Cocky Teen Was Being Smart In Court — Judge Ended It Very Badly For Him

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]I had a gun pointed to my head and I had a gun I seen my dad had a gun pointed at his head and I could have not made it home to my daughter.

[00:00:10]And that really stuck with me in my head. Calling 2021 CR9975 and 2021 CR9973B, State of Texas versus DeAngelo Robinson.

[00:00:25]Can I parties approach and announce for the record? Marcus Sanders for the state. Al work Chidester for Mr. Robinson.

[00:00:38]All right, and are you Mr. [clears throat] Robinson?

[00:00:40]All right, I'm going to need you to speak up so I can hear you and so that the court reporter can hear you.

[00:00:46]Uh in each of the cause numbers you entered a plea to a cap of 10 years. The state is opposing your applications and they're taking several cases into consideration.

[00:01:00]Have both parties had a chance to review the PSI report, state? Yes, your honor.

[00:01:04]Defense? Yes, your honor. Any objections to the PSI report, state? No, your honor. Defense? There was one typo where it uh talks about him having a driver's license, he doesn't.

[00:01:15]Driver's license.

[00:01:16]There's a number on the first page. All right.

[00:01:19]Uh state, do you have any witnesses?

[00:01:22]Uh no witnesses, your honor.

[00:01:24]Uh defense, any witnesses? I'll just call my client. All right, can you raise your right hand? Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you give will be the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

[00:01:33]All right, you can lower your hand.

[00:01:34]State your name for the record.

[00:01:36]All right, defense. Thank you, your honor. Um Mr. Robinson, do you understand why we're here? Yes, sir.

[00:01:43]What are we here to do?

[00:01:46]I'm here to answer questions.

[00:01:48]Okay. And do you understand you're asking the judge to uh grant deferred adjudication probation? Yes, sir. Do Do understand what that means? Yes, sir.

[00:01:57]Um can you just briefly describe what probation is?

[00:02:01]Pretty much serve the time that I'm missing.

[00:02:04]Then I get my personal And deferred adjudication, does that mean that you're not found guilty unless you are unsuccessful with your probation?

[00:02:14]And you understand that there's a downside to deferred adjudication.

[00:02:18]And the downside >> hear you.

[00:02:19]You You have to speak up.

[00:02:22]Yes, sir.

[00:02:23]I understand.

[00:02:25]And you understand there's a downside to deferred if it is granted and you're unsuccessful, you face a full range of punishment for the offense. Yes, sir.

[00:02:33]Okay. Knowing that, you still want to make your application? Yes.

[00:02:37]Okay. Now, there's some pretty serious cases that um you're facing. Um are you taking responsibility for your actions? I'm taking them.

[00:02:50]And um is it your intention, if the judge grants deferred adjudication, to stay out of trouble? Exactly.

[00:02:59]Um is it your intention to work?

[00:03:02]Exactly.

[00:03:03]Is your intention to report uh to probation as ordered? Yes.

[00:03:08]And if they tell you you have to do community service, you're going to do it?

[00:03:12]If you have to do classes, if you have to take any kind of like anger management or any kind of class that the judge sees fit.

[00:03:22]And um Let me ask you a little bit about your upbringing.

[00:03:28]Um is your dad in your life right now? Can you speak up?

[00:03:34]Can you tell me what you said?

[00:03:35]>> whispering. Is there a reason you're whispering? No, ma'am.

[00:03:39]Just speak louder.

[00:03:40]Okay. All right. Thank you cuz I can't I can't hear. Yes, ma'am.

[00:03:44]Um can you tell me just a little bit about your dad?

[00:03:50]Well, let me let me ask you a different question.

[00:03:52]You said your dad's not been in your life. Where's your dad been?

[00:03:57]I'll say that.

[00:03:58]Okay. And how long have How old are you right now?

[00:04:02]I'm 20 now.

[00:04:04]How old were you when you committed these offenses?

[00:04:06]17. Okay. And had your dad been in your life most of your childhood? No.

[00:04:13]Um were you raised by your mother?

[00:04:16]Yes.

[00:04:17]Have you had an um uh a good relationship with your mother?

[00:04:22]Yes.

[00:04:23]Um have there been problems at home?

