DALLAS APPEALS ON PROBATION CONDITIONS

 Defendants in Dallas often have problems accepting their conditions of probation (community service). This can be difficult to address if the Dallas County District Court is not receptive to changing the conditions or if the problems are not set up for appeal at the time of the original conviction or at the time of a revocation of probation. A defendant cannot simply appeal probation conditions to the Dallas Court of Appeals during his probation when not done as part of an appeal from an order granting probation or a judgment of conviction. This applies even when the trial court has modified the conditions at some point subsequent to a judgment that was not appealed. https://askcompetentlawyer.com/ No Texas appeals court does not have jurisdiction to consider an appeal simply from an order altering or modifying the conditions of community supervision.

Challenges on appeal about probation conditions often involve arguments that the conditions are too vague. A legal obligation that requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that people of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application violates the fair notice requirement of the due process clause. A legal requirement that fails to give fair notice invites arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. To comply with due process requirements in the context of conditions of probation, the conditions must be clear, explicit, and unambiguous so that the probationer “understands what is expected of him,” according to the case law.