Opinion
NO. 14-20-00313-CR NO. 14-20-00314-CR
11-05-2020
SAYANTAN GHOSE, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 122nd District Court Galveston County, Texas
Trial Court Cause Nos. 17-CR-2032 and 17-CR-2033
CONTINUING ABATEMENT ORDER
The trial court appointed Joel H. Bennett to represent appellant in these appeals. On May 18, 2020, and June 29, 2020, appellant filed pro se motions to dismiss Bennett and appoint other counsel.
An appointed attorney shall represent the defendant until
. . . charges are dismissed, the defendant is acquitted, appeals are exhausted, or the attorney is permitted or ordered by the court to
withdraw as counsel for the defendant after a finding of good cause is entered on the record.Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 26.04(j)(2).
On July 7, 2020, we abated this appeal and ordered the judge of the 122nd District Court to consider appellant's motion to dismiss appointed counsel and appoint new counsel. The trial court conducted a hearing and on July 31, 2020, a record of that hearing was filed in this court. The hearing record reflects that appellant did not want to represent himself but wanted time to hire new counsel. The trial court recommended appellant be allowed ninety days to hire appellate counsel. As of this date, no retained counsel has appeared on behalf of appellant.
Accordingly, we continue our abatement of this appeal and order the judge of the 122nd District Court to consider appellant's motion to dismiss appointed counsel and appoint new counsel. The judge shall see that a record of any hearing is made and shall order the trial clerk to forward a record of the hearing, if any, and a supplemental clerk's record containing any orders regarding appellant's motion. The record(s) shall be filed with this court within thirty days of the date of this order
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 after the requested records are filed in this court.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Chief Justice Frost and Justices Jewell and Poissant.