Robinson v. State

Full title: LATOYA ROBINSON, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

Court: Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas

Date published: Feb 21, 2014

No. 05-13-01521-CR (Tex. App. Feb. 21, 2014)

Opinion

No. 05-13-01521-CR

02-21-2014

LATOYA ROBINSON, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

LANA MYERS

On Appeal from the County Criminal Auxiliary Court No. 1/South

Dallas County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. TR-13-03619

ORDER

The Court REINSTATES the appeal.

On January 14, 2014, we ordered the trial court to make findings regarding whether the proceedings in this case were audio recorded and whether the recordings could be verified. We ADOPT the trial court's findings that: (1) the proceedings were audio recorded; (2) a hearing was conducted on February 6, 2014 regarding the recordings; (3) appellant, who is pro se, did not appear on the date of the hearing, but there was inclement weather that may have created transportation difficulties for her; (4) the trial judge and an assistant district attorney listened to the tapes; (5) the assistant district attorney left early due to the inclement weather; (6) there are three audiotapes and proceedings were recorded on all three tapes; (7) the tapes are incomplete and unclear and one tape also appears to contain recordings from another case; and (8) the trial court cannot certify the accuracy of the audiotapes.

The trial court recommended that appellant be granted a new trial. The recommendation is deferred to the submissions panel.

We note that on December 10, 2013, appellant filed a pro se brief in which she raised many issues related to the trial of her case. She did not, however, raise an issue regarding the recording of the trial. The State has not yet filed its brief.

Accordingly, we ORDER appellant to file, by MARCH 24, 2014, an amended brief. We specifically DIRECT appellant to address the issue of the trial court's findings regarding the audiotapes of the proceedings.

The State's brief is due by APRIL 23, 2014.

We DIRECT the Clerk to send a copy of this order, by first-class mail, to Latoya Robinson, 616 Lacewood Drive, Dallas, Texas 75224.

We DIRECT the Clerk to send a copy of this order, by electronic transmission, to the Dallas County District Attorney's Office.

LANA MYERS

JUSTICE