Lester v. State

In Lester v. State, 2004 Tex. App. (Tex. App.--Fort Worth Jan. 22, 2004) the Appellant was charged with indecency with a child. On appeal, Appellant asserted that the trial court erred by allowing his sentence to be enhanced without proper pleading or notice. Id. The indictment did not contain any enhancement allegations. Id. However, the State filed its notice of intent to use a prior felony conviction for enhancement purposes on March 21, 2002. Id. The certificate of service indicated that the document was delivered by fax to Appellant's counsel the day before. Id. Further, Appellant's counsel admitted that his office received the notice on the 20th. Id. The court found that formal notice was filed in the case and that the notice specifically informed Appellant of which prior felony conviction the State intended to use to enhance his punishment. Id. Thus, the court held that the State provided Appellant with proper notice of the offense it intended to use for enhancement. Id.