Russell Wade Haney v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: May 28, 2010
• Docket: 07-10-00057-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

                                                            NO. 07-10-0057-CR

                                                   IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

                                       FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

                                                                 AT AMARILLO

                                                                      PANEL B

                                                                  MAY 28, 2010

                                            ______________________________

                                                      RUSSELL WADE HANEY,

                                                                                                                                    Appellant

                                                                             v.

                                                        THE STATE OF TEXAS,

                                                                                                                                    Appellee

_________________________________

                     FROM THE 46^th DISTRICT COURT OF WILBARGER COUNTY;

                                  NO. 11,333; HON. DAN MIKE BIRD, PRESIDING

                                           _______________________________

                                                                         Order

Before QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and HANCOCK, JJ.

Russell Wade Haney, appellant, appeals his conviction for possessing a controlled substance.  His appeal was timely perfected on February 22, 2010.  Furthermore, the clerk’s and reporter’s records were filed on March 23, 2010 and April 6, 2010, respectively.  Thus, the appellant’s brief was due on April 26, 2010.  On May 13, 2010, we notified appellant’s counsel by letter that the briefing deadline had lapsed without a brief being filed.  We also directed him to file a brief or otherwise respond to our letter by May 24, 2010.  To date, neither a brief, a motion to extend the briefing deadline, nor a response to our May 13th letter has been received. 

            Those convicted of criminal acts are entitled to effective assistance of counsel on appeal.  The failure of counsel to timely prosecute an appeal falls short of rendering such assistance.  To avoid the latter circumstance from occurring at bar, we hereby order appellant’s counsel, Thomas L. Allensworth, SBN 01077300, 813 8th Street, Suite 920, Wichita Falls, Texas 76301, to prepare and file a brief in this cause on behalf of his client, Russell Wade Haney, and in compliance with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure.  Mr. Allensworth is further ordered to file said brief with the clerk of this Court at 501 S. Fillmore, Suite 2-A, Amarillo, Texas, in a manner assuring that it will be received by said clerk at that address on or before 5:00 p.m. on June 4, 2010.  The failure to so comply with this directive will result in his being directed to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court

                                                                                    Per Curiam

Do not publish.