In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-26-00106-CR
ALEX WHITAKER, APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE
On Appeal from the Criminal District Court 4
Tarrant County, Texas1
Trial Court No. 1782838, Honorable Andy Porter, Presiding
August 19, 2026
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before DOSS and YARBROUGH and PRATT, JJ.
Appellant Alex Whitaker was placed on deferred adjudication community
supervision for attempted sexual assault, a third-degree felony. The State moved to
revoke Appellant’s community supervision and have him adjudicated guilty for the
offense, alleging that he failed to complete or violated various terms of his community
supervision. Appellant pleaded true to three of the allegations and not true to the
1 Originally appealed to the Second Court of Appeals, this case was transferred to this Court by the
Supreme Court of Texas. See TEX. GOV’T CODE § 73.001. Should a conflict exist between the precedent of the Second Court of Appeals and this Court on any relevant issue, we apply the precedent of the Second Court of Appeals. TEX. R. APP. P. 41.3.
remaining four. After a hearing, the trial court adjudicated Appellant guilty and sentenced
him to seven years and six months’ confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice.
Anders Review
When appointed appellate counsel, after a conscientious examination of the
record, concludes that an appeal is frivolous, counsel must file a brief identifying anything
in the record that might arguably support the appeal. Anders, 386 U.S. 738, 744, 87 S.
Ct. 1396, 18 L. Ed. 2d 493 (1967). Counsel must also serve the client with a copy of the
brief and the motion to withdraw and inform the client of the right to file a pro se response
and a pro se petition for discretionary review. In re Schulman, 252 S.W.3d 403, 408 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2008). This Court, in turn, must independently examine the entire record to
determine whether any nonfrivolous issue exists. Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80, 109
S. Ct. 346, 102 L. Ed. 2d 300 (1988); Stafford v. State, 813 S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim.
App. 1991).
Appellant’s counsel has certified that, after diligently searching the record, he has
found no reversible error upon which an appeal can be predicated. He provided Appellant
with a copy of the Anders brief, the motion to withdraw, and the appellate record, and he
notified Appellant of his rights to file a pro se response and a pro se petition for
discretionary review. See Kelly v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313, 319 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014).
By letter, this Court also notified Appellant of his right to file a pro se response. Appellant
filed a letter insisting that he complied with the terms of his community supervision.
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We have carefully reviewed the record and counsel’s Anders brief. Our
independent review confirms counsel’s assessment that the appeal is wholly frivolous and
without merit. Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 826 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005).
As to Appellant’s assertion that he complied with all the terms of his community
supervision despite pleading true to three of the seven grounds for the motion to
adjudicate, his probation officer testified that he did not complete his required sex offender
treatment program and was discharged. The reasons for Appellant’s discharge include
missing five appointments, failing to complete assignments, viewing pornography twice
per week, and using illicit drugs.2 Appellant tested positive for marijuana on five separate
occasions and methamphetamine and alcohol once and failed to report on another
occasion. Appellant also admitted to some violations through his own testimony while
denying others. A single violation is sufficient to support revoking community supervision
and adjudicating guilt. Garcia v. State, 387 S.W.3d 20, 26 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012).
Accordingly, Appellant’s pleas of true and admission to violations foreclose any argument
to the contrary.
MODIFICATION OF THE JUDGMENT
The bill of costs assesses a $15.00 time payment fee. The Court of Criminal
Appeals has held that the pendency of an appeal stops the clock for purposes of that fee.
Dulin v. State, 620 S.W.3d 129, 133 (Tex. Crim. App. 2021). Any time payment fee
assessed while an appeal is pending must be stricken in its entirety, without prejudice to
reassessment after the appellate mandate issues. Id. Here, the $15.00 fee was assessed
2 Appellant’s terms of community supervision also prohibited him from watching sexually explicit
material or using illicit drugs.
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while this appeal was pending. We therefore modify the bill of costs to delete it, without
prejudice to reassessment if Appellant fails to timely pay the amounts owed after the
mandate issues. See id.
Additionally, the judgment reflects that Appellant pleaded “not true” to the
allegations in the State’s motion to adjudicate guilt. However, the record reflects that
Appellant pleaded true to allegations one through three and not true to allegations four
through seven. We accordingly modify the judgment to accurately reflect Appellant’s
pleas to the motion to adjudicate.
CONCLUSION
We modify the bill of costs to delete the $15.00 time payment fee. The district clerk
is directed to prepare and file an amended bill of costs reflecting the modification and to
furnish a copy to this Court, Appellant, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
This modification extends to any order to withdraw funds from Appellant’s inmate account.
See TEX. GOV’T CODE § 501.014(e); Harrell v. State, 286 S.W.3d 315, 321 (Tex. 2009).
Finding no arguable ground for appellate review, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw
and affirm the trial court’s judgment as modified.3
Lawrence M. Doss
Justice
Do not publish.
3 Counsel shall, within five days after this opinion is handed down, send Appellant a copy of the
opinion and judgment, along with notification of Appellant’s right to file a pro se petition for discretionary review. See TEX. R. APP. P. 48.4. This duty is informational and ministerial in nature, does not involve legal advice, and continues after this Court grants counsel’s motion to withdraw. In re Schulman, 252 S.W.3d at 411 n.33.
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