Opinion
05-22-00418-CR
02-15-2023
BILLY KIPKORIR CHEMIRMIR, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 203rd Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. F18-75401-P
ORDER
ERIN A. NOWELL, JUSTICE
We REINSTATE this appeal.
Appellant's brief is overdue. Valencia Bush was appointed appellant's counsel on April 28, 2022. The record was filed September 21, 2022, and appellant's brief was due October 21, 2022. We notified appellant's counsel on October 26, 2022 by postcard that the brief was overdue and directed counsel to file within ten days both appellant's brief and an extension motion. We cautioned counsel that if the brief and an extension motion were not filed, we would order the trial court to conduct a hearing.
On December 14, 2022, we abated the case for the trial court to conduct a hearing to determine why appellant's brief had not been filed. On January 27, 2023, the trial judge notified the Court that she had made "several attempts to request the Defense Attorney's presence[;] she has not appeared nor responded to phone calls or emails." The trial judge stated that during her last conversation with Ms. Bush in December 2022, Ms. Bush told the judge she "had filed an extension and would go to her office and forward a copy of the granted extension to my court and the ADA assigned to the appeal. We never received anything ...." This Court's records do not show Ms. Bush has moved for an extension of time to file the brief in this appeal. The only communications from Ms. Bush to this Court concerning this appeal since her appointment in April 2022 was the filing of the notice of appeal on May 2, 2022, and the filing of the docketing statement on May 9, 2022.
Appellant's appointed counsel, Valencia Bush, appears to have abandoned the appeal. Accordingly, we ORDER Valencia Bush removed as appellant's appointed attorney.
We ORDER the trial court to appoint new counsel to represent appellant in this appeal and to transmit the order appointing counsel to this Court within FIFTEEN DAYS of the date of this order.
We DIRECT the trial court to send copies of this order to the Honorable Raquel Rocky Jones, Presiding Judge, 203rd Judicial District Court; Valencia Bush; and to Jaclyn O'Connor Lambert, Assistant District Attorney.
This appeal is ABATED to allow the trial court to comply with the above order. This appeal shall be reinstated when the record transmitted by the trial court is received or at such other time as the Court deems proper.