Brown v. State

Full title: CHRISTOPHER UNDERHILL BROWN, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

Court: Court of Appeals of Texas, Fifth District, Dallas

Date published: Jun 30, 2023

No. 05-23-00296-CR (Tex. App. Jun. 30, 2023)

Opinion

05-23-00296-CR

06-30-2023

CHRISTOPHER UNDERHILL BROWN, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

ROBERT D. BURNS, III CHIEF JUSTICE

On Appeal from the County Criminal Court No. 5 Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. MB21-42125-F

ORDER

ROBERT D. BURNS, III CHIEF JUSTICE

The clerk's record does not include the trial court's charge to the jury on punishment and the jury's verdict on punishment. See TEX. R. APP. P. 34.6(A)(4) ("[T]HE RECORD MUST INCLUDE COPIES OF THE FOLLOWING: . . . (4) THE COURT'S CHARGE AND THE JURY'S VERDICT ...."). THE REPORTER'S RECORD SHOWS THAT THE JURY ASSESSED appellant's punishment. The Dallas County Clerk has filed a statement stating, "After reviewing our records, we determined the punishment charge was not filed with the County Clerk's office."

We ORDER the trial court to hold a hearing within FIFTEEN DAYS of the date of this order and determine whether the punishment charge and verdict has been lost or destroyed. If the trial court finds that the punishment charge and verdict have not been lost or destroyed, then the trial court shall order that they be included in a supplemental clerk's record filed with this Court. If the trial court finds that the punishment charge and verdict have been lost or destroyed, then the trial court shall determine what constitutes an accurate copy of the punishment charge and verdict and order that they be included in a supplemental clerk's record. See TEX. R. APP. P. 34.6(d), (e).

We ORDER the County Clerk to file a supplemental clerk's record containing the punishment charge within FIFTEEN DAYS of receiving it from the trial court.

We DIRECT the Clerk to send copies of this order to the Honorable Lisa Green, County Criminal Court No. 5, Dallas County; John F. Warren, Clerk of the County Criminal Courts of Dallas County; and counsel for all parties.

We ABATE this appeal to enable the trial court to comply with this order. The appeal shall be reinstated when the supplemental clerk's record containing the punishment charge and verdict is filed or at such other time as the Court deems appropriate.