Brenda Kay Hyden v. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: December 29, 2006
• Docket: 13-06-00314-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

NUMBER 13-06-314-CV

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG

BRENDA KAY HYDEN, Appellant,

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY

AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES, Appellee.

On appeal from the 33rd District Court of Burnet County, Texas.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Yañez, Rodriguez, and Garza

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Garza

This is an accelerated appeal from an order terminating the parental rights of appellant, Brenda Gay Hyden, to her minor children, F.L.H., C.G.H., H.S.H., A.T.D., and B.M.T.D. ⁽¹⁾

Appellant's attorney has filed an Anders brief, Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 744 (1967), and has informed this Court that she has "diligently reviewed and evaluated the record" and can find no arguable grounds to be advanced on appeal. The procedures set forth in Anders are applicable to an appeal of the termination of parental rights when an appointed attorney concludes that there are no non-frivolous issues to assert on appeal. See In re K.D., 127 S.W.3d 66, 67 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2003, no pet.); Porter v. Tex. Dep't of Protective & Regulatory Servs., 105 S.W.3d 52, 56 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi 2003, no pet.). The brief filed meets the requirements of Anders by presenting a professional evaluation of the record and demonstrating that there are no arguable grounds for appeal. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744. Appellant's attorney states that she has served a copy of her brief on appellant and informed appellant of her right to file a pro se brief. More than thirty days have passed and no pro se brief has been filed.

Upon receiving an Anders brief, we must conduct a full examination of all the proceedings to determine whether the case is wholly frivolous. Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80 (1988). We have reviewed the entire record and the briefs and we have found nothing that would arguably support an appeal. We agree the appeal is frivolous and without merit. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's decree terminating the parental rights of appellant.

In accordance with Anders, appellant's attorney has asked permission to withdraw as counsel for appellant. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744. We grant her motion to withdraw. We further order appellant's attorney to notify appellant of the disposition of this appeal and the availability of discretionary review. See In re K.D., 127 S.W.2d at 68 n.3 (citing Ex parte Wilson, 956 S.W.2d 25, 27 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997) (per curiam)).

DORI CONTRERAS GARZA,

Justice

Memorandum Opinion delivered and

filed this the 29th day of December, 2006.

1. The trial court also terminated the parental rights of (1) Jerry Hyden to his minor children F.L.H., C.G.H. and H.S.H, (2) John Carney to his minor child, B.M.T.D., and (3) Ron Fiedler to his minor child A.T.D. They are not parties to this appeal.