Opinion
NO. 14-14-00177-CR
06-03-2014
MELVIN EUGENE FLETCHER, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 185th District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 1376099
ABATEMENT ORDER
Appellant is not represented by counsel on appeal. Appellant has requested appointment of counsel. This court is unaware whether appellant is entitled to appointment of counsel and to proceed without the payment of costs. Accordingly, we enter the following order.
We ORDER the judge of the 185th District Court to immediately conduct a hearing at which appellant and counsel for the State shall be present to determine whether appellant desires to prosecute his appeal, and, if so, whether appellant is indigent and, thus entitled to appointed counsel and a free record. The judge shall appoint appellate counsel for appellant, if necessary. The judge shall see that a record of the hearing is made, shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law, and shall order the trial clerk to forward a record of the hearing and a supplemental clerk's record containing the findings and conclusions. Those records shall be filed with the clerk of this court on or before July 3, 2014.
The appeal is abated, treated as a closed case, and removed from this Court's active docket. The appeal will be reinstated on this Court's active docket when the trial court's findings and recommendations are filed in this Court.