Sankey v. State

In Sankey v. State, 3 S.W.3d 43, 44 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999), the appellant attempted to complain on appeal that the record from his original plea had been either lost or destroyed. The court of appeals held that because the defendant's notice of appeal did not comply with the applicable rule, it could consider only jurisdictional defects, and since the appellant had not raised any jurisdictional defects, the Court affirmed the conviction. Id. The Court reversed the court of appeals and held that "without the record, it is impossible for an appellant, and particularly the appellant's attorney, to determine whether there are any potential jurisdictional issues or defects in the plea proceeding which would render the plea involuntary." Sankey, 3 S.W.3d at 44-45. Sankey was decided after Manuel, and we left open the effect of Manuel upon a "lost record" case in which the issue of voluntariness of a plea was raised. Id. at 45.