Opinion
09-21-00290-CV
03-30-2023
$49,815.00 U.S. CURRENCY AND ASSORTED PROPERTY (FARID ALI DATOO), Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 252nd District Court Jefferson County, Texas Trial Cause No. 314649
Before Golemon, C.J., Horton and Johnson, JJ.
ORDER
PER CURIAM
On February 23, 2023, we questioned whether the trial court has signed a final judgment or an appealable order. In response to this Court's inquiry, the appellant, Farid Ali Datoo, suggests this Court should remand the case to the trial court so that the trial court could reduce to writing the judgment pronounced in this forfeiture proceeding.
Datoo was prosecuted in Trial Cause Number 314649 in the County Court at Law Number 3 of Jefferson County, Texas. The initial forfeiture proceeding was conducted in that court. Datoo's first appeal in this forfeiture proceeding was subject to a docket equalization transfer. See Datoo v. State, No. 13-18-00192-CV, 2019 WL 6769871 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi Dec. 12, 2019, pet. denied) (mem. op.); see also Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 73.001 (permitting for the transfer of cases from one court of appeals to another by Supreme Court order). The Court reversed the order of forfeiture and remanded the case for a proceeding under Article 18.18 (b) -(f), Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Id. at *2. Datoo filed a plea to the jurisdiction through which he argued an Article 18.18 proceeding must be heard by the court that issued the search warrant. The judge of the County Court at Law Number 3 granted the plea to the jurisdiction. The judge of the 252nd District Court of Jefferson County conducted the Article 18.18 forfeiture hearing. Datoo's notice of appeal recites that this is an appeal out of the County Court at Law Number 3 in Cause Number 314649, but the notice also states that the forfeiture under Article 18.18 was rendered by the judge of the 252nd District Court.
"If the appellate court is uncertain about the intent of the order, it can abate the appeal to permit clarification by the trial court." Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 206 (Tex. 2001) (citation omitted). "The appellate court may allow an appealed order that is not final to be modified so as to be made final and may allow the modified order and all proceedings relating to it to be included in a supplemental record." Tex.R.App.P. 27.2.
On our own motion, we abate the appeal and remand the cause to the trial court. On remand, the trial court shall give notice to appellate counsel and supplement the record to indicate whether it rendered a final judgment of forfeiture or disposition of gambling paraphernalia and other contraband on August 19, 2021. If the trial court intended to render a final disposition of all pending claims, the trial court shall sign a written order that disposes of the claims before the trial court. A supplemental clerk's record containing the order clarifying the trial court's intent regarding finality shall be filed with the clerk of this Court on or before May 1, 2023. The appeal will be reinstated without further order of this Court when the supplemental clerk's record is filed with the Court of Appeals.
ORDER ENTERED