Robert Joseph Schmitt v. Texas
DueProcess
Did the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals err in not exercising their inherent authority to correct an unlawful sentence due to ineffective assistance of trial counsel and violation of legislative statutory mandates?
QUESTION PRESENTED Did the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals err in not exercising their inherent authority to correct the sentence imposed unlawfully due to the ineffective assistance of trial counsel in failing to object to the imposition of a consecutive sentence? Can the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refuse to grant relief when Legislative Enacted Statute states that pre-1997 offenses arising out of a single criminal episode are tried together, the court must order the sentences to run concurrently in accordance to Texas Penal Code, Section 3.03(b)? Was Petitioner denied due process of law when the trial court cumulated Petitioner’s two twenty year sentences when the law in effect enacted by the Texas Legislature states that offenses committed before September 1“, 1997 were to run concurrently. Is Petitioner considered actually innocent of the sentence imposed in direct violation of his constitutional rights under due process of law when the trial court cumulated his sentences in which Petitioner was not legally eligible to receive as a matter of statutory law?