NO. 07-07 -016 2-CR IN THE CO UR T OF APPEA LS FO R THE S EVEN TH D ISTRI CT O F TEXAS

AT AM AR ILLO PAN EL D NO VEM BER16, 2007

_________

_________

_________

___ ALFRED W ILL IAM W ARD, APPE LLA NT

V. THE S TATE OF TEXAS, APPEL LEE

_________

_________

_________

______ FRO M T HE 31 ST DIS T RI CT COU RT OF L IP SC OM B CO UNT Y; NO . 109 0; H ON ORABLE STEVEN EM ME RT, JU DG E

_________

_________

_________

____ Bef ore QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and PIRT LE, JJ.
A BA TEMENT A ND R EMA ND
Pursuantto a pl ea barg ain , Ap pel lan t, Al fr e d W ill iam W ard, w as conv ic ted o f burg lar y of a habitat ion w it h intentto commi t assau ltand puni shmentw as ass ess ed atten y ears c onfinement, su spend ed i n fav or of communi ty

super v is ion for sev en y ears, and a fine of $3 ,000. Upo n the Stat e’s moti on to r ev oke for al leg ed v iol ati ons of the te rms and2

cond itions of

comm unity supervisi on, the trial court he ld a hea ring. Follow ing Appellan t’s ple as of tr ue and pr esent ati on of ev ide nce, the tr ial courtrev oked Appel lan t’ s c ommunit y super v is ion and impos ed a sent e n ce o f fiv e y ears c onfinement. O n Apr il 30, 2007, App ellant ’s counse l, Jame s G. Bake r, filed Appe llant’s Notice of Appe al.
On S eptember

19, 2007, Appel lan t’ s couns el filed a br ief on Appel lan t’ s b ehal f that
w as no t in com pliance w ith the T exas Rules of App ellate Proced ure. The brief w as struck and t he C our

t di re cte d c ounse l to fil e a c or re cte d br ief on or befor e October

5, 2007. On O c t o b e r 16, 2 0 0 7 , w e l l a ft e r t h e d e a d l i n e , c o u n s e l fi l e d A p p e l l a n t ’ s c o r r e c t e d b r i e f. How ev er , t hat b ri ef w as not acc ompani ed bya moti on for ex tens ion of

ti me as re q uired by Rul e 10. 5( b) of the Tex as Rul es of Appel lat e Procedu re
. By l etter of Oct ober

26, 2007, couns el w as noti fied that numerous attempt s b y the Cl er k o f this C our

t t o c ommunic ate w it h hi s of f ic e by tel ephone re g ardin g the moti on for
extens ion of ti me had fai led and he w as direct ed to f il e s aid moti on on or before Nov ember 7, 20 07. The Cou rtnoted that f ail ur e to do so c oul d resul t i n the appeal bei ng abat ed and the c a u s e r e ma n d e d t o t h e t r i a l c o u rt fo r fu rt h e r p ro c e e d i n g s
. C o u n s el has not communi cat ed w it h the C our t ei ther i n w ri ti ng or

by tel ephone.
Therefor e, w e n o w a b a te this appeal and re mand the ca use to t he tr ial co urt for further proceed ing s p ursu a nt t o R ule 38.8 (b )( 2) and (3 ) of the Tex as Rul es of Appel lat e Procedu re
. Upo n remand, the t ri al cour t s hal l uti li z e w hatev er means nec ess ar

y to deter mine the fol low ing :3

1. w het her Ap pellan t desires to prosecu te th e ap pea l; 2. w het her Ap pellan t is indigent and entitle d to ap poin ted coun sel; 3. w hether

Appel lan t’ s couns el has eff ect iv ely abando ned t he appe al g iv en hi s failu re to eit her co mmunic ate w it h thi s C our t or fil e a mot ion for extens ion of ti me due t o the unti mely fil ing of Appel lan t’ s b ri ef; and 4. whe ther

Appel lan t has been deni ed effectiv e as si sta nce of couns el and is entitled to new app ointe d cou nsel.
Shoul d i t be deter mined that Appel lan t doe s w ant t o c onti nue t he appe al, i s i ndi g ent, and t hat p re sentco unsel sh oul d be re pla ced, the tr ial cour t s hal l appoi nt ne w

co unsel to represe nt Ap pellan t in this app eal. If new coun sel is appo inted , the nam e, ad dress, telep hon e nu mb er, and state bar num ber of newly app ointe d coun sel shall be inclu ded in
an o rd e r a p p o i n t i n g c o u n s e l

. I f n e c e s s a r y , t h e t r i a l c o u rt s h a l l e x e c u t e fi n d i n g s o f f act , conc lus ion s o f law , and any neces sar y orders it may enter re g ardin g the a forementi oned is sues and caus e i ts findi ng s, concl usi ons, and orders, if any , t o be inc lud ed i n a supp lem ent al clerk's record

. A supp lem ent al repo rter’s record of the hea ring, i f any, shall als o be inc lud ed in the appell ate record. Fi nal ly , t he tr ial co urt s hal l file the s uppl emental cl er k' s record and the s uppl emental r epor ter 's r ecord, i f any , w it h the C ler k o f this C our t by Dec ember

14, 2007.
It is so order ed.
Per C ur iam Do not p ubl is h.