Lovelady v. State

Jarvis Duran Lovelady pleaded guilty without a plea bargain to possession of a controlled substance. The trial court assessed punishment and sentenced Lovelady to five years’ confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division. Lovelady appeals claiming the trial court erred in assessing punishment because the indictment and the evidence support only a state jail felony.

The indictment charged Lovelady with possession of cocaine in an amount less than one gram under section 481.115(b) of the Texas Health & Safety Code. *fn1 Paragraph B of the indictment further alleged that Lovelady “committed the above offense in a place that [he] knew was within 300 feet of the premises of a school, to wit: Willis High School. . . .” Lovelady stated he committed each and every element alleged in the indictment. Lovelady stipulated he knowingly possessed a controlled substance in an amount less than one gram and further, that he “committed the above offense in a place that [he] knew was within 300 feet of the premises of a school, to wit: Willis High School . . . .”