Opinion
Appellate case number: 01-16-00261-CR
12-01-2016
Donald Ray Lewis v. The State of Texas
ORDER Trial court case number: 1485045 Trial court: 185th District Court of Harris County
Appellant's court-appointed counsel filed a brief concluding that the above-referenced appeal is frivolous. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 744, 87 S. Ct. 1396, 1400 (1967). Counsel has not, however, filed a letter in accordance with Kelly v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014), "to (1) notify his client of the motion to withdraw and the accompanying Anders brief, providing him with a copy of each, (2) inform him of his right to file a pro se response and of his right to review the record preparatory to filing that response," and (3) to "notify his client that, should he wish to exercise his right to review the appellate record in preparing to file a response to the Anders brief, he should immediately file a motion for pro se access to the appellate record with the applicable court of appeals," which letter includes "a form motion . . lacking only the appellant's signature and the date, . . . inform[ing] the appellant that, in order to effectuate his right to review the appellate record pro se, should he choose to invoke it, he must sign and date the motion and send it on to the court of appeals within ten days of the date of the letter from appellate counsel." 436 S.W.3d at 319-20.
Accordingly, we order appellant's appointed counsel, Kevin P. Keating, to send a letter and a form motion, such as the motion attached to this order, to the appellant in accordance with Kelly. Id. We further order appellant's appointed counsel to notify us, in writing, "that he has (1) informed the appellant of the motion to withdraw and attendant Anders brief, (2) provided the appellant with the requisite copies while notifying him of his various pro se rights, and (3) supplied him with a form motion for pro se access to the appellate record." Id. at 320. Counsel shall send the required letter to his client and shall file the required notice with the Clerk of this Court within 14 days of the date of this order.
It is so ORDERED. Judge's signature: /s/ Harvey Brown
[×] Acting individually Date: December 1, 2016 Return to:
First Court of Appeals
301 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002 COURT OF APPEALS 1ST DISTRICT HOUSTON, TEXAS Pro se Motion for Access to Appellate Record To the Honorable Justices of Said Court:
Appellant's appointed counsel has filed a brief in the above styled and numbered cause pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).
Appellant now moves this Court to provide him with a copy of the appellate record including the clerk's record and the court reporter's record for use in preparing his pro se response to counsel's brief.
Appellant requests an extension of time of 30 days from the granting of this motion to file a pro se response to counsel's Anders brief.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/_________
Pro se Appellant
__________ Unit, TDCJ # __________
__________, Texas __________
Certificate of Service
This is to certify that on __________(Date), a true and correct copy of the above and foregoing document was served by mail on: Harris County District Attorney's Office, 1201 Franklin, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77002
/s/_________
Pro se Appellant