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Chris Jamal Landor v. the State of Texas

2026-08-19

Summary

Holding. The appeal is wholly frivolous and the trial court's judgment revoking community supervision is affirmed as modified to accurately reflect that Landor pleaded not true to allegations 2, 3, and 4, which the trial court found proven.

Chris Jamal Landor pleaded guilty to evading arrest with a motor vehicle and received a ten-year suspended sentence with community supervision. After the State filed motions to revoke his community supervision based on alleged violations, Landor pleaded true to one violation (which the State abandoned) and not true to three others. The trial court found those three allegations proven and revoked his community supervision, imposing the original ten-year sentence plus a $1,000 fine.

Landor appealed through counsel who filed an Anders brief concluding the appeal lacked merit. The appellate court conducted a full record review and found no reversible error, determining the appeal to be wholly frivolous. The court declined to appoint new counsel for re-briefing.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether the appeal raises arguable grounds for reversal under Anders v. California
  • Accuracy of the judgment's statement regarding Landor's pleas to alleged violations

Procedural posture

This is an appeal from a trial court judgment revoking community supervision, decided after appellate counsel filed an Anders brief.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

NO. 09-25-00109-CR

CHRIS JAMAL LANDOR, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the Criminal District Court

Jefferson County, Texas

Trial Cause No. 23DCCR1103

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, Appellant Chris Jamal Landor pleaded

guilty to the offense of evading arrest or detention with a motor vehicle, a thirddegree felony. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 38.04(b)(2)(A). The trial court found

Landor guilty of the offense of evading arrest or detention with a motor vehicle. The

trial court sentenced him to ten years of confinement plus a $1,000 fine, then

suspended the sentence and placed him on community supervision for ten years.

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Subsequently, the State filed a Motion to Revoke Community Supervision

based on a curfew violation and arrest for burglary of a habitation. The State then

filed a First Amended Motion to Revoke Community Supervision alleging additional

violations of the terms of Landor’s community supervision. Landor pleaded “true”

to the first alleged violation regarding curfew, which the State abandoned. Landor

then pleaded “not true” to the remaining alleged violations, including 2, 3, and 4.

After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the trial court found allegations 2, 3, and 4

to be “true.” The trial court revoked Landor’s community supervision and assessed

punishment at ten years of confinement plus the $1,000 fine.

Landor’s appellate counsel filed an Anders brief presenting counsel’s

professional evaluation of the record and concludes that the appeal is frivolous. See

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967); High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807 (Tex.

Crim. App. 1978). On August 4, 2025, after Landor’s counsel filed the Anders brief,

we granted an extension for Landor to file a pro se brief, but Landor filed no

response.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has held that we need not address the merits

of issues raised in an Anders brief. Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 826–27 (Tex.

Crim. App. 2005). Rather, an appellate court may determine: (1) “that the appeal is

wholly frivolous and issue an opinion explaining that it has reviewed the record and

finds no reversible error[;]” or (2) “that arguable grounds for appeal exist and remand

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the cause to the trial court so that new counsel may be appointed to brief the

issues.” Id. (citation omitted).

Upon receiving an Anders brief, a court must conduct a full examination of

the record to determine whether the appeal is wholly frivolous. Penson v. Ohio, 488

U.S. 75, 80 (1988) (citing Anders, 386 U.S. at 744). We have reviewed the entire

record and counsel’s brief, and apart from the modification discussed below, we

have found no reversible error, and we conclude the appeal is wholly

frivolous. See Bledsoe, 178 S.W.3d at 827–28. Therefore, we find it unnecessary to

order appointment of new counsel to re-brief the appeal. Cf. Stafford v. State, 813

S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991).

Modifying the Judgment

We have the power to reform or modify a judgment in Anders cases to address

non-reversible error and to affirm the judgment as modified. See Tex. R. App. P.

43.2(b) (allowing appellate court to modify trial court’s judgment and affirm as

modified); Bigley v. State, 865 S.W.2d 26, 27 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993) (noting a court

of appeals may modify the lower court’s judgment by correcting or reforming it);

Bray v. State, 179 S.W.3d 725, 729 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2005, no pet.)

(exercising authority to reform judgment in Anders case and affirming trial court’s

judgment).

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Here, the trial court’s Judgment Revoking Community Supervision

incorrectly states that Landor pleaded “true” to allegations 2, 3, and 4. We can

modify the judgment “to make the record speak the truth.” French v. State, 830

S.W.2d 607, 609 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992); see Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(b). Therefore,

consistent with the record in this case, we modify the trial court’s Judgment

Revoking Community Supervision to reflect that Landor pleaded “not true” to

allegations 2, 3, and 4, and that the trial court found those allegations to be “true.”

We affirm the trial court’s judgment as modified. 1

AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.

W. SCOTT GOLEMON

Chief Justice

Submitted on August 17, 2026

Opinion Delivered August 19, 2026

Do Not Publish

Before Golemon, C.J., Johnson and Chambers, JJ.

1

Landor may challenge our decision by filing a petition for discretionary review. See Tex. R. App. P. 68.

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