Opinion
01-24-00616-CV
11-05-2024
In re the Commitment of Donald Carl Sanford
Trial court: 185th District Court of Fort Bend County Trial court case number: 0818362-0101Z
ORDER
Julie Countiss Judge
Appellant, Donald Carl Sanford, has filed a notice of appeal from the trial court's judgment signed on May 31, 2024. On October 29, 2024, appellant's appointed counsel filed a purported Anders brief on behalf of appellant. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).
The procedures set forth in Anders are applicable to an appeal from a trial order of involuntary commitment when an appellant's appointed counsel concludes that there are no non-frivolous issues to assert on appeal. See In re Commitment of Riggs, No. 06-18-00073-CV, 2019 WL 1560688, at *1 (Tex. App.-Texarkana Apr. 11, 2019, no pet.) (mem. op.). An appointed counsel's Anders brief must contain a professional evaluation of the record demonstrating why there are no arguable grounds for reversal. See Anders, U.S. at 744; see also High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807, 813 (Tex. Crim. App. [Panel Op.] 1978). Further, an appellant's appointed counsel, who files an Anders brief, must fulfill a number of additional obligations. See Kelly v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313, 319-20 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014); see also In re Commitment of M.A.C., No. 04-18-00865-CV, 2019 WL 3208819, at *1 (Tex. App.-San Antonio July 17, 2019, no pet.) (mem. op.). Only if appointed counsel has adhered to the Anders procedures is an appellate court then able to conduct an independent review of the brief and the record to determine whether the court agrees with counsel's conclusion that an appeal is wholly frivolous. See In re Commitment of M.A.C., 2019 WL 3208819, at *1-2.
Accordingly, we strike appellant's appointed counsel's brief filed on October 29, 2014 for failure to comply with Anders. Appellant's deadline to file a corrected appellant's brief is thirty days from the date of this order.
Appellant's appointed counsel may file a corrected Anders brief should he believe that the Anders standard is met. Anders guidelines and forms are available on this Court's website. See https://www.txcourts.gov/1stcoa/practice-before-the-court/anders-guidelines-forms/.
Appellee's brief, if any, will be due thirty days from the date appellant's corrected brief is filed. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.6(b).
It is so ORDERED.