in the Interest of R.S.C. Jr.

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 8, 2019
• Docket: 09-19-00174-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

_________________

NO. 09-19-00174-CV _________________

IN THE INTEREST OF R.S.C. JR.

________________________________________________________________________

On Appeal from the 356th District Court Hardin County, Texas Trial Cause No. 59344 ________________________________________________________________________

ORDER

R.C., appellant, appealed a judgment terminating the parent-child relationship

between appellant and R.S.C. Jr. R.C.’s appellate counsel filed a brief that presents

counsel’s professional evaluation of the record and concludes the appeal is frivolous.

See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967); In re L.D.T., 161 S.W.3d 728, 731

(Tex. App.—Beaumont 2005, no pet.) (holding that Anders procedures apply in

parental-rights termination cases).

Our review of the record reveals arguable error regarding whether insufficient

evidence supports the grounds for termination under Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 1 161.001(1)(D) and (E) (West Supp. 2018). Because of the potential consequences

for parental rights to a different child, a sufficiency challenge to (D) and (E) findings

is not frivolous solely because sufficient evidence supports other grounds for

termination under section 161.001(1). See generally In re N.G., No. 18-0508, 2019

WL 2147263, at *3 (Tex. May 17, 2019); In re C.M.C., 554 S.W.3d 164, 173 (Tex.

App.—Beaumont 2018, no pet.). Having found arguable error, we must remand the

case to the trial court for appointment of new counsel. See Stafford v. State, 813

S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). We therefore grant counsel’s motion to

withdraw, abate the appeal, and remand the cause to the trial court. The trial court

shall, within twenty days from the date of this Order, appoint a new attorney on

appeal to present all arguable grounds of error, including but not limited to the

nonfrivolous ground noted in this Order.

It is, therefore, ORDERED that the appeal is ABATED and the cause is

REMANDED to the trial court for appointment of new appellate counsel for R.C.

A supplemental clerk’s record containing the order appointing new counsel shall be

filed with the Court by August 28, 2019. The brief of the appellant shall be due

twenty days after the appeal is reinstated. The Department’s brief shall be due twenty

days after the appellant’s brief is filed. We remove the case from the submitted

docket. The appeal will be re-submitted after the briefs on the merits have been filed.

2 ORDER ENTERED August 8, 2019.

PER CURIAM

Before McKeithen, C.J., Kreger and Johnson, JJ.