NO. 07-05-0282-CR IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TE XAS

AT AMARILLO PANEL C MARCH 9, 2006

______________________________ JARED DANIEL LITTRELL, Appellant

v. THE STA

TE OF TEX

AS, Appellee

_________________________________ FROM THE 181st DISTRICT COURT OF POTTER COUNTY; NO. 50,983-B; HON. JOHN B. BOARD, PRESIDING

_______________________________ ABATEMENT AND RE MAND

__________________________________ Before QUINN, C.J., and REAVIS and HANCOCK, JJ. Jared Daniel Littrell (appellant) appeals his convictions for murder, aggravated robbery and u nlawful posses sion of a firearm by a felon. The clerk’s record was filed on November

14, 2005, the supplemental clerk’s record was filed on December 5, 2005, and the reporter’s record was filed on December 12, 2005. Thus, appe llant’s brief was dueto be filed no

later tha n January

11, 2006 . On Janu ary11, 2006, counsel filed a motion for extension of time to file appellant’s b rief, which w as grante d to Febr uary 10, 2 006. On2

February 13, 2006, counsel for appellant filed a second extension req uest, which was granted to March 6, 2006, with the admonition that no further extensions would be granted and failure to comply

with the dead line would result in the appeal b eing abated and the
cause remande d to the trial court. No brief was filed by that date. Instead, on March 7, 2006, counsel for appellant filed a third motion for e xtension of tim e to filethe brie f, requesting an additional 30 days. Consequently, we abate the appeal and remand the cause to the 181st Di strict Co urt of Potter County (trial court) for further proceedings. Upon remand, the tri al court shall im me diatelycause no tice of a hearing to be gi ven and, thereafte r, conduc t a heari ng to determine the following: 1. whether appellant desires to prosecute the appeal; and , 2. whether appellant has been denied the e ffective assistan ce of c ounsel due to appel late cou nsel’s f ailure to timely fi le appel late brief. See Evitts v. Lucey , 469 U.S. 387, 394, 105 S.Ct. 830, 834-35, 83 L.Ed.2d 821, 828 (1985) (holdin g that an indigen t defenda nt is ent itled tothe effective assistance of counsel on the first appeal as of right and that counsel must be available to a ssist in preparing and submitting an appella te brief). We further direct the trial court to issue findings of fact and concl usions of law addressing the foregoing subjects. Should the trial court find tha t ap pellant desires to pursue the appeal, is indigent, and has been denied e ffective as sistance of counsel, we further direct it to appoint new counsel to assist i n the prosecution of the appeal. The name, address, phone n umber, telefax number, and state bar number of the new counsel, if any, who will represent appellant on appeal must also be included in the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. Furthermore, the trial court shal l also cause to be developed 1) a supplemental clerk’s record containing the fin dings of factand conclusions3

of law and 2) a reporter’s record transcribing the evidence and argument presented at the aforementioned hearing. Additionally, the trial court shall cause the supplemental clerk’s record to be filed with the clerk of this court on or before April 10, 2006. Should additional time be needed to perform these tasks, the trial court may request same on or before April 10, 2006. It is so ordered. Per Curiam
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