Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
Ex Parte Ruben Tovar
June 21, 19951995 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 71
Summary
The Court affirmed the denial of post‑conviction habeas relief, holding that a failure to give the statutory admonishment under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 26.13(a)(4) does not constitute a constitutional violation unless the applicant shows that the omission harmed the voluntariness of the guilty plea. The Court also overruled prior decisions (Cervantes and McAtee) that had granted automatic relief for such failures. Justice Clinton dissented, arguing that the majority improperly overruled those precedents and that the admonishment requirement should be treated as a fundamental error.