Opinion
NO. 09-19-00174-CV
08-08-2019
IN THE INTEREST OF R.S.C. JR.
On Appeal from the 356th District Court Hardin County, Texas
Trial Cause No. 59344
ORDER
R.C., appellant, appealed a judgment terminating the parent-child relationship between appellant and R.S.C. Jr. R.C.'s appellate counsel filed a brief that presents counsel's professional evaluation of the record and concludes the appeal is frivolous. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967); In re L.D.T., 161 S.W.3d 728, 731 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2005, no pet.) (holding that Anders procedures apply in parental-rights termination cases).
Our review of the record reveals arguable error regarding whether insufficient evidence supports the grounds for termination under Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 161.001(1)(D) and (E) (West Supp. 2018). Because of the potential consequences for parental rights to a different child, a sufficiency challenge to (D) and (E) findings is not frivolous solely because sufficient evidence supports other grounds for termination under section 161.001(1). See generally In re N.G., No. 18-0508, 2019 WL 2147263, at *3 (Tex. May 17, 2019); In re C.M.C., 554 S.W.3d 164, 173 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2018, no pet.). Having found arguable error, we must remand the case to the trial court for appointment of new counsel. See Stafford v. State, 813 S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). We therefore grant counsel's motion to withdraw, abate the appeal, and remand the cause to the trial court. The trial court shall, within twenty days from the date of this Order, appoint a new attorney on appeal to present all arguable grounds of error, including but not limited to the nonfrivolous ground noted in this Order.
It is, therefore, ORDERED that the appeal is ABATED and the cause is REMANDED to the trial court for appointment of new appellate counsel for R.C. A supplemental clerk's record containing the order appointing new counsel shall be filed with the Court by August 28, 2019. The brief of the appellant shall be due twenty days after the appeal is reinstated. The Department's brief shall be due twenty days after the appellant's brief is filed. We remove the case from the submitted docket. The appeal will be re-submitted after the briefs on the merits have been filed.
ORDER ENTERED August 8, 2019.
PER CURIAM Before McKeithen, C.J., Kreger and Johnson, JJ.