[00:04:27]I mean, now that I now that I got out and with my mother, we're working on getting a better relationship with my mother.

[00:04:33]Okay. And and um do you have support uh if the judge were to consider giving you probation?

[00:04:40]Um do you have a job right now? I have a job with my mother. Okay. Um you've been uh awaiting this hearing for a while.

[00:04:48]Have you been looking for employment?

[00:04:50]Have you Have you found employment? Are you You said you're not working right now.

[00:04:55]Okay, what's the problem? Uh they just won't let me work because of my uncle money situation. They're just not sure if they want to to do that or not. Okay. And so so they don't want to invest in training you and all that and then you end up going to jail. Yes, sir. Okay.

[00:05:12]Um are you trying to better yourself? Yes, sir.

[00:05:16]Um do you have your high school diploma?

[00:05:19]Yes, sir. I'm working on getting my GED.

[00:05:21]Where are you going? I'm going to go to college.

[00:05:24]Okay. And what what has been the progress that you've been making if any?

[00:05:29]I'm doing school.

[00:05:31]Right. I mean, I come to it far I took like three, four practice tests.

[00:05:36]Okay. All right. And what's your long-term goal if you if you get your GED? Uh finish school, go to college, open my own business, maybe my own pizzeria.

[00:05:47]Okay. And where are you living right now? With my mother.

[00:05:51]Um anybody else living with you there?

[00:05:54]My mother.

[00:05:55]And are they helping you supporting you?

[00:05:57]Her mother? Yes, sir. Okay. Okay, speak up. I can't hear you.

[00:06:01]Um are they helping you through all this? Yes, sir.

[00:06:04]Okay.

[00:06:05]All right. No further questions, Judge.

[00:06:08]State.

[00:06:11]No questions, Judge.

[00:06:14]All right. I still don't know why did you do this?

[00:06:20]Um Honestly, there is no excuse.

[00:06:23]I can't I'm sorry, I can't just tell you oh, I did this for this reason. But in the end, what I did was unacceptable.

[00:06:30]I'm just sorry.

[00:06:31]I'm accepting what I did. I take responsibility.

[00:06:34]Okay.

[00:06:37]All right. Any other witnesses? No, Your Honor. Just uh like to say a few words on his behalf. All right. Uh State, argument. Judge, we are asking that you deny his application. Um I understand that we have a defendant who's beyond 19 years old.

[00:06:52]Um and generally, we're not All right.

[00:06:55]At least from the state's perspective and my perspective, I'm not pushing to send teenagers to prison.

[00:07:01]Um in this situation, we have the one who has committed multiple violent felonies.

[00:07:06]Um we have three victims in these cases who whose lives have been changed forever.

[00:07:11]Um one guy who was just trying to do his job. He was delivering food when the defendant pulled out a gun when he was just asking for ID.

[00:07:19]Um we have two other individuals, a father and a son, who were trying to, I believe, sell a a PlayStation, if I remember correctly, and he he pulled out a gun out on them.

[00:07:28]Um the victim in that case said he had a daughter and he was afraid for for not only his dad, but also that he would never get to see his kids again.

[00:07:36]Um he's had opportunities in the past.

[00:07:39]We can see from his juvenile history that he's been in trouble before.

[00:07:42]Um he completed it successfully, but he didn't learn anything from it.

[00:07:48]I don't believe he would be a good candidate for probation or deferred, um and I believe based on his offenses that he should be held responsible and have to stand some time in prison for it, especially for the victims whose lives have been changed forever.

[00:08:06]Right. Defense, and judge, I would just uh respectfully disagree with the state.

[00:08:10]I think that uh the things he did and a lot of things he's done are before um he was even past being 17 years old.

[00:08:19]Uh at 17, you know, his brain's not fully formed. He's uh and the upbringing that he's had, um his father going to prison, his father never being around, uh his mother I've met his mother.

[00:08:36]She's not uh she's not the best example of of maybe the most supportive parents you've ever seen.

[00:08:46]And so he's grown up basically raised by the streets, uh having a a a whole bunch of people that you probably wouldn't take advice on what movie to watch, let alone what to do with your life, uh being the people that he associates with.

[00:09:05]Um he's made huge mistakes. He knows that now.

[00:09:09]He's trying to turn things around. Um yes, there are victims. Thankfully, they were not injured.

