Roach, Donald M

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
• Decided: February 27, 2019
• Docket: WR-88,753-01
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS NO. WR-88,753-01

EX PARTE DONALD M. ROACH, Applicant

ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS CAUSE NO. 1625359A IN THE 8TH DISTRICT COURT FROM HOPKINS COUNTY

Per curiam.

OPINION

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the

clerk of the trial court transmitted to this Court this application for a writ of habeas corpus. Ex parte

Young, 418 S.W.2d 824, 826 (Tex. Crim. App. 1967). Applicant was convicted of continuous sexual

abuse of a young child and sentenced to twenty-five years’ imprisonment. The Sixth Court of

Appeals affirmed his conviction. Roach v. State, No. 06-17-00003-CR (Tex. App.—Texarkana Jul.

12, 2017) (not designated for publication).

Applicant contends that his appellate counsel rendered ineffective assistance because counsel

failed to timely notify Applicant that his conviction had been affirmed and failed to advise him of

his right to petition pro se for discretionary review. We remanded this application to the trial court 2

for findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Appellate counsel filed an affidavit with the trial court. Based on that affidavit, the trial court

has entered findings of fact and conclusions of law that appellate counsel failed to timely notify

Applicant that his conviction had been affirmed and failed to advise him of his right to petition for

discretionary review pro se. The trial court recommends that relief be granted. Ex parte Wilson, 956

S.W.2d 25 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997).

We find, therefore, that Applicant is entitled to the opportunity to file an out-of-time petition

for discretionary review of the judgment of the Sixth Court of Appeals in Cause No. 06-17-00003-

CR that affirmed his conviction in Cause No. 1625359 from the 8th District Court of Hopkins

County. Applicant shall file his petition for discretionary review with this Court within 30 days of

the date on which this Court’s mandate issues.

Delivered: February 27, 2019 Do not publish