Opinion
No. 05-18-00291-CV
07-19-2018
IN THE INTEREST OF B.H. AND J.H., CHILDREN
On Appeal from the 305th Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. JC-16-00779-X
ORDER
Frank Adler, the attorney for appellant Mother, filed a brief in this case purporting to be pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). As an attorney filing an Anders brief, Mr. Adler had the responsibility to notify this Court of Appeals that he (1) informed appellant Mother of the Anders brief, (2) provided her with a copy of the brief, and (3) provided her with a form motion for pro se access to the appellate record and the mailing address for this Court. Kelly v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313, 320 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014). Mr. Adler did not comply with requirement. Additionally, this Court requires Mr. Adler to provide us with appellant Mother's address so that we may communicate with her directly. Despite multiple telephone calls and a letter from this Court, Mr. Adler has not complied with these requirements.
Additionally, the brief filed by Mr. Adler does not comply with the requirements of Anders. Although the brief states, "[t]he undersigned appointed attorney on appeal concludes the appeal is without merit and frivolous," it also states, "the undersigned appellate counsel presents one arguable ground for appellate review. The MSA signed by all parties was not in the children's best interest." These statements are contradictory. The statement that counsel presents an arguable ground for appellate review is contrary to the requirements for an Anders brief. We asked Mr. Adler to file an amended brief by July 16, 2018. As of the date of this order, Mr. Adler has not filed an amended brief.
Accordingly, we ORDER the trial court to hold a hearing and make findings of fact on the following questions:
1. Has Mr. Adler notified appellant Mother he has filed an Anders brief?
2. Has Mr. Adler provided appellant Mother with a copy of the brief?
3. Has Mr. Adler provided appellant Mother with a form motion for pro se access to the appellate record or otherwise instructed her how to obtain access to the record?
4. Has Mr. Adler provided appellant Mother the mailing address for this Court?
5. What is appellant Mother's current or last known mailing address?
6. By what date will Mr. Adler file an amended brief?
We ORDER the trial court to file a supplemental clerk's record containing findings of fact on these question and to file it with this Court by August 3, 2018.
We ORDER the clerk of this Court to remove this case from the submission docket.
We ABATE this appeal until the supplemental record is filed with this Court or until August 3, 2018.
/s/ ELIZABETH LANG-MIERS
PRESIDING JUSTICE