CAUSE No. 03-13-00092-CR 

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE THIRD COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT 

AUSTIN, TEXAS 

HOWARD THOMAS DOUGLAS, 

Appellant, 

VS. 

THE STATE OF TEXAS, 

Appellee. 

On appeal from Cause No. D-1-DC-10-900204 

in the 331 st Judicial District Comi, 

Travis County, Texas 

EMERGENCY MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS COUNSEL FOR 

APPELLANT 

TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT: 

COMES NOW, Craig M. Price, counsel for Appellant Howard Thomas 

Douglas, and files this his Emergency Motion to Withdraw As Counsel For 

AppeHant, and respectfully shows this Court the following: 

I. 

STATUS OF APPELLATE SCHEDULE 

l. Movant is atton1ey of record for Appellant Howard Thomas Douglas, and 

was retained to represent Appellant at trial and on appeal. 

2. Movant perfected the appeal, filed Appellant's Brief, filed Appellant's 

Reply Brief in response to the Appellee's Brief filed by the State, and 

COUNSEL'S EMERGENCY MOTION TO WITHDRAW PAGE 1 

ACCEPTED

03-13-00092-CR

7805922

THIRD COURT OF APPEALS

AUSTIN, TEXAS

11/12/2015 3:46:41 PM

JEFFREY D. KYLE

CLERK

 FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 11/12/2015 3:46:41 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk
filed Appellant's Motion for Rehearing and Motion for Rehearing En 

Banc, which was recently denied. 

3. All briefs and post-judgment motions for rehearing have been timely 

filed, and this matter is concluded, subject to any further proceedings 

before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. 

II. 

MOV ANT SEEKS TO WITHDRAW TO 

A VOID UNREASONABLE FINANCIAL BURDEN 

4. Movant seeks to withdraw from his representation of Appellant in order 

to avoid a financial hardship. 

5. Movant has recently accepted a position to work with the Grayson 

County District Attorney's Office and is scheduled to commence work 

at the District Attorney's Office on November 19, 2015. Movant is a 

single father with primary custody of four minor children, and Movant is 

the sole source of income for Movant and his four minor children. If 

Movant is not allowed to withdraw from representation of Appellant in 

this matter, Movant most likely will have to forfeit his new position with 

the Grayson County District Attorney's Office, which will impose an 

extreme and unreasonable financial burden on Movant and his 

dependents. See Tex. R. Prof. Conduct, R. 1.15(b)(6). 

6. Conversely, withdrawal can be accomplished without material adverse 

effect on the interests of the client. The only obligation remaining for 

COUNSEL'S EMERGENCY MOTION TO WITHDRAW PAGE 2 
Appellant's counsel, should a judgment be rendered that is adverse to 

Appellant, is to comply with Tex. R. App. P. 48.4, by sending notice of 

the judgment and opinion to Appellant and apprising him of his right to 

file a pro se petition for discretionary review under Tex. R. App. P. 68 

with the Texas Comi of Criminal Appeals. 

7. Movant and Appellant entered into a written fee agreement regarding the 

trial and the appeal of this matter, but Appellant has not paid the entirety 

of the fee agreement. If Appellant is not able to retain an atton1ey to 

represent him during the sh01i remainder of this matter, it is reasonable to 

assume that this Comi could remand the matter of whether Appellant is 

indigent to the trial comi for a detennination of whether Appellant is 

entitled to a court-appointed atton1ey, and any expense to Travis County, 

Texas - given the status of the case at this time - would be minimal. 

8. This withdrawal is not sought for the purposes of delay, but so that 

justice can be done. 

9. The last kn.own address for Howard Thomas Dougllas is 5729 

Lebanon Road, suite 144-155, Frisco, Texas 75034. 

10. There only pending deadline in this matter is the deadline to file the 

petition for discretionary review with the Texas Court of Criminal 

Appeals, which is due no later than November 30, 2015. 

COUNSEL'S EMERGENCY MOTION TO WITHDRAW PAGE3 
11. A copy of this motion has been delivered to Appellant Howard Thomas 

Douglas at his last lmown address, and Appellant was thereby notified in 

writing of his right to object to this motion. 

III. 

