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Miller v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourth District, San Antonio
Oct 7, 2024
No. 04-22-00301-CR (Tex. App. Oct. 7, 2024)

Opinion

04-22-00301-CR

10-07-2024

Jack Edward MILLER, Appellant v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee


From the County Court at Law No. 6, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 633088 Honorable Wayne A. Christian, Judge Presiding

ORDER

Irene Rios, Justice

Appellant's brief was originally due on or before July 1, 2024. On July 11, 2024, appellant's counsel filed a motion for extension of time. We granted the motion and ordered counsel to file appellant's brief on or before August 6, 2024. To date, counsel has not filed the appellant's brief. We notified appellant's counsel of the deficiency on September 16, 2024. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.8(b)(2). In that notice, we cautioned appellant that if we did not receive an adequate response by September 26, 2024, we would abate this appeal to the trial court for an abandonment hearing. See id. Neither the brief nor a motion for extension of time to file the brief has been filed.

Pursuant to Rule 38.8(b)(2) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, we abate this case to the trial court and ORDER the trial court to conduct a hearing to answer the following questions:

(1) Does appellant desire to prosecute his appeal?
(2) Is appellant indigent?
(a) If appellant is indigent, the trial court shall take such measures as may be necessary to assure the effective assistance of counsel, which may include the appointment of new counsel.
(b) If the trial court finds that appellant is not indigent, the trial court should determine whether appellant has made the necessary arrangements for filing a brief.
(3) Has appointed or retained counsel abandoned the appeal? Because initiating contempt proceedings against appellant's counsel may be necessary, the trial court should address this issue even if new counsel is retained or substituted before the date of the hearing. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.8 (b)(4).

The trial court may, in its discretion, receive evidence on the first two questions by sworn affidavit from appellant. The trial court shall, however, order appellant's counsel to be present at the hearing.

We ORDER the trial court to file its written findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the abandonment hearing with the trial court clerk on or before November 6, 2024. We ORDER the trial court clerk to file a supplemental clerk's record in this court no later than ten days after the trial court files its findings of facts and conclusions of law. We further ORDER the court reporter to file in this court a supplemental reporter's record of the hearing, along with copies of any documentary evidence admitted, no later than twenty days after the date of the hearing.

All appellate deadlines are ABATED pending further order from this court.


Summaries of

Miller v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourth District, San Antonio
Oct 7, 2024
No. 04-22-00301-CR (Tex. App. Oct. 7, 2024)
Case details for

Miller v. State

Case Details

Full title:Jack Edward MILLER, Appellant v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee

Court:Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourth District, San Antonio

Date published: Oct 7, 2024

Citations

No. 04-22-00301-CR (Tex. App. Oct. 7, 2024)