Ex parte Graves

In Ex parte Graves, 436 S.W.3d 395 (Tex. App.--Texarkana 2014, pet. ref'd), the defendant, who owned Graves Tire Service, filed an Application For Designation As An Official Vehicle Inspection Station with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Id. at 396-97. The application contained a false federal tax identification number, and the evidence showed that the application became a governmental record upon receipt by the DPS and Graves entered the false information before the application became a governmental record. Id. at 397. The State charged Graves with tampering with a governmental record under section 37.10(a)(1) of the Texas Penal Code, and Graves was convicted. Id. at 396-97. Graves then filed an application for writ of habeas corpus, and the habeas court relied upon Pokladnik in concluding that "the State failed to prove any falsification after DPS received Graves's application." Id. at 397. Accordingly, the habeas court granted Graves's application for writ of habeas corpus, acquitted Graves of the offense, and dismissed the State's indictment. Id. at 396. On appeal by the State, the Texarkana Court of Appeals held "that the conduct alleged in the State's indictment against Graves does not constitute a violation of Section 37.10(a)(1) of the Penal Code," concluded that the habeas court's findings were supported by the record, and affirmed the habeas court's entry of a judgment of acquittal. Id. at 396, 399.