Opinion
02-23-00236-CR
06-06-2024
Donald Wayne Blankenship, Jr., Appellant v. The State of Texas
Do Not Publish Tex.R.App.P. 47.2(b)
On Appeal from the 355th District Court Hood County, Texas Trial Court No. CR14827
Before Sudderth, C.J.; Birdwell and Bassel, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Bonnie Sudderth Chief Justice
The trial court adjudicated Donald Wayne Blankenship Jr. guilty of indecency with a child, assessed his punishment at twenty years' confinement, and sentenced him accordingly. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 21.11. Blankenship appealed.
Blankenship's court-appointed appellate counsel has filed a motion to withdraw as counsel and a brief in support of that motion, in which she avers that, in her professional opinion, this appeal is frivolous. Counsel's brief and motion meet the requirements of Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 744-45, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 1400 (1967), by professionally evaluating the appellate record and demonstrating why no arguable grounds for relief exist. See Stafford v. State, 813 S.W.2d 503, 510-11 &n.3 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). Counsel also complied with Kelly v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313, 319 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014).
This court gave Blankenship the opportunity to file a response on his own behalf, but he did not do so. Likewise, the State did not file a response.
After an appellant's court-appointed counsel files a motion to withdraw on the ground that an appeal is frivolous and fulfills Anders's requirements, we must independently examine the record for any arguable ground that may be raised on his behalf. See Stafford, 813 S.W.2d at 511. Only then may we grant counsel's motion to withdraw. See Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 82-83, 109 S.Ct. 346, 351 (1988).
We have carefully reviewed counsel's brief and the appellate record. We agree with counsel that the appeal is wholly frivolous and without merit; we find nothing in the appellate record that otherwise arguably might support the appeal. See Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 827-28 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005); see also Meza v. State, 206 S.W.3d 684, 685 n.6 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006).
Having found that the appeal is frivolous, we grant counsel's motion to withdraw, and we affirm the trial court's judgment.