Marian Fraser v. the State of Texas

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

No. 07-23-00131-CR

MARIAN FRASER, APPELLANT

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE

On Appeal from the 19th District Court McLennan County, Texas

Trial Court No. 2014-158-C1, Honorable David Hodges, Presiding

September 13, 2023

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

Appellant, Marian Fraser, appeals his conviction for murder1 and sentence to fifty years’ confinement.2 Appellant’s appointed counsel now moves to withdraw from the appeal because he “has withdrawn from the appellate appointment list and has been

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.02.

2 Originally appealed to the Tenth Court of Appeals, this appeal was transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to its docket equalization efforts. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 73.001.

assigned by his firm to focus primarily on family law and criminal trial cases, rather than criminal appeals.”

Because the trial court is responsible for appointing counsel to represent indigent defendants in criminal cases, as well as relieving or replacing appointed counsel, we abate the appeal and remand the cause to the trial court to rule on Appellant’s motion to withdraw. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. arts. 1.051(d), 26.04(j)(2). Upon remand, the trial court shall determine (1) whether Appellant still desires to prosecute the appeal; (2) whether to grant Appellant’s counsel’s motion to withdraw; and (3) if the motion to withdraw is granted, whether Appellant is indigent and entitled to appointment of new counsel.

If the trial court grants the motion to withdraw and appoints Appellant new counsel;

the name, address, email address, phone number, and State Bar number of any newly appointed counsel shall be included in the court’s findings. 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 October 13, 2023.

All appellate deadlines, including Appellant’s pending briefing deadline, are suspended until further order of this Court.

It is so ordered.

Per Curiam

Do not publish.