Nazario v. State

NAHMIAS, Justice.

Appellant William Nazario pled guilty to 17 counts of a 26-count indictment charging him with numerous crimes related to the beating and stabbing death of his girlfriend, Korean Bowden, and the mistreatment of her three young daughters. Despite Appellant’s argument at the plea hearing that several of his 17 convictions merged, the trial court sentenced him for all 17 crimes. On direct appeal, Appellant again claims that several of his convictions and sentences are void because they merged.

The State contends that we need not address those claims on their merits because…