Jowers v. Washington

Richard Jowers, Jr. appeals the denial of his petition for habeas corpus. In 1999, Jowers was convicted of two counts of child molestation and sentenced to 20 years in prison with 17 years to be served on probation. Jowers violated his probation in 2003 and again in 2005 by continuing to associate with children. After the 2005 violation, the sentencing court revoked Jowers’s probation and ordered him to serve the balance of his original 20-year sentence in prison. A habeas court denied Jowers’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus the following year, and we granted his application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal. Jowers contends the sentencing court erred in revoking more than two years of his probated sentence because a modification order entered after his 2003 probation violation does not contain certain language that is statutorily required in order to revoke more than two years of a convict’s probation. We conclude that as long as the original sentence contains the specified warnings, a convict’s probation can be revoked, and he or she can be ordered to serve the balance of his or her original sentence behind bars.

1. On June 18, 1999, a Coffee County jury convicted Jowers on two counts of child molestation for repeatedly fondling two neighbor girls ages five and seven. The trial court sentenced Jowers to “confinement for a period of Twenty 20 years” but ordered that “upon service of Three 3 yrs.,” “the remainder of Seventeen 17 yrs. may be served on probation PROVIDED that Jowers complies with the following general and other conditions herein imposed by the Court as a part of this sentence.” The court imposed no general conditions but did order Jowers to pay a fine, probation fees, and attorney fees and also ordered Jowers to comply with certain “Special Conditions” listed in an exhibit attached to the sentencing order that was “specifically incorporated herein and made a part hereof.” The sentencing order advised Jowers that the court could lift the conditions or discharge him from probation at any time; that he was subject to arrest for violating any condition; and that “if such probation is revoked, the Court may order the execution of the sentence which was originally imposed or any portion thereof,” i.e., “confinement for a period of Twenty 20 years.”