Arthur Whitley v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: September 15, 2017
• Docket: 04-17-00438-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas September 15, 2017

No. 04-17-00438-CR

Arthur WHITLEY, Appellant

v.

The STATE of Texas, Appellee

From the 187th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2015CR8583 Laura Lee Parker, Judge Presiding

ORDER

On September 7, 2017, Mr. Jorge Aristotelidis filed a Motion to Substitute Counsel on Appeal on appellant’s behalf, indicating appellant has retained him to represent appellant on appeal. Appellant requests we recognize Mr. Aristotelidis as appellant’s counsel on appeal and discharge appointed attorney, Mr. H. Todd McCray. Appellant’s retained attorney informs this court that he attempted to contact Mr. McCray two times on Friday, September 1, 2017, but received no response.

The motion contains all of the information required by Rule 6.2. See TEX. R. APP. P. 6.2. The retained attorney, Mr. Aristotelidis, has therefore made an appropriate appearance before this court in this appeal. However, the appointed attorney, Mr. McCray, remains the “lead attorney” because the motion does not comply with the requirements of Rule 6.1(c), which sets out the procedure for changing the lead attorney. See TEX. R. APP. P. 6.1(c). Additionally, Mr. McCray has not filed a motion to withdraw from representing appellant as required by Rule 6.5(d). See TEX. R. APP. P. 6.5(d).

Accordingly, we ORDER Mr. McCray to file a response with this court on or before September 25, 2017, appropriately addressing appellant’s motion to substitute counsel.

_________________________________ Irene Rios, Justice IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 15th day of September, 2017.

___________________________________ Keith E. Hottle Clerk of Court