Khari Rayshawn Eddington v. the State of Texas

Opinion

In the

Court of Appeals

Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-26-00073-CR

KHARI RAYSHAWN EDDINGTON, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. 1 Tarrant County, Texas

Trial Court No. 1804154

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Rambin

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Khari Rayshawn Eddington pled guilty to aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and the trial court placed him on ten years’ deferred adjudication community supervision.1 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 29.03(a)(2). The State later filed its amended second petition to adjudicate, alleging that Eddington failed to (1) report on May 23, 2025; (2) report from June 2025 through October 2025; and (3) pay supervision fees. Eddington pled not true to each allegation. After a contested hearing, the trial court found the allegations true, adjudicated Eddington guilty, and sentenced him to ten years’ confinement. Eddington appeals.

Eddington’s appellate counsel filed a motion to withdraw as Eddington’s counsel on appeal, stating that he fully examined the record and reviewed the relevant law, but he found no meritorious issues for appeal. Eddington’s appellate counsel also filed an Anders2 brief in support of his motion to withdraw. In the Anders brief, appellate counsel set out the procedural history of the case and provided a review of Eddington’s pleas of not true to the State’s allegations, the effectiveness of trial counsel, and the legality of the sentence imposed, with citations to the record and applicable authority. Appellate counsel concluded there was no non- frivolous argument to be raised with respect to any of these issues.

Within his motion to withdraw, appellate counsel stated that he sent a letter to Eddington providing him with a copy of the brief, informing him of his rights to review the record and file a

1 This appeal was transferred to this Court from the Second Court of Appeals pursuant to a Texas Supreme Court docket equalization order. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 73.001 (Supp.). Accordingly, we apply the precedent of the Second Court of Appeals in deciding this case to the extent that it conflicts with our own. See TEX. R. APP. P. 41.3. 2 See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).

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brief or response on his own behalf, informing him of his right to appeal, and explaining the meaning and effect of an Anders brief. In his motion to withdraw, appellate counsel also stated that he had delivered a copy of the motion to Eddington and informed him of his right to respond or object to the motion. Appellate counsel attached his separate letter to Eddington as an exhibit to his motion to withdraw, indicating that he sent Eddington copies of the Anders brief and the motion to withdraw and that he was unable to find substantive appealable error. Appellate counsel also informed Eddington in his letter of Eddington’s right to review the record and provided him with a request and the mailing address of this Court for the purpose of obtaining a copy of the record.

On June 1, 2026, we informed Eddington that his pro se motion for access to the record was due on or before June 16. On July 1, we informed Eddington that the case would be submitted on July 22. We did not receive a pro se brief from Eddington nor a motion requesting an extension of time in which to file such a brief.

Appellate counsel’s actions comply with an appointed counsel’s responsibilities when filing an Anders brief and a motion to withdraw in accordance with Kelly v. State. See Kelly v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313, 318–20 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014).3 Appellate counsel’s professional

3 In Kelly, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals listed additional tasks appointed counsel who files an Anders brief must perform:

He must write a letter to (1) notify his client of the motion to withdraw and the accompanying Anders brief, providing him a copy of each, (2) inform him of his right to file a pro se response and of his right to review the record preparatory to filing that response, and (3) inform him of his pro se right to seek discretionary review should the court of appeals declare his appeal frivolous.

To this list we now add that appointed counsel who files a motion to withdraw and Anders brief must also (4) take concrete measures to initiate and facilitate the process of actuating his client’s right to review the appellate record, if that is what his client wishes.

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evaluation of the record demonstrates why there are no arguable grounds to be raised on appeal and meets the requirements of Anders. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 743–44; Kelly, 436 S.W.3d at 318–20.

After our independent review of the entire appellate record, we have independently determined “that there are no non-frivolous grounds for appeal.” See Kelly, 436 S.W.3d at 318 n.16. In the Anders context, once we determine that the appeal is without merit, we must affirm the trial court’s judgment. See Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 826–27 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005). Thus, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.4

Jeff Rambin

Justice

Date Submitted: July 22, 2026 Date Decided: August 19, 2026

Do Not Publish

Kelly, 436 S.W.3d at 319 (footnote omitted) (citations omitted). The court also required counsel to supply the appellant with the mailing address for the court of appeals. Id. at 320.

4 Since we agree that this case presents no non-frivolous grounds for appeal, we also, in accordance with Anders, grant counsel’s request to withdraw from further representation of Appellant in this case. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744. No substitute counsel will be appointed. Should Appellant desire to seek further review of this case by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Appellant must either retain an attorney to file a petition for discretionary review or file a pro se petition for discretionary review. Any petition for discretionary review (1) must be filed within thirty days from either the date of this opinion or the date on which the last timely motion for rehearing was overruled by this Court, see TEX. R. APP. P. 68.2, (2) must be filed with the clerk of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, see TEX. R. APP. P. 68.3, and (3) should comply with the requirements of Rule 68.4 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, see TEX. R. APP. P. 68.4.