Opinion
05-23-00419-CR
06-26-2023
MADISON MCDONALD, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 204th Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. F21-33495
ORDER
NANCY KENNEDY, JUSTICE
The clerk's record filed June 23, 2023, contains both sealed and unsealed documents.
Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.10(g) provides, "Sealed portions of the clerk's and reporter's records should be clearly marked and separated from unsealed portions and tendered as separate records, whether in paper form or electronic form." Tex.R.App.P. 9.10(g). The rule also provides, "If a court orders material sealed, . . . the court's sealing order must be . . . the first document that appears if filed in electronic form." Id. The clerk's records do not meet the requirements of Rule 9.10(g).
We ORDER the trial court to determine whether any of the documents in the clerk's record contains sensitive or confidential data and should be subject to a sealing order. The trial court shall identify which documents, if any, should be subject to a sealing order; the trial court shall sign a sealing order sealing those documents the trial court found should be subject to a sealing order; and the trial court shall notify the district clerk of the sealing order or that no documents are subject to a sealing order within THIRTY DAYS of the date of this order.
If the trial court determines that none of the documents should be subject to a sealing order, then the district clerk shall transmit volume 1 of the clerk's record to this Court in an unsealed volume of the clerk's record without a sealing order and without the word "SEALED" on the cover. If the trial court determines that some or all of the documents should be subject to a sealing order, then the district clerk shall transmit those documents in a sealed volume 2 of the clerk's record to this Court with the sealing order as the first document in the sealed volume 2 of the clerk's record; and the district clerk shall transmit all unsealed documents in a separate unsealed volume 1 of the clerk's record without a sealing order. See Tex. R. App. P. 9.10(g). The new volume 1 and, if necessary, volume 2 of the clerk's record shall be filed with this Court within FIFTEEN DAYS of the date of the trial court's sealing orders or notification that no documents are subject to a sealing order and no later than FORTY-FIVE DAYS after the date of this order.
We DIRECT the clerk to temporarily seal the clerk's record in this appeal pending receipt of the trial court's findings.
This appeal is ABATED for the trial court to comply with the above order. The appeal will be reinstated when volume 2 of the clerk's record is refiled and any supplemental clerk's record is filed or at such other time as the Court deems proper.
We DIRECT the Clerk of the Court to send copies of this order to the Honorable Tammy Kemp, Presiding Judge, 204th Judicial District Court; Felicia Pitre, Dallas County District Clerk; and counsel for all parties.