Dustin Steven Fell v. the State of Texas

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 3rd District (Austin)
• Decided: May 14, 2026
• Docket: 03-25-00648-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-25-00648-CR

Dustin Steven Fell, Appellant

v.

The State of Texas, Appellee

FROM THE 466TH DISTRICT COURT OF COMAL COUNTY NO. CR2024-221E, THE HONORABLE STEPHANIE BASCON, JUDGE PRESIDING

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Dustin Steven Fell was charged with the felony offense of theft of property with a

value of $30,000 or more but less than $150,000. See Tex. Penal Code § 31.03(a), (b), (e)(5).

He pleaded not guilty to the charged offense. Following the guilt-innocence phase, the jury

found him guilty of the charged offense. A punishment hearing was held before the trial court,

and the trial court sentenced him to ten years’ imprisonment and rendered its judgment of

conviction accordingly. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 37.07, § 2; Tex. Penal Code § 12.34. He

appealed the trial court’s judgment of conviction.

Fell’s court-appointed attorney on appeal filed a motion to withdraw supported by

an Anders brief contending that the appeal is frivolous and without merit. See Anders

v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 744-45 (1967). Fell’s court-appointed attorney’s brief meets the

requirements of Anders by presenting a professional evaluation of the record and demonstrating that there are no arguable grounds to be advanced. See id.; Garner v. State, 300 S.W.3d 763, 766

(Tex. Crim. App. 2009); see also Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 81-82 (1988) (explaining that

Anders briefs serve purpose of “assisting the court in determining both that counsel in fact

conducted the required detailed review of the case and that the appeal is . . . frivolous”). Fell’s

counsel represented to the Court that he provided copies of the motion and brief to Fell; advised

Fell of his right to examine the appellate record, file a pro se brief, and pursue discretionary

review following the resolution of the appeal in this Court; and provided Fell with a form motion

for pro se access to the appellate record along with the mailing address of this Court. See Kelly

v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313, 319-20 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014). Fell has not requested a copy of the

appellate record or filed a pro se brief, and the time permitted to file a brief has expired.

We have independently reviewed the record and considered Fell’s appellate brief

filed by counsel, and we have found nothing that might arguably support the appeal. See Anders,

386 U.S. at 744; Garner, 300 S.W.3d at 766. We agree with counsel that the appeal is frivolous

and without merit. Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and affirm the trial

court’s judgment of conviction.

__________________________________________ Karin Crump, Justice

Before Chief Justice Byrne, Justices Theofanis and Crump

Affirmed

Filed: May 14, 2026

Do Not Publish