Billy Gene Shook III v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: June 21, 2023
• Docket: 09-22-00153-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

________________ NO. 09-22-00153-CR ________________

BILLY GENE SHOOK III, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

________________________________________________________________________

On Appeal from the 253rd District Court Liberty County, Texas Trial Cause No. CR34455 ________________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Billy Gene Shook III was convicted of continuous sexual abuse of

a child, a first degree felony, and sentenced to life in the Institutional Division of the

Texas Department of Criminal Justice. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 21.02(b). We

affirm.

Shook’s appellate counsel filed an Anders brief that presents counsel’s

professional evaluation of the record and concludes the appeal is frivolous; he then

1 filed a motion to withdraw as counsel. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738

(1967); High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807 (Tex. Crim. App. 1978). Shook was notified

of his right to file a pro se brief, but we received no response from Appellant. We

have reviewed the appellate record, and we agree with counsel’s conclusion that no

arguable issues support an appeal. Therefore, we find it unnecessary to order

appointment of new counsel to re-brief the appeal. Cf. Stafford v. State, 813 S.W.2d

503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). We affirm the trial court’s judgment.1

AFFIRMED.

________________________________ JAY WRIGHT Justice

Submitted on May 2, 2023 Opinion Delivered June 21, 2023 Do Not Publish

Before Horton, Johnson and Wright, JJ.

1 Shook may challenge our decision in this case by filing a petition for discretionary review. See Tex. R. App. P. 68. 2