Opinion
No. 08-15-00264-CR
12-30-2015
THE STATE OF TEXAS, State, v. JOEL GARCIA, Appellee.
Appeal from the 210th District Court of El Paso County, Texas (TC# 20150D00100) ORDER
Pending before the Court is the State's amended motion to enforce our clarified stay order entered on November 16, 2015. The Court previously granted the State's motion for a stay, and our order, dated August 13, 2015, directed the trial court to stay all proceedings in cause number 20150D00100, styled The State of Texas v. Joel Garcia. On November 16, 2015, we modified our stay order to clarify that the trial court had jurisdiction and authority to rule on matters related to bail, but the order did not authorize the trial court to take any other actions related to the case.
The State contends that the trial court subsequently violated the modified stay order by entering an amended gag order on November 18, 2015, by entering an order to seal certain records on November 18, 2015, and by entering supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law (FFCL) on December 8, 2015. The trial court also directed the trial court clerk to include the supplemental FFCL in a supplemental clerk's record and file same with this Court. The trial court clerk submitted the supplemental clerk's record and we received it pending our review of the State's motion.
According to the State, the trial court entered the challenged orders sua sponte and without notice to the State. We have found no authority permitting a trial court to enter a gag order or amended gag order when an interlocutory appeal is pending and a stay order is in effect. We conclude that the trial court violated the stay order by entering the amended gag order on November 18, 2015.
The State's motion does not reflect the nature of the records ordered sealed by the trial court, and the sealed record has not been forwarded to the Court for our review. The clerk's record and reporter's record have already been filed in this appeal. If the records ordered sealed relate to the hearing conducted on the State's motion to increase bond or other matters related to bail, we believe the trial court would have jurisdiction to also issue an order sealing the records. The State has not shown that the trial court's order to seal certain records necessarily violated our stay order.
It is unclear why the trial court entered supplemental FFCL. Neither of the parties filed a motion in this Court requesting that the appeal be abated in order for the trial court to enter supplemental findings, and we did not order the trial court to do so on our own motion. We conclude that the trial court violated the stay order by entering the supplemental FFCL on December 8, 2015.
Having found that the trial court violated the stay order as set forth above, we grant the State's motion in part, and we vacate the amended gag order entered on November 18, 2015 and the supplemental FFCL entered on December 8, 2015. The supplemental clerk's record containing the supplemental FFCL will not be filed or considered by the Court. We further order the trial court to not take any further action or enter any orders in cause number 20150D00100, styled The State of Texas v. Joel Garcia, except on motion filed with this Court and on proper notice to the parties. This order will remain in effect pending the resolution of this appeal or further order of this Court.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 30th day of December, 2015.
PER CURIAM Before McClure, C.J., Rodriguez and Hughes, JJ.