Justin Dunway Friar v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: February 1, 2023
• Docket: 07-22-00215-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

No. 07-22-00213-CR No. 07-22-00214-CR No. 07-22-00215-CR

JUSTIN DUNWAY FRIAR, APPELLANT

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE

On Appeal from the 452nd District Court McCulloch County, Texas Trial Court Nos. 6707, 6708, & 6709; Honorable Robert R. Hofmann, Presiding

February 1, 2023 ORDER OF ABATEMENT AND REMAND Before PARKER and DOSS and YARBROUGH, JJ.

Appellant, Justin Dunway Friar, appeals1 his convictions for aggravated assault on

a public servant,2 evading arrest or detention with a motor vehicle, 3 and unlawful

1 Originally appealed to the Third Court of Appeals, this appeal was transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to its docket equalizations efforts. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 73.001. 2 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.01(b)(2)(B). 3 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 38.04(b)(2)(A). possession of a firearm.4 Appellant is represented by appointed counsel, John Matthews.

On January 26, 2023, D. Rudolph Taylor, Jr., filed a motion seeking to substitute as

Appellant’s counsel in each appeal. The motion provides that Appellant’s family hired

Taylor to represent Appellant and that Taylor has been unable to communicate with

Matthews.

The trial court has responsibility for appointing counsel to represent indigent

defendants in criminal cases, as well as the authority to relieve or replace appointed

counsel. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. arts. 1.051(d), 26.04(j)(2). We, thus, abate the

appeals and remand the causes to the trial court to rule on the motion to substitute

Appellant’s counsel. Upon remand, the trial court shall determine (1) whether Appellant

still desires to prosecute the appeals; (2) whether Appellant has retained counsel to

prosecute the appeals; (3) if so, whether Appellant remains indigent and entitled to

appointed counsel; and (4) whether to dismiss appointed counsel. See TEX. CODE CRIM.

PROC. ANN. arts. 1.051(d), 26.04(j)(2).

The trial court may also enter such orders necessary to address the

aforementioned questions. The trial court’s findings and any orders issued shall be

included in a supplemental clerk’s record to be filed with this Court by March 3, 2023.

All other appellate deadlines are suspended until further order of this Court.

It is so ordered.

Per Curiam

Do not publish.

4 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 46.04(e).