In Re: Bobby Gene Halbert v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 5, 2023
Docket12-23-00023-CR
StatusPublished

This text of In Re: Bobby Gene Halbert v. the State of Texas (In Re: Bobby Gene Halbert v. the State of Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re: Bobby Gene Halbert v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS TWELFTH COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT TYLER, TEXAS IN RE: §

BOBBY GENE HALBERT, § ORIGINAL PROCEEDING

RELATOR §

MEMORANDUM OPINION PER CURIAM Relator, Bobby Gene Halbert, filed this original proceeding to challenge Respondent’s ruling appointing counsel when other counsel, Clay Dean Thomas, was previously appointed and Relator objected to the new appointment of Kimberly Miller Ryan. 1 Thomas filed this original proceeding on Relator’s behalf. We deny the writ.

BACKGROUND According to Relator’s petition and attached affidavit, on January 12, 2022, the Honorable James Payne, Jr. appointed Thomas to represent Relator. 2 Relator and Thomas met on January 26 to discuss his case. Relator maintains that Thomas also interviewed witnesses. But Relator avers that on May 31, he was transported to court for arraignment, at which time Respondent informed him, over his objection, that she was appointing Ryan to represent him because Thomas was not present at the arraignment. Relator states that he and Thomas had no

1 Respondent is the Honorable LeAnn Kay Rafferty, Judge of the 123rd District Court in Shelby County, Texas. The State of Texas is the Real Party in Interest. 2 Judge Payne is the presiding judge of the 273rd District Court in Shelby County, Texas. notice of the May 31 setting. Relator claims that on July 25, he informed Respondent regarding the lack of contact with Ryan and requested Thomas’s reinstatement, but Respondent denied the request. Relator filed this original proceeding on January 18, 2023. That same day, the Clerk of this Court notified Relator that his petition for writ of mandamus failed to comply with Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 52.3(k) and 52.7, which require that an appendix and record accompany the petition. See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.3(k) (appendix); TEX. R. APP. P. 52.7 (record). The notice informed Relator that his petition would be referred to the Court for dismissal unless he provided an appendix and the record on or before January 23. We granted Relator’s motion to file a late appendix and record. On February 13, Relator filed a notice of inability to supplement record, in which he explained that he filed a request for preparation of the reporter’s record, a motion for free reporter’s record, and proposed orders, but Respondent failed to rule. On February 28, this Court ordered Respondent to conduct a hearing and make written findings of fact and conclusions of law as to whether (1) Relator is indigent and entitled to a copy of the reporter’s record without charge, and (2) if Relator is not so entitled, the date he will make acceptable payment arrangements for the reporter’s record. On March 8, Respondent conducted this hearing, at which Thomas failed to appear, and found that Relator is not indigent for purposes of obtaining a free record. 3 Ryan represented Relator at the March 8 hearing and Relator told Respondent that he would like to proceed to trial with Ryan as his counsel. On March 19, Thomas filed a notice with this Court stating that he sent payment for the record. The reporter filed the record on March 28.

PREREQUISITES TO MANDAMUS To obtain mandamus relief in a criminal case, the relator must show that he does not have an adequate remedy at law and the act he seeks to compel is ministerial (not involving a discretionary or judicial decision). State ex rel. Young v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Appeals, 236 S.W.3d 207, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (orig. proceeding). If the relator fails to satisfy either prong of this test, mandamus relief should be denied. Id. “[W]hen the record demonstrates that counsel was improperly removed as counsel for his client, mandamus is the proper remedy.”

3 Respondent also scheduled a show cause hearing for March 8 regarding Thomas’s acting on Relator’s behalf when Relator is represented by Ryan. Thomas filed a motion for emergency relief and this Court granted his request for a stay of the show cause hearing pending further order of this Court. 2 In re Moore, No. WR-87,158-01, 2018 WL 2716699, at *4 (Tex. Crim. App. June 6, 2018) (not designated for publication) (emphasis added); see In re Fletcher, 584 S.W.3d 584, 590 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2019, orig. proceeding) (conditionally granting mandamus, instructing trial court to vacate orders removing appointed counsel from case and denying motion to reinstate counsel).

ABUSE OF DISCRETION Relator contends that Respondent abused her discretion by (1) removing Thomas and appointing new counsel over his objection, and (2) failing to rule on his subsequent requests that Thomas be reappointed. Applicable Law An appointed attorney shall “represent the defendant until charges are dismissed, the defendant is acquitted, appeals are exhausted, or the attorney is permitted or ordered by the court to withdraw as counsel for the defendant after a finding of good cause is entered on the record.” TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 26.04(j)(2) (West Supp. 2022) (emphasis added). “Although an indigent defendant does not have the right to counsel of his own choosing, once counsel is appointed, the trial judge is obliged to respect the attorney-client relationship created through the appointment.” Buntion v. Harmon, 827 S.W.2d 945, 949 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) (en banc). There must be a principled reason, apparent from the record, to justify a trial court’s sua sponte replacement of appointed counsel. Id. (“Given the fundamental nature of an accused’s right to counsel, we cannot agree that a trial judge’s discretion to replace appointed trial counsel over the objection of both counsel and defendant extends to a situation where the only justification for such replacement is the trial judge’s personal ‘feelings’ and ‘preferences’”). Proceedings Below The record reflects that at the May 31 arraignment, Relator acknowledged having an opportunity to confer with his counsel, Ryan, and entered a plea of “not guilty.” Relator did not object to Ryan acting as his counsel. At a July 25 pretrial hearing, the following exchanges occurred:

HALBERT: I would like to request my original court-appointed attorney back. The reason he wasn’t here when I had court, he said he was not notified that I had court. And then that day I had informed y’all that I already had an attorney, and then you went ahead and appointed Ms. Ryan.

3 COURT: I did. And you know why I did that? Because Ms. – you’re looking at some really serious charges … and you’re looking at more charges. I believe that there are additional felony offenses that are going to be presented to the grand jury. And Ms. Ryan is board certified in criminal law, and she handles these types of cases successfully.

HALBERT: Is there a reason I can’t use Clay Thomas? I mean, I’ve spoken to the man, he zooms with me, I feel confident in him. And like I said, I didn’t fire him.

COURT: No, sir. He wasn’t here. He’s been removed from the case, so -- because of – pursuant to our plan, I removed him from this case. If you want to represent yourself, you have a constitutional right to do so. I wouldn't recommend it.

HALBERT: I do -- I do want it on the record that I did request to have Clay Thomas back, you know. I --

COURT: Okay.

HALBERT: I just feel like I’m being railroaded for some reason, you know.

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Related

Montejo v. Louisiana
556 U.S. 778 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Missouri v. Frye
132 S. Ct. 1399 (Supreme Court, 2012)
Gonzales v. State
532 S.W.2d 343 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1976)
Buntion v. Harmon
827 S.W.2d 945 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
State ex rel. Young v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Appeals at Texarkana
236 S.W.3d 207 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
In Re: Bobby Gene Halbert v. the State of Texas, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-bobby-gene-halbert-v-the-state-of-texas-texapp-2023.