Sim Stanley Bittick v. the State of Texas

Opinion

Order entered November 29, 2022

In The

Court of Appeals

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas

No. 05-22-00882-CR

SIM STANLEY BITTICK, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 15th Judicial District Court Grayson County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 071896

ORDER

This order addresses issues with appellant’s brief and with State’s Exhibit 20. The Court orders relief as follows.

On November 3, 2022, appellant filed his brief. A review of the brief reveals that it discloses the names of persons who were victims of offenses at the time they were children.

This Court does not allow a party to file a brief that discloses the names of victims or witnesses who were children at the time of the offenses, or the names of

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any other children discussed or identified at trial. See TEX. R. APP. P. 9.10(b) (“Unless a court orders otherwise, an electronic or paper filing with the court, including the contents of any appendices, must not contain sensitive data.”), id. 9.10(a)(3) (“Sensitive Data Defined. Sensitive data consists of . . . a birth date, a home address, and the name of any person who was a minor at the time the offense was committed.”). Accordingly, we STRIKE appellant’s brief.

We ORDER appellant to file, within THIRTY DAYS of the date of this order, an amended brief that identifies all individuals who were children at the time of this or any other offense either generically (for example, “victim”) or by initials only, including when quoting relevant portions of the record or giving a statement of the case.

On November 4, 2022, the court reporter filed a letter indicating that she was unable to copy State’s Exhibit 20, a USB drive, the contents of which were described in the record as “a Cellebrite download of the defendant’s phone.” If either party concludes that State’s Exhibit 20 contains material evidence necessary to the resolution of this appeal, that party is DIRECTED to file a motion with the Court within SIXTY DAYS of the date of this order so that the Court may obtain the original exhibit. See TEX. R. APP. P. 34.1, 34.6(g)(2).

/s/ ROBERT D. BURNS, III CHIEF JUSTICE