Case Summaries

Each week, TDCAA staff members summarize the most important cases from Texas and federal criminal courts and provide insightful commentary on how those cases could impact the criminal justice system as well as a link to the opinions. Find a library of previous Weekly Case Summaries here.

Summaries

September 28, 2026

Texas Court of Appeals

Nguyen v. State

No. 01-25-00060-CR                   9/22/26

Issue:

Does Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.108(c) require issuance of a capias for the trial court to have jurisdiction to hear a motion to adjudicate guilt?

Holding:

No. If the community supervision period has not expired, a trial court has jurisdiction to hold an adjudication hearing without issuing a capias. The Court agreed with the 14th Court of Appeals’s recent unpublished decision in Ibarra v. State, No. 14-25-00140-CR (Tex. App. — Houston [14th Dist.] April 7, 2026, pet. filed), which held that because the ordinary purpose of a capias is to secure the defendant’s presence at a proceeding against him, the absence of a capias does not deprive the trial court of jurisdiction it would normally possess. “We conclude that because Nguyen’s community supervision period had not expired, the failure to issue a capias did not present an obstacle to the trial court’s adjudicating Nguyen’s guilt because it retained jurisdiction to do so.” Read opinion.

Commentary:

The First Court of Appeals joins the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in articulating that the two branches of this revocation-jurisdiction tree are:  

(1) when the community supervision period has expired, the trial court retains jurisdiction to revoke the community supervision if, before the expiration of the community supervision period, the following two conditions are met:

• the State filed a motion alleging a violation of the terms of the community supervision, and 

•  the trial court issued a capias for the defendant’s arrest; and

(2) when the community supervision period has not expired, the trial court retains jurisdiction to revoke the community supervision if, before the expiration of the community supervision period, the following condition is met: the State filed a motion alleging a violation of the terms of the community supervision.

The First Court of Appeals’s opinion follows the logic of the Fourteenth Court of Appeals’s opinion in Ibarra, and both reasonably and practically interpret Art. 42A.108(c) to not require a capias in situation (2). However, as the First Court of Appeals recognizes, the courts’ shared conclusion is not fully settled, so it is possible that the Court of Criminal Appeals may want to weigh in on Ibarra, this opinion, or both.

TDCAA is pleased to offer these unique case summaries from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Courts of Appeals and the Texas Attorney General. In addition to the basic summaries, each case will have a link to the full text opinion and will offer exclusive prosecutor commentary explaining how the case may impact you as a prosecutor. The case summaries are for the benefit of prosecutors, their staff members, and members of the law enforcement community. These summaries are NOT a source of legal advice for citizens. The commentaries expressed in these case summaries are not official statements by TDCAA and do not represent the opinions of TDCAA, its staff, or any member of the association. Please email comments, problems, or questions to Joe Hooker.