorsey Johnson v. State Texas

On original submission, a panel of this Court affirmed appellants conviction upon the basis of Haney v. State, 588 S.W.2d 913 (Tex.Cr.App. 1979), and Ferguson v. State, 571 S.W.2d 908 (Tex.Cr.App. 1978). Appellants motion for leave to file motion for rehearing was granted in order for the Court to determine whether appellants judicial confession waived his right to appeal the unfavorable ruling upon his written pretrial motions to suppress. See Article 44.02, V.A.C.C.P. In the interim, Haney and Ferguson have been overruled to the extent that they conflict with the recent decision of Morgan v. State, 688 S.W.2d 504 (Tex.Cr.App. 1985). Morgan holds that, upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere where the punishment assessed by the court does not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to be the defendant, the defendants judicial confession or admission does not bar appeal of matters raised by written pretrial motions. Since appellants conviction upon his plea of nolo contendere falls squarely within the parameters of Article 44.02 as interpreted by Morgan, we will address appellants grounds of error as presented in his brief on direct appeal.