Opinion
No. 05-17-00235-CR
10-23-2017
CHRISTOPHER DANIEL DUNTSCH, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. 5 Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. F15-00411-L
ORDER
Before Chief Justice Wright and Justices Myers and Brown
Before the Court is appellant's October 18, 2017 motion for stay of proceedings in the trial court. In the motion, appellant states the trial court has set an indigency hearing for October 24, 2017.
The filing of a notice of appeal divests the trial court of general jurisdiction over a case. See Ramirez v. State, 104 S.W.3d 549, 550 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003). An appellant "who is unable to pay for the appellate record may, by motion or affidavit, ask the trial court to have the appellate record furnished without charge." TEX. R. APP. P. 20.2. "If after hearing the motion the court finds that the appellant cannot pay or give security for the appellate record, the court must order the reporter to transcribe the proceedings." Id. The request to have the appellate record furnished without charge must be made "within the time for perfecting the appeal." Id. Although the code of criminal procedure permits reconsideration of the issue of a defendant's indigency if there is a material change in financial circumstances, see TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 26.04(p) (West Supp. 2016), once the appellate record has been filed, all further proceedings in the trial court are suspended until the appellate court issues its mandate. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(g).
Here, appellant timely filed his notice of appeal, and the appellate record has been filed. Neither appellant nor the State has filed a motion with this Court seeking to abate this appeal for a hearing in the trial court. Under these circumstances, we conclude the trial court no longer has jurisdiction to conduct an inquiry on indigency. TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(g); see State v. Moore, 225 S.W.3d 556, 568 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (holding the trial court's subject matter jurisdiction extends until the appellate record is filed).
We GRANT appellant's motion and ORDER a stay of all proceedings in the trial court.
/s/ CAROLYN WRIGHT
CHIEF JUSTICE