[00:09:16]Uh and it I don't mean to minimize what happened, the things that he did, but we can send him to prison, and he'll probably come out worse, and then we're going to have to worry about the things he'll do in the future, or we can give him a chance to right this ship, do the right thing, and um prove to this court that he deserves the verdict of probation.

[00:09:43]Uh yes, he's got uh some juvenile history. He's got uh these cases that are before the court, but uh if he if he somehow gets it together, gets his GED, maybe goes to college, maybe learns about holding down a job, working 40 hours, uh he can still be a productive citizen.

[00:10:04]And the court can still sentence him to a lengthy probation period, supervise his behavior, maybe right him, put him on the right track, and uh I guess there's there's a risk. There's always a risk in all these cases.

[00:10:20]There's always a risk that the person's not going to do what they're supposed to do.

[00:10:24]But he could do all those things after he gets out.

[00:10:28]Uh if we put him on the right track, maybe he'll never do anything wrong again.

[00:10:33]So, um I ask the court to consider all of the circumstances, including the fact that he hasn't had good leading with uh guidance, and the fact that he does have support right now, that he's trying to do right, and that the court has discretion to uh put him in prison in the future if he doesn't do what he's supposed to do.

[00:10:55]So, we would respectfully ask for uh the court to grant a verdict of probation uh for Mr. Robinson and see if he can um live up to uh his promise to the court.

[00:11:06]Okay.

[00:11:08]All right. With regards to uh restitution amount, there's been no restitution stated. Is that correct?

[00:11:16]It was in the plea bargain. I believe it was $400.

[00:11:20]And I believe one of the complainants has received a check from um I don't know if it's an organization for like two or three thousand dollars.

[00:11:29]Yeah, there's no um I see where it says in the pre-sentence report monetary loss 1,200 to 1,300, but I don't see any documentation to justify that and I haven't received any of that.

[00:11:51]And your honor, I actually just remembered. I believe the co-defendant as a part of that are working on payment. So, we wouldn't And what happened to the co-defendant?

[00:12:07]That co-defendant, we it was a recommendation of deferred.

[00:12:15]All right. And where is the co-defendant's file?

[00:12:19]He played and was sentenced and so that may be why it's separate.

[00:12:24]Okay.

[00:12:25]Can I see um the co-defendant's file in this case?

[00:12:30]Uh 2021 CR99738.

[00:12:38]Yes, give me a moment.

[00:12:46]State, do you remember the reason for the recommendation of deferred for the co-defendant?

[00:12:51]Yes, judge. Um partially what because he did not have a second He didn't have as many cases that he uh that were violent in nature as this defendant and also because that defendant was willing to accept responsibility for his actions.

[00:13:13]I don't I guess I would say sooner than this defendant.

[00:13:18]All right.

[00:15:10]>> Your honor, sorry, I just remembered the other part that factored into my decision is that the offeror of the account from which the aggro robbery originated was forfeited as defendant.

[00:15:21]Um and I believe he he does admit to it in his his PSI that he came up with the idea. He denies being there when it happened, but he was I guess the the mastermind of the incident.

[00:15:34]Okay.

[00:16:21]All right, is there anything else from either side?

[00:16:23]Uh no, Your Honor. Just that like I said um he's asking basically for the same thing as co-defendant God and he's willing to do what he has to do.

[00:16:34]I think it's the first time in his life that he's ever had to really face anything like this. So, I think it it's made an impression on him.

[00:16:43]All right, anything else from the state?

[00:16:45]No, Your Honor.

[00:16:53]All right.

[00:16:55]Um Mr. Robinson, I I appreciate and understand your issues with your home life.

[00:17:06]Um I'm taking that in consideration in sentencing. Uh what I can tell you is a lot of times people don't have the parents they wish they could have had.

[00:17:15]And maybe if someone had specific guidance in their life, maybe they wouldn't be where they are now.

[00:17:22]Right?

[00:17:23]And I'm taking into consideration your age as well. I realize that you're young, but these are violent offenses.

[00:17:29]Right?

[00:17:30]Um the plea agreement that was reached in the other case was a plea agreement that was reached in the other case. So, this is um something separate, but I always like to know what happened with other parties who were involved because I think that sentencing should always be fair, and I try to take everything um into great consideration.

