Opinion
NO. 02-15-00414-CRNO. 02-15-00415-CR
02-23-2016
JEROME DIEGO BROWN APPELLANT v. THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE
FROM 371 ST DISTRICT COURT OF TARRANT COUNTY
TRIAL COURT NO. 0514634D, 0554991D
ABATEMENT ORDER
Appellant Jerome Diego Brown filed his "Second Notice to Court of Motion for Correction of Remediable Errors: Under 44.4" in January 2016. Through this motion, i t has come to the court's attention that appellant is proceeding pro se on appeal.
In his motion, appellant asked both for appointment of counsel and for a complete copy of the record so that he could proceed pro se, in addition to abatement to the trial court and production of a variety of items that may be outside of the record.
We hereby order this appeal abated and remanded to the trial court to conduct a hearing with appellant, an attorney for the State, and the court reporter present. At the hearing, the trial court shall:
The trial court may make arrangements for appellant to appear by telephone conference.
1. Determine whether appellant desires to prosecute his appeal;
2. Determine whether appellant is indigent;
3. Determine whether counsel should be appointed to represent appellant and if so, appoint counsel;
4. Admonish appellant in accordance with Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 835, 95 S. Ct. 2525, 2541 (1975), and Hubbard v. State, 739 S.W.2d 341, 345 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987), if he desires to proceed pro se;
5. If appellant desires to proceed pro se, determine whether that decision is competently and intelligently made; and
6. Take any other measures that the trial court deems necessary to insure appellant does not forfeit his right to appeal.
If new counsel is appointed to represent appellant, the supplemental record shall reflect that counsel has been notified of the appointment. If appellant is incarcerated, the trial court shall also retain him in the county for a reasonable period of time to allow new counsel an opportunity to confer with appellant. --------
The trial court shall file a record of the hearing in this court that shall include a supplemental reporter's record and supplemental clerk's record. The supplemental record is due in this court as soon as practicable, taking into account the exigencies of the trial court's docket. However, if the trial court will need more than 30 days to conduct the hearing and file the record, the trial court shall immediately notify this court that it requires a reasonable extension beyond that period of time.
Upon our receipt of the supplemental record, the appeal of this cause shall be reinstated automatically without further order. Appellant's brief by court-appointed counsel, if any, shall be due thirty days after this appeal is reinstated. If, after being warned as set forth above, the trial court determines that appellant has intelligently and competently decided to proceed pro se, then we will set his briefing deadline at that time.
To the extent that appellant has requested the relief addressed in this order, we grant his motion. All other relief requested in appellant's motion is hereby denied.
The clerk of this court shall transmit a copy of this order to appellant, the State's attorney of record, the trial judge, the trial court clerk, and the court reporter.
DATED February 23, 2016.
PER CURIAM