Vernon Leon McDonald v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: July 15, 2025
• Docket: 01-23-00686-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued July 15, 2025.

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-23-00686-CR ——————————— VERNON MCDONALD, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 183rd District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 1788079

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury found appellant, Vernon McDonald, guilty of the felony offense of

assault of a public servant,1 and the trial court assessed his punishment at

confinement for twenty-five years. Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal.

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.01(b)(1). Appellant’s appointed counsel on appeal has filed a motion to withdraw, along

with a brief stating that the record presents no reversible error and the appeal is

without merit and is frivolous. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).

Counsel’s brief meets the Anders requirements by presenting a professional

evaluation of the record and supplying the Court with references to the record and

legal authority. See id. at 744; see also High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807, 812 (Tex.

Crim. App. 1978). Counsel indicates that he has thoroughly reviewed the record and

is unable to advance any grounds of error that warrant reversal. See Anders, 386

U.S. at 744; Mitchell v. State, 193 S.W.3d 153, 155 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.]

2006, no pet.).

Counsel has informed the Court that he provided appellant with a copy of his

Anders brief and his motion to withdraw. Counsel also informed appellant of his

right to examine the appellate record and file a response to counsel’s Anders brief.

Further, counsel provided appellant with a copy of the appellate record and a form

motion to access the appellate record.2 See Kelly v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313, 319–20

2 This Court also notified appellant that counsel had filed an Anders brief and a motion to withdraw and informed appellant that he had a right to examine the appellate record and file a response to his counsel’s Anders brief. And this Court provided appellant with a form motion to access the appellate record. See Kelly v. State, 436 S.W.3d 313, 319–22 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014); In re Schulman, 252 S.W.3d 403, 408 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008).

2 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014); In re Schulman, 252 S.W.3d 403, 408 (Tex. Crim. App.

2008). Appellant has not filed a response to his counsel’s Anders brief.

We have independently reviewed the entire record, and we conclude that no

reversible error exists in the record, there are no arguable grounds for review, and

the appeal is frivolous. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744 (emphasizing reviewing court—

and not counsel—determines, after full examination of proceedings, whether appeal

is wholly frivolous); Garner v. State, 300 S.W.3d 763, 767 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009)

(reviewing court must determine whether arguable grounds for review exist);

Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 826–27 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (same); Mitchell,

193 S.W.3d at 155 (reviewing court determines whether arguable grounds exist by

reviewing entire record). We note that appellant may challenge a holding that there

are no arguable grounds for an appeal by filing a petition for discretionary review in

the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. See Bledsoe, 178 S.W.3d at 827 & n.6.

Conclusion

We affirm the judgment of the trial court and grant appellant’s appointed

counsel’s motion to withdraw.3 Attorney Tom Abbate must immediately send

3 Appellant’s counsel still has a duty to inform appellant of the result of the appeals and that appellant may, on his own, pursue discretionary review in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. See Ex parte Wilson, 956 S.W.2d 25, 27 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997).

3 appellant the required notice and file a copy of the notice with the Clerk of this Court.

See TEX. R. APP. P. 6.5(c). We dismiss any other pending motions as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Guerra, Gunn, and Dokupil.

Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).