Phillip Leon Worthey v. the State of Texas

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-21-00088-CR

PHILLIP LEON WORTHEY, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 76th District Court Titus County, Texas

Trial Court No. CR19529

Before Morriss, C.J., Stevens and Carter,* JJ.

_______________________________

*Jack Carter, Justice, Retired, Sitting by Assignment

ORDER

Phillip Leon Worthey appeals from the trial court’s judgment adjudicating him guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentencing him to ten years’ incarceration. On appeal, Worthey challenges the trial court’s jurisdiction to adjudicate his guilt, and the State concedes that the trial court was without jurisdiction to act. Assuming that the State’s concession is based on a correct interpretation of the law, the resolution of this case could lead to the release of an improperly imprisoned man. In light of this possibility, we find it necessary to take steps to expedite the decision in this case.

Rule 2 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure states, “On a party’s motion or on its own initiative an appellate court may—to expedite a decision or for other good cause—suspend a rule’s operation in a particular case and order a different procedure . . . .” TEX. R. APP. P. 2. We find that good cause exists to invoke Rule 2, which we utilize to suspend, in this particular case, the notice requirements of Rule 39.8 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See TEX. R. APP. P. 39.8. We hereby withdraw the submission date of January 24, 2022. This case will be submitted to the panel of Chief Justice Josh Morriss, Justice Scott Stevens, and Justice Jack Carter (retired, sitting by assignment) on January 7, 2022.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

BY THE COURT

DATE: January 6, 2022