Opinion
No. 11-20-00065-CV
08-13-2020
IN THE INTEREST OF S.W. AND A.W., CHILDREN
On Appeal from the 29th District Court Palo Pinto County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. C48633
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This is an appeal from a final order in which the trial court terminated the parental rights of the father of S.W. and A.W. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 161.001 (West Supp. 2019). The father filed a notice of appeal. We affirm.
Appellant's court-appointed counsel has filed a motion to withdraw and a supporting brief in which counsel professionally and conscientiously examines the record and applicable law and concludes that the appeal is frivolous and presents no issues of arguable merit. The brief meets the requirements of Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), by presenting a professional evaluation of the record and demonstrating why there are no arguable grounds to be advanced. See In re Schulman, 252 S.W.3d 403, 406-08 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008); High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807, 812 (Tex. Crim. App. [Panel Op.] 1978). In light of a holding by the Texas Supreme Court, however, an Anders motion to withdraw "may be premature" if filed in the court of appeals under the circumstances presented in this case. See In re P.M., 520 S.W.3d 24, 27 (Tex. 2016). The court in P.M. stated that "appointed counsel's obligations can be satisfied by filing a petition for review that satisfies the standards for an Anders brief." Id. at 27-28.
Appellant's counsel provided Appellant with a copy of the brief and the motion to withdraw. In compliance with Kelly v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313, 318-20 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014), counsel provided Appellant with a copy of the record in this cause and informed Appellant of his right to review the record and file a pro se response to counsel's brief. We conclude that Appellant's counsel has satisfied his duties under Anders, Schulman, and Kelly.
We note that Appellant has not filed a pro se response to counsel's Anders brief. Following the procedures outlined in Anders and Schulman, we have independently reviewed the record in this cause, and we agree that the appeal is frivolous. However, in light of P.M., we must deny the motion to withdraw that was filed by Appellant's court-appointed counsel. See P.M., 520 S.W.3d at 27.
Accordingly, we deny counsel's motion to withdraw, and we affirm the trial court's order of termination.
PER CURIAM August 13, 2020 Panel consists of: Bailey, C.J.,
Stretcher, J., and Wright, S.C.J. Willson, J., not participating.
Jim R. Wright, Senior Chief Justice (Retired), Court of Appeals, 11th District of Texas at Eastland, sitting by assignment.