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Williams v. State

Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
Oct 14, 2020
No. 07-20-00122-CR (Tex. App. Oct. 14, 2020)

Opinion

No. 07-20-00122-CR

10-14-2020

LONNIE WILLIAMS, APPELLANT v. STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE


On Appeal from the 361st District Court of Brazos County, Texas
Trial Court No. 17-04910-CRF-361 , Honorable Steve Smith, Presiding

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and DOSS, JJ.

Lonnie B. Williams, appellant, appeals the trial court's judgment convicting him of indecency with a child by sexual contact. After accepting appellant's open plea of guilty, the trial court imposed a punishment of five years' imprisonment. Appellant filed an appeal.

Because this appeal was transferred from the Tenth Court of Appeals, we are obligated to apply its precedent when available in the event of a conflict between the precedents of that court and this Court. See TEX. R. APP. P. 41.3.

Appellant's counsel has filed a motion to withdraw together with an Anders brief. Through those documents, she certifies to the Court that, after diligently searching the record, the appeal is without merit. Accompanying the brief and motion is a copy of a letter sent by counsel to appellant informing the latter of counsel's belief that there is no reversible error and of appellant's right to file a response, pro se, to counsel's Anders brief. So too did counsel provide appellant with a motion for pro se access to the appellate record. By letter dated September 3, 2020, this Court notified appellant of his right to file his own brief or response by October 5, 2020, if he wished to do so. To date, no response has been received; nor has appellant filed his motion to access the appellate record.

See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 744-45, 87 S. Ct. 1396, 18 L. Ed. 2d 493 (1967).

In compliance with the principles enunciated in Anders, appellate counsel discussed potential areas for appeal. They included 1) whether the evidence was sufficient to support appellant's conviction, 2) whether appellant's original guilty plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered, and 3) whether appellant's sentence exceeded the proper range of punishment. We conducted our own review of the record to assess the accuracy of counsel's conclusions and to uncover arguable error pursuant to In re Schulman, 252 S.W.3d 403, 406 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008), and Stafford v. State, 813 S.W.2d 503, 508 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991) (en banc). No issues of arguable merit were uncovered, however.

Accordingly, the motion to withdraw is granted, and the judgment is affirmed.

Appellant has the right to file a petition for discretionary review with the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Brian Quinn

Chief Justice

Do not publish.


Summaries of

Williams v. State

Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
Oct 14, 2020
No. 07-20-00122-CR (Tex. App. Oct. 14, 2020)
Case details for

Williams v. State

Case Details

Full title:LONNIE WILLIAMS, APPELLANT v. STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE

Court:Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

Date published: Oct 14, 2020

Citations

No. 07-20-00122-CR (Tex. App. Oct. 14, 2020)