[00:17:52]And sometimes um I take a long time.

[00:17:59]And the reason why I take a long time is because I want to make sure that I'm I'm doing justice for the person who's in front of me. And there are a lot of things that I have to consider. I have to consider, hm, do I think this person is a good candidate for probation? Do I think this person will do well? Um if I send this to person to prison, what will happen? So, it's it's a very heavy burden.

[00:18:22]Um in your case, I am going to deny your applications. If it were a situation maybe where I could do a um a shock probation on you, who knows? Maybe I would consider doing that, but because of the nature of these offenses, shock probation is not allowed.

[00:18:40]So, what I'm going to uh do is in each cause number, I'm going to find you guilty.

[00:18:46]Uh there's an affirmative finding of deadly weapon in each cause number. The cause numbers were run concurrently.

[00:18:53]The court will take into consideration 2021 CR9974B, grand jury number 761639, grand jury number 73 869.

[00:19:08]In each of the cause numbers, there is to be no contact with Gilbert Diaz, Gilbert Estrada, Israel Guerra, Courtney Petit or Pettit.

[00:19:18]Um I will ask that you be placed in the therapeutic community.

[00:19:24]Um whether or not you decide to take advantage of the therapeutic community is completely up to you.

[00:19:31]Um I can just request it for you.

[00:19:35]But if you don't ask to be placed in it, they're definitely not going to place you in that, okay?

[00:19:42]And in cause number 2021 CR9973B, the court will sentence you to 5 years in the prison, give you credit for any time served. And in cause number 2021 CR9974, the court will sentence you to 4 years in the prison and give you credit for any time served. In each of the cause numbers, the court will request that you be placed in the therapeutic community.

[00:20:05]Uh in each of the cause numbers, I'm showing you what's entitled trial court certification of defendant's rights to appeal. Did you review those uh documents with your attorney? Did you understand them? And did you sign them?

[00:20:17]All right, because they're these are plea bargain agreements in each of the cause numbers. Because I followed your agreements, and because you waived your right to appeal, you do not have the court's permission to appeal. Do you understand?

[00:20:28]In each of the cause numbers, because these are felony convictions, you're not allowed to own or possess any weapons or ammunition. If you have a question over what a weapon or ammunition is, you'll need to speak to an attorney. Do you understand? All right, we can go off the record. Mr. Uh Robinson, sometimes, I know, um you're about to go to prison. Sometimes people think of this as the end of the world, but this is really a chance for you to stop, do better, um internalize what got you here, and when you get out of prison, try to do better so you won't be back here. You understand?

[00:21:04]I know this is making your life harder than maybe you want it to be or harder than you thought it would be.

[00:21:11]Um but it's not the end of the world.

[00:21:15]And while you're in prison, you need to make sure that you take advantage of all uh the opportunities that are there for improvement. I know they have plenty of opportunities for education, and I think the education may be free.

[00:21:29]So, you can get your GED while you're there. You can start doing college work right while you're there. Now is the time to start working on yourself, okay?

[00:21:38]All right, good luck to you.

[00:21:40]Thank you, Ronald. You're welcome.

[00:21:47]You're on a roll with the time for victim impact statement. All right, excuse me.

[00:21:51]They They say they have a victim impact statement.

[00:21:53]>> Zoom right now. Oh, he's on Zoom?

[00:21:56]Is it the person named Gilbert?

[00:21:58]>> Yes.

[00:22:01]I also have an Aurora Gomez. That's the advocate. Oh, oh.

[00:22:07]I'm like, who is Aurora?

[00:22:18]Well, it looks like there's a problem with them joining.

[00:22:21]Ah, here we are. Well, Aurora was able to join. Is she a part of the Should I know her, Ronald? [laughter] Yes, she should know.

[00:22:34]Is today Monday? Yes. Yeah, this is why this is happening. It's Monday.

[00:22:42]It doesn't appear that your your um witness is able to join. It keeps saying joining.

[00:22:53]We're not able to get the status right.

[00:22:55]All right.

[00:22:59]Uh Ms. Gomez Um your witness is not able to join. It just shows that it's constantly joining, so I don't know if there's something wrong with the Wi-Fi on his end or our end, because we we have issues with technology here.

