Opinion
14-21-00416-CR
10-28-2021
GARRETT HOUSTON HANNES, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 268th District Court Fort Bend County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 20-DCR-093173
Panel Consists of Justices Jewell, Spain, and Wilson.
ABATEMENT ORDER
PER CURIAM
Before the court is a pro se motion from appellant, seeking additional time to prove this court has jurisdiction over his appeal. In that motion, appellant states that his appointed counsel, Tot Le, filed a motion to withdraw from the representation in the trial court, though appellant is seeking to hire his own counsel. As of the date of this order, this court has not been informed as to whether Tot Le has been permitted to withdraw from the case, whether appellant 1 has been appointed new counsel, or whether he has otherwise obtained counsel. Accordingly, we enter the following order.
We order the judge of the 268th District Court Court to immediately conduct a hearing at which appellant (as well as Tot Le, if the motion to withdraw was not granted) and counsel for the State shall be present, either in person or by video teleconference, to determine whether appellant has successfully obtained counsel, and, if not, whether appellant is thus entitled to appointed counsel. The judge shall appoint appellate counsel for appellant, if necessary. The judge shall see that a record of the hearing is made, shall file written findings of fact and conclusions of law with the trial clerk, order the trial clerk to prepare and certify a supplemental clerk's record containing the findings and conclusions, and order the court reporter to prepare and certify a reporter's record of the hearing. Those records shall be filed with the clerk of this court within 30 days of the date of this order.
The appeal is abated, treated as a closed case, and removed from this court's active docket. The appeal will be reinstated on this court's active docket when the trial court's findings and recommendations are filed in this court. The court will also consider an appropriate motion to reinstate the appeal filed by either party, or the court may reinstate the appeal on its own motion. 2