Jamie Lee Burns A/K/A Jamie Lee Nelson v. the State of Texas

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

No. 07-20-00357-CR

No. 07-20-00358-CR

JAMIE LEE BURNS A/K/A JAMIE LEE NELSON, APPELLANT V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE

On Appeal from the 316th District Court Hutchinson County, Texas

Trial Court No. 11,257, 11,393, Honorable James M. Mosley, Presiding

June 17, 2021

ORDER OF ABATEMENT AND REMAND Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and DOSS, JJ.

Appellant, Jamie Lee Burns a/k/a Jamie Lee Nelson, appeals two judgments revoking his community supervision for the offenses of possession of a controlled substance and forgery. On April 15, 2021, we remanded the appeals after appellant’s counsel, Stacey Grant, failed to timely file a brief. On remand, the trial court issued findings that appellant still desired to prosecute the appeals, was indigent, and that his counsel had not abandoned the appeals. The trial court, thus, permitted Grant to remain as counsel for appellant and directed her to file a brief no later than May 15, 2021. The appeals were reinstated on this court’s docket with this briefing deadline. We later extended the deadline to file appellant’s brief, sua sponte, to June 7, 2021. To date, however, appellant’s counsel has not filed a brief or had any further communication with this court. This court’s phone calls to and messages left with counsel have gone unanswered.

Because Grant has not timely filed an appellate brief, we deem it appropriate to abate the appeals and remand the causes to the trial court for further proceedings. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.8(b)(2), (3). Upon remand, the trial court is directed to discharge Grant as appellant’s counsel and appoint him new appellate counsel. The name, address, email address, telephone number, and state bar number of newly appointed counsel shall be included in a supplemental clerk’s record to be filed with this court by July 1, 2021. Should further time be needed to perform these tasks, then same must be requested before July 1, 2021.

It is so ordered.

Per Curiam

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