Opinion
No. 08-16-00185-CR
05-17-2017
TIMOTHY MURRAY, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, State.
Appeal from the 299 District Court of Travis County, Texas (TC# D-1-DC-15-203174) ORDER
Pending before the Court is Appellant's pro se Motion to Dismiss Appointed Counsel. We previously abated this appeal to allow the trial court to conduct a hearing on the motion. The trial court has conducted the hearing and made the findings requested by the Court. The appeal is reinstated.
The record of the hearing reflects that the trial court thoroughly admonished Appellant of the dangers and disadvantages of waiving his right to counsel and proceeding pro se in this appeal. The trial court found that Appellant desires to prosecute his appeal, he is aware of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation on appeal, and Appellant's decision to represent himself on appeal is competently and intelligently made. Appellant has also been advised that if the Court grants his motion, the Court will strike the briefs filed by court-appointed counsel, but Appellant has persisted in his desire to exercise his right of self-representation. Because Appellant did not assert his right to represent himself until after the briefs were filed, the Court has also considered whether Appellant's request to represent himself on appeal is an effort to obstruct court proceedings. Beginning in November 2016, Appellant filed letters and motions with the Court complaining about his relationship with counsel. While Appellant's delay in asserting his right to self-representation has resulted in a waste of resources, we conclude that he has not made his request as part of an effort to obstruct court proceedings.
Having reviewed the record of the hearing and the trial court's findings, we grant Appellant's motion to dismiss court-appointed counsel. The Clerk of the Court is directed to strike the Appellant's brief filed on January 3, 2017, the State's brief filed on February 16, 2017, and the reply brief filed on March 14, 2017. Appellant is ORDERED to file his brief in this case on or before July 16, 2017. The Court is taking steps to provide Appellant with access to the appellate record by mailing a hard copy to the Travis County Correctional Complex.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 17 day of May, 2017.
PER CURIAM Before McClure, C.J., Rodriguez and Palafox, JJ.