Person is arrested for aggravated assault and posts bond on that charge. Victim then dies and indictment is then returned for murder. Capias is issued for murder. Defendant is sentenced on forgery to serve term in state jail. The capias is not executed. No detainer is placed on defendant. He is released from state jail to the street. Murder case is set for arraignment and bail bondsman is notified. Defendant fails to appear. The assault bond is forfeited. Second capias for murder is issued. Defendant is arrested for the murder. He never makes bail for murder, but is tried and convicted for that offense.

Is defendant entitled to any credit against his sentence for time spent in state jail on the forgery charge?

Is defendant subject to prosecution for bail jumping as result of his failure to appear to answer the murder charge?

I say the bond was subject to forfeiture and he is guilty of bail jumping because the indictment included the offense named in the bond or in any event the murder case was a "proceeding had relative to the charge" as mentioned in art. 17.09 sec. 1.

Seems fair to allow credit for the time spent in state jail, but it can certainly be argued he was not being held for murder at that time.

Any other thoughts?

He is not entitled to credit since he was on bond. He is subject to a bail jumping charge but if he has already been successfully prosecuted for murder, it may seem like overkill to prosecute him for bail jumping. Was he "on the run" or just did not know about his court date, which was apparently not very timely?

The bail jumping charge was indicted before the murder case came to trial. Since Defendant is now seeking to frivolously appeal from the murder conviction it seems going forward with the bail jumping prosecution may be called for (otherwise I would normally agree it is superfluous). The Defendant left the state and never contacted (or paid) the bail bondsman, so I think it could be concluded he was on the run. Do you think the bail jumping indictment should identify "the offense for which the actor's appearance was required", and if so would you choose to state "aggravated assault" or "murder". Gets tricky, because he was never actually required to appear to answer the aggravated assault charge as such. But, consider also the fact that at the defendant's request, aggravated assault was ultimately submitted to the jury.

Ken, you think the mere fact the State "elected" not to execute the murder warrant is sufficient to say the defendant was not in custody on that charge? How hard would you argue that point with the court (which I think will be inclined to grant the credit)? Defendant got 35 years so the time in state jail is really fairly insignificant in the big picture.

The clerk's file is going to control in terms of jail credit. It shows him on bond, and no credit should be applied. He could have surrendered on the bond, which would make credit mandatory, but he did not do so.

If he got 35 years, and you do not have a judge who will stack, I would go on to other cases.

There is no requirement that you name the underlying felony offense in the bail jumping indictment. See the TDCAA Charging Manual.