### In The C ou rt o f A p p ea ls Si x t h Appe l l at e Di st r i c t o f Te x as a t Te x ar ka na

______________________________ No . 0 6- 08 -0 00 48 -C V

______________________________
IN T H E M A T T E R

O F B
. H
. , A J U V E N ILE

On Appea l from the County Court at L aw No. 3 Smit h County , Texas Trial Court No. 003-0593- 07

B e f o r e M o r r i s s , C
. J. , C a

rt e r an d M o s e l e y , JJ. Memorandum Opinion by J ustice Carte rOrig inally appea led t o the Twelfth Court of Appeals, this case was transfer red to thi s Court 1 by the Tex as S upreme Court pursuant to its docket equalization eff orts. See T EX . G OV ' T C ODE ANN . § 73.001 (Ve rnon 2005). We a re unawa re of any conflict be tween pr ece dent of the Tw elfth Court of Appe als and that of this Court on any rele vant issue. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 41.3. 2 MEMORANDUM OPI

NI ON B .H
. ha s fi le d an a

pp e a l fr om an or de r of a dju dic a tio n and dis po sit ion to the Te xas Youth Commi ssion. He was char g ed with ha ving eng ag ed in de linquent c onduct, ag g ravated assault. On J anuar y 18, 2008, the trial cour

t signe d its order of a djudication/disposit ion. 1 B .H . ti me ly

fi le d a no tic e of a pp e a l Apr il 1 6, 20 08 . O n th a t date , c ouns e l a lso fi le d a re qu e st for pr epar ation of the re cord, ba sed on the pre viously filed af fidav i t o f i n d ige ncy , which had evidently resulted in her appointment as counsel. A clerk' s rec ord was promptly filed April 25, 2008. The re porter' s rec ord wa s due to be filed by May 19, 2008. When no reporte r' s rec ord was filed, we contac ted the court repor ter, who indicated that the trial court ha d found B .H.' s pare nts were not indigent a nd that they

wer e thus liable for

the cost of prepa ring the re cord. No order , nor any other writing reflec ting this finding appea red in our rec ord, and ther e wa s nothing to indicate that the par ents wer e not indige nt or that t h ei r s i t u ati on had chang ed. Fur

ther, counsel Tina Brumbelow, who repr esente d B.H ., was a ppointed counsel for

the h e ar i n g s an d

t r i a l an d w a s p a i d f o r h e r s e r v i c e s b y t h e c o u n t y. Be cause of t he lack of cla rity cause d by

these omissions and by

the undocumente d asser

tion of the c ourt repor

ter, we abate d the ca se to t h e t ri al co u rt to conduct a hear ing a

nd make wr itten fi nd ing s. Th e tr ial cou rt 's or de r f ind ingthat " [B .H .' s p are nt o r gua rd ian] is no t in dig e nt a

nd mus t3

reta in c o u n s e l t o r e p r e s e n t h e r s o n. . . o nA p p e a l" w a s f il e d in a s u p p le me n ta l c le r

k ' s rec ord October 24, 2008. On Octobe r 30, 2008, we contac ted B .H.' s pare nt or g uardia n by letter, informing her of the tr ia l c ourt ' s ru lin g and

fu rt he r i nf or min g he r t

hat, i f w e did

no t r e c e ive inf

or ma tio n f ro m he r w ith in te n d ay s o f t

he date of the le tte r that sh e wa s makin g a su bs tanti a l and

tang ibl e e ff

or t to pr os e c ute the appe al by

either ( a) showing a rea sonable attempt to reta in an attorney and obtain the recor d that might support cla ims of error , or (b) prepa ring and filing a brief based solely on the cler

k' s rec ord which had a lrea dy

been f iled, we would conclude appellant no longe r wished to pursue the appe al and it would be subject to dismissal for want of prosec ution pur suant to Rule 42.3(b) a nd (c) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Proc edure
. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 42.3(b), (c ). The r esponse wa s due on or befor e Nove mber 10, 2008. I t is now November 24, 2008, and no response has been r ece ived. We dismiss this appeal for wa nt of prosec ution.

J ack Ca rter J ustice Date Submitted: November 24, 2008 Date D ecide d: November 25, 2008