Getman v. State

In Getman v. State, 255 S.W.3d 381 (Tex. App.--Austin 2008, no pet.), a motion to revoke was filed that alleged, among other grounds, that the defendant had committed an assault and failed to report his arrest. Id. at 385. After a revocation hearing, the trial court found only that the defendant had failed to report his arrest and, therefore, violated a condition of his probation. Id. at 386-87. In light of that ruling, the defendant argued that the State was prohibited from prosecuting him for the assault that led to his arrest. Id. In determining that the prosecution was not barred, this Court reasoned that the court conducting the revocation proceeding made no finding regarding the assault and instead refused to make any finding regarding the assault. Id. at 387. As support for this conclusion, the Court pointed to statements by the trial court that indicated that the trial court was focused on the defendant's arrest and failure to report and was "not interested" in the allegations regarding the assault. Id. Accordingly, the Court determined that a "reasonable and realistic review of the record from the probation revocation hearing reflects at most that the court declined to decide whether Getman committed the alleged assault." Id. at 388.