Rogers, Ex Parte Anthony James

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
• Decided: October 5, 2005
• Docket: AP-75,259
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

OF TEXAS

NOS. AP-75,258 & AP-75,259 EX PARTE ANTHONY JAMES ROGERS, Applicant

ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

CAUSE NOS. 878,691 & 878,690 IN THE 338TH DISTRICT COURT

OF HARRIS COUNTY

Per curiam.

O P I N I O N

These are post-conviction applications for writ of habeas corpus forwarded to this Court pursuant to Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 11.07. Applicant was convicted of two felony offenses of injury to a child, and punishment was assessed at imprisonment for sixty years and seventy-five years. Applicant appealed, and his convictions were affirmed. Rogers v. State, Nos. 14-01-00950-CR & 14-01-00951-CR (Tex. App. -- Houston [14th Dist.], delivered November 7, 2002, pet. ref'd, untimely filed).

Applicant contends that he was effectively denied the opportunity to timely file a petition for discretionary review because his appellate attorney did not file a petition for discretionary review in a timely manner. The trial court, based upon an affidavit from appellate counsel, found that trial counsel failed to timely file a petition for discretionary review on Applicant's behalf. The record reflects that the Applicant's constitutional rights were violated by counsel's failure to file a petition for discretionary review in a timely manner.

Habeas corpus relief is granted, and Applicant is granted leave to file an out-of-time petition for discretionary review from his convictions in cause numbers 878,691 & 878,690 from the 338th Judicial District Court of Harris County. Applicant is ordered returned to the point at which he can file meaningful petitions for discretionary review. For purposes of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, all time limits shall be calculated as if the Court of Appeals' decision had been rendered on the day the mandate of this Court issues. We hold that should Applicant desire to seek discretionary review, he must take affirmative steps to see that his petitions are filed in the Court of Appeals within thirty days of the date the mandate of this Court has issued.

DELIVERED: OCTOBER 5, 2005

DO NOT PUBLISH