Opinion
05-22-00139-CR
10-04-2023
KEPHREN MARCUS THOMAS, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 283rd Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. F20-36078-T
ORDER
ROBERT D. BURNS, III CHIEF JUSTICE
We REINSTATE this appeal.
On June 5, 2023, we abated this appeal for the trial court to make findings concerning exhibits not filed in the reporter's record. The trial court held a hearing on August 15, 2023, and made findings on August 23, 2023.
The trial court found that State's exhibits 314, 317, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, and 343 have not been filed into TAMES. The trial court found these exhibits cannot be loaded onto TAMES because they are either in a format that is not compatible with TAMES or they exceed the maximum size for filing into TAMES. The trial court also found that all the exhibits except State's exhibits 336 and 338 are on DVDs, they are all viewable on a computer with a DVD drive, and no further instructions or passwords are necessary to view the exhibits. State's exhibit 336 is a printed copy of State's exhibit 335, and State's exhibit 338 is a printed copy of State's exhibit 337. The trial court found that counsel for the parties cannot produce the exhibits in a format that would comply with the TAMES portal's restrictions on uploads.
We accept the trial court's findings.
Court reporter Sharina Fowler has previously tendered to this Court and this Court still possesses discs for exhibits containing exhibits that have not been filed through the TAMES portal, namely, State's exhibits A, B, C, D, 315, 335, 337, 339, 340, 342, 343, 344, 345, 407, and Defendant's exhibits 92 and 125, and we ORDER these exhibits filed.
We ORDER court reporter Sharina Fowler to file within FIFTEEN DAYS of the date of this appeal unencrypted DVDs containing copies of State's exhibits 314, 317, and 341.
Because State's exhibits 336 and 338 are printed copies of State's exhibits 335 and 337, State's exhibits 336 and 338 need not be filed at this time. To the extent any party considers State's exhibits 336 and 338 to be necessary and material to the resolution of the appeal, we ORDER the party to file, before the filing of appellant's brief, a motion with the Court objecting to the submission of the appeal without review of the contents of State's Exhibits 336 and 338. If no party files a motion regarding State's Exhibit 336 and 338, the Court will conclude the contents of State's Exhibits 336 and 338 are not necessary and material to the resolution of the appeal.
We DIRECT the Clerk to send copies of this order to the Honorable Lela D. Mays, Presiding Judge, 283rd Judicial District Court; Felicia Pitre, Dallas County District Clerk; Sharina Fowler, Official Court Reporter for the 283rd Judicial District Court; and counsel for all parties.