[00:23:17]He did say his Wi-Fi was giving him issues, Judge, but he was able to try again. Um, I'm calling him right now.

[00:23:26]Okay.

[00:23:30]Uh, state You got one minute, don't you? I'm sorry. You got one minute? Yes. Okay.

[00:23:42]And then the next person we're going to take up is Chadric Walker.

[00:24:24]All right.

[00:24:39]For now? Yes. They they always put things, the emails that they send you, they put, uh, initials instead of saying what it is, so it can be confusing.

[00:24:50]So, there's supposed to be a MFA MFA rollout that is happening.

[00:24:57]In the Yes, that's happening in the county.

[00:25:00]Have you heard of that?

[00:25:02]Yeah, because people who are using it, you don't need to know. What? On a need-to-know basis, even though you're using it, right?

[00:25:10]And you know when registration started?

[00:25:13]November 7th.

[00:25:18]And you know when the system is going to be activated?

[00:25:21]November 29th.

[00:25:24]I was That was that multi-something?

[00:25:26]>> Yes. Okay, I thought that one, too.

[00:25:30]I don't got it.

[00:25:32]Okay, Judge, I think we're able to get him on. I think he's connecting to the audio.

[00:25:37]All right, and there's Is there a reason for the hoodie?

[00:25:42]Thank you.

[00:25:51]All right, sir.

[00:26:04]>> [snorts] >> All right, uh my understanding is that you are here to give a statement, is that correct?

[00:26:11]Yes.

[00:26:13]All right. So, um I always require everyone in the courtroom to treat everyone with respect. So, um you can listen to what he's he's saying, internalize that, and hopefully improve.

[00:26:25]Okay? All right, you may start.

[00:26:29]>> Uh me?

[00:26:30]Yes.

[00:26:32]Um well, I mean, just whatever uh I have to say, uh all I have to say is um I'm sorry to you know, to him for going through this. Uh I'm a forgivable person.

[00:26:49]Uh and I just wish it wouldn't have went that way. Uh I was hoping for something, you know, I was I was hoping for a easy trade-off, but I did stay traumatized uh mentally for weeks, maybe months. Um Cost me some money uh a lot of money.

[00:27:11]Uh um My car was damaged when I got it back.

[00:27:14]And I I just I just feel like if you walk away from this with probation, I don't I think it's just because you got caught.

[00:27:27]And I feel like if you didn't get caught, you would have kept doing it. And uh I just, you know, I I don't know what else to say. I I had a gun pointed to my head.

[00:27:41]And I had a gun I seen my dad had a gun pointed at his head. And I could have not made it home to my daughter.

[00:27:49]And that really stuck with me in my head.

[00:27:54]Um I I I hope you learn from this. I You know, like I said, I I I hate to I hate to try to get you into any, you know, prison or anything like that. Um but I just feel like it's the consequences you got to learn how to face. And you got to go in life with you know, knowing that there's consequences to everything everything you do. And uh I you know, I I forgive you, bro. Like uh I I just won't forget what you made me go through. And that was a scary moment.

[00:28:32]Um but yeah, whatever happens, uh you know, I I don't hate you. I forgive you.

[00:28:40]Uh and I'll leave it up to the judge to decide.

[00:28:43]That's pretty much all I have to say.

[00:28:47]All right. thank you so much for coming in.

[00:28:51]Yes.

[00:28:52]You're welcome. At just 19 years old, De Angelo Robinson stood before a Texas courtroom hoping for deferred adjudication probation instead of prison time.

[00:29:02]His defense argued that he grew up without guidance, was raised by the streets, and still had time to turn his life around.

[00:29:10]But prosecutors painted a much darker picture, describing multiple violent robberies that forever changed innocent lives, including a food delivery worker and a father trying to sell a PlayStation.

[00:29:23]As the hearing unfolded, the judge carefully questioned Robinson about his upbringing, education, goals, and whether he truly accepted responsibility.

[00:29:33]Robinson admitted there was no excuse for what he had done.

[00:29:36]Still, the court focused heavily on the violent nature of the crimes and allegations that Robinson helped mastermind one of the robberies through an online OfferUp account.

[00:29:47]In the end, the judge denied probation and sentenced the young defendant to prison, while still offering one final message of hope.