MOV ANT SEEKS EMERGENCY RELIEF 

12. Movant respectfully moves this Court to treat this Motion to Withdraw 

as an Emergency Motion to Withdraw, as pen11itted by Tex. R. App. P. 

10.3(a)(3), and dispense with the ten (10) day waiting period typically 

accorded motions before the Court of Appeals. See Tex. R. App. P. 

10.3(a). 

13. Movant submits that this matter constitutes an emergency because 

Movant is scheduled to begin his new employment with the Grayson 

County District Attorney's Office on November 19, 2015, and, unless 

this Comi designates this matter as an emergency and rules before the 

expiration of ten days after the motion was filed, it is highly likely that no 

decision will be reached before November 19, 2015, and Movant very 

well may have to forfeit his new position with the District Atton1ey's 

Office, thereby causing Movant to suffer extreme financial hardship. 

14. Based on the foregoing, Movant respectfully moves this Comi to treat 

this matter as an emergency motion to withdraw, to forego the ten-day 

COUNSEL'S EMERGENCY MOTION TO WITI-IDRA W PAGE4 
waiting period before ruling and to rule as soon as possible but at least 

before November 19, 2015. 

IV. 

PRAYER 

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Movant Craig M. Price 

respectfully moves this Court to grant Movant's emergency motion to withdraw as 

counsel for Appellant without waiting ten (10) days for either Appellant or the State 

to file a response, and to grant Movant' s motion to withdraw as counsel for 

Appellant. Movant further seeks such other relief to which he may be entitled, at 

law or in equity. 

Respectfully submitted, 

/S/ Craig M. Price 

Craig M. Price 

State Bar No. 16284170 

cmp@hammerle.com 

Hammerle Finley Law Finn 

2871 Lake Vista Dr., Suite 150 

Lewisville, Texas 75067 

Tel: (972) 436-9300 

Fax: (972) 436-9000 

Attorney for Appellant 

NOTICE TO CLIENT 

This is to notify you that this Motion for Withdrawal of Counsel may be set 

for hearing at the time and place stated at a later date. You do not have to agree to 

this motion and if you contest the withdrawal of Craig M. Price as attorney in this 

cause, you should either appear at the hearing or object in writing. If you do not 

COUNSEL'S EMERGENCY MOTION TO WITHDRAW PAGE 5 
oppose Craig M. Price's withdrawal as attorney of record in this case, you may 

appear in comi, in writing, and inform the judge that you agree with this Motion. 

IS/ Craig M. Price 

Craig M. Price 

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE 

I certify that Movant confen-ed with counsel for the State of Texas, on 

November 9, 2015, via e-mail, regarding the merits of this Motion, and the State 

does not oppose this motion to withdraw. 

I certify that Movant attempted to confer with Appellant via telephone on 

November 11 and November 12, 2015, but was unable to confer with Appellant 

regarding the merits of this Motion. 

ST A TE OF TEXAS 

COUNTY OF DENTON 

IS/ Craig M. Price 

Craig M. Price 

VERIFICATION 

§ 

§ 

§ 

BEFORE ME, the undersigned Notary Public, on this day personally 

appeared CRAIG M. PRlCE, who being by me duly sworn on his oath deposed 

and said that he is the Attorney for Howard Thomas Douglas, in the above entitled 

and numbered cause; that he has read the above and foregoing motion, and that 

every statement contained therein is within his personal knowledge and is true and 

c01Tect. 

Craig M. Price 

SUBSCRlBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME on the 12th day of November, 

2015, to certify which witness my hand and official seal. 

COUNSEL'S EMERGENCY MOTION TO WITHDRAW PAGE6 
RAVEN RACHELL MCINTYRE 

Notary Public, Stale of Texas 

My Commission Expires 

August 03, 2016 Jbun •m~~ · 

Notary Public, State ofTexas

011 

'

1

U p 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

This is to ce1iify that on November 12, 2015, a true and c01Tect copy of the 

above and foregoing document was served on the District Attorney's Office, Travis 

County, PO Box 1748, Austin, Texas 78767, bye-service, and on Appellant, via email at his personal e-mail address, <clavicle7@gmail.com> 

/S/ Craig M. Price 

Craig M. Price 

COUNSEL'S EMERGENCY MOTION TO WITHDRAW PAGE7