Is there any case law saying that a judge has to give a defendant probation for a possession case when they are adjudicated following deferred? I read the statute as saying probation is mandatory.

Holcomb v. State, 146 S.W.3d 723 (Tex. App. Austin 2004).

I don't have any caselaw, but I have looked at the statute and called the experts here at TDCAA. The statute in question, as far as I understand, requires probation for a state jail possession case if the defendant has no prior convictions. Deferred adjudication does not count as a conviction. In our county, we adjudicate these people and put them on probation along with 90 days in the State Jail as a condition.
Now a days, we put all our State Jail drug defendants on straight probation to avoid this problem. It seems harsh in some cases, but we hate having to tell our probation department that they have to mess with these people for longer after they have already screwed up enough to get adjudicated. Hope this helps.

In my opinion, Holcomb merely sidestepped the issue when Judge Onion said: "We agree with appellant that section 15 does not require "redundant probation" by virtue of its terms," but went on to say the trial court's action was permissible (i.e., not prohibited). Until Kesinger is disavowed, you have an argument the other way. Two-Step Revocation

[This message was edited by Martin Peterson on 08-27-05 at .]