Brandy Nichole Crowe v. State

Opinion

Order entered September 18, 2019

In The

Court of Appeals

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-18-01544-CR

BRANDY NICHOLE CROWE, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. 6 Dallas County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. F16-34211-X

ORDER

On June 20, 2019, appointed counsel Sharita Blacknall filed an Anders brief. She did

not, however, file a motion to withdraw from representation. We notified Ms. Blacknall by telephone and by letter dated July 19, 2019 of the failure to file a motion to withdraw and directed her to file the same by July 29, 2019. To date, Ms. Blacknall has not filed a motion to withdraw or otherwise communicated with the Court regarding this appeal.

We note that Ms. Blacknall has filed nine Anders briefs in appeals over past eight months; during that time, the Court has sent three letters, directing Ms. Blacknall to file a motion to withdraw, and has issued five orders, also ordering her to file a motion to withdraw from representation.

“An Anders brief may not be filed without a motion to withdraw, as the sole purpose of an Anders brief is to explain and support the motion to withdraw.” In re Schulman, 252 S.W.3d 403, 404 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008). Therefore, we ORDER Sharita Blacknall to file a motion to withdraw in this appeal by SEPTEMBER 27, 2019.

Should Ms. Blacknall fail to do so, the Court will take whatever action it deems appropriate including striking the Anders brief and ordering Ms. Blacknall removed from the case or abating the appeal for a hearing in the trial court to determine the adequacy of Ms. Blacknall’s representation and whether she should be referred to the State Bar of Texas Commission for Lawyer Discipline.

/s/ ROBERT D. BURNS, III CHIEF JUSTICE