NO. 07-08-0454-CR

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

AT AMARILLO

PANEL B

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

_________________________

JAMES MICHAEL FIELDS, APPELLANT

V. 

THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE

_________________________

FROM THE 242ND DISTRICT COURT OF HALE COUNTY; 

NO. B17234-0705; HONORABLE ED SELF, JUDGE

___________________________

Before QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and HANCOCK, JJ.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury convicted appellant, James Michael Fields, of two counts of aggravated 

sexual assault of a child.1 On each count, it sentenced him to sixty years in prison and 

a $10,000 fine. The sentences are concurrent. Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal. 

His court-appointed appellate counsel has filed a motion to withdraw from 

 

1

Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 22.021 (Vernon Supp. 2009).
2

representation supported by an Anders2brief. We grant counsel’s motion to withdraw 

and affirm the judgments of the trial court.

In the Anders brief supporting his motion to withdraw, appellant’s court-appointed 

counsel analyzed the evidence adduced at trial. He advanced a potential legal and 

factual sufficiency issue but concluded after reviewing the entire record and conducting 

research the case presents no reversible error and in his opinion the appeal is frivolous. 

Attached to counsel’s motion to withdraw was a copy of a letter from him to appellant 

transmitting the motion to withdraw and the Anders brief and notifying appellant of the 

right to file a pro se response. The letter also notified appellant how to obtain a copy of 

the record. See Johnson v. State, 885 S.W.2d 641, 646-47 (Tex.App.–Waco 1994, pet. 

refused), modified in part by Wilson v. State, 955 S.W.2d 693 (Tex.App.–Waco 1997, no 

pet.). This court also advised appellant by letter of his right to file a response to 

counsel’s Anders brief. Appellant did not file a pro se response. 

When court-appointed counsel files a motion to withdraw and a brief in which he 

concludes no arguable grounds for appeal exist, we review the entire record and make 

an independent determination. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744, 87 S.Ct. at 1400 (the 

appellate court, and not counsel, after full examination of the record, determines 

whether the case is “wholly frivolous”); accord Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 826 

(Tex.Crim.App. 2005); Mitchell v. State, 193 S.W.3d 153, 155 (Tex.App.–Houston [1st 

Dist.] 2006, no pet.). If, from our review of the entire record, we find arguable grounds 

 

2 Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). See

In re Schulman, 252 S.W.3d 403, 404 (Tex.Crim.App. 2008) (sole purpose of Anders

brief is to explain and support counsel’s motion to withdraw). 
3

for appeal, we will abate the appeal, remand the case to the trial court, and allow 

withdrawal of court-appointed counsel. Bledsoe, 178 S.W.3d at 826-27; Mitchell, 193 

S.W.3d at 156. If we determine from our review of the entire record that the appeal is 

wholly frivolous, we may affirm the trial court’s judgment by issuing an opinion 

explaining that we reviewed the record and found no arguable grounds for appeal. 

Bledsoe, 178 S.W.3d at 826-27; Mitchell, 193 S.W.3d at 156. An appellant may 

challenge a court of appeals’ finding of no arguable grounds for appeal by a petition for 

discretionary review filed in the Court of Criminal Appeals. Bledsoe, 178 S.W.3d at 827 

& n.6; Mitchell, 193 S.W.3d at 156.

After reviewing counsel’s Anders brief, we reviewed the entire record. We find 

no arguable grounds for appeal. Accordingly, the motion of appellant’s counsel to 

withdraw is granted3and the judgments are affirmed. 

It is so ordered.

James T. Campbell

Justice

Do not publish. 

 

3 Counsel shall, within five days after the opinion is handed down, send his client 

a copy of the opinion and judgment, along with notification of the defendant’s right to file 

a pro se petition for discretionary review. See Tex. R. App. P. 48.4.