SHAREN WILSON

Criminal District Attorney 

Tarrant County

401 West Belknap • Fort Worth, Texas 76196 • 817.884.1400

July 8, 2015 

Hon. Abel Acosta, Clerk 

Court of Criminal Appeals 

P.O. Box 12308 

Austin, Texas 78711 

 Re: Sullens v. State, No. PD-0835-15

Greetings: 

This letter is in response to Appellant’s Petition for Discretionary 

Review filed in this Court, on July 7, 2015, in Sullens v. State, No. 02–

13-00364-CR, 2015 WL 3523143 (Tex.App. -- Fort Worth June 4, 2015, 

pet. filed) (mem.op., not designated for publication). 

Appellant’s sole ground for review contends that the court of appeals 

erred in finding that an instruction to disregard cured any harm in a 

witness’s comment that she defended herself “like always.” Pet. at 2; 

see also Sullens, 2015 WL 3523143, at *2. The court of appeals 

expressly did not reach the issue of whether the witness’s comment that 

she always defends herself was even a reference to an extraneous 

offense, much less an extraneous offense committed by Appellant. 

Sullens, 2015 WL 3523143, at *2.1

Appellant’s complaint to this Court makes no attempt to demonstrate 

that the court of appeals’ analysis was erroneous. Instead, Appellant 

 

1 The court of appeals’ decision also failed to address the State’s 

contentions that (1) Appellant’s complaint was not preserved, State’s coa br. 

at 6-8; and (2) the trial court’s in limine order was irrelevant to Appellant’s 

claim that a mistrial was required. State’s coa br. at 9-10. 

PD-0835-15

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

AUSTIN, TEXAS

Transmitted 7/8/2015 2:57:53 PM

Accepted 7/9/2015 4:30:14 PM

ABEL ACOSTA

CLERK
2

simply repeats his complaint that the comment should not be found to 

be curable. Pet. at 6. Appellant’s complaint thus presents nothing for 

review. Degrate v. State, 712 S.W.2d 755, 756 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986) 

(discretionary review petition should specifically address court of 

appeals' decision); Bradley v. State, 235 S.W.3d 808, 808-10 (Tex. Crim. 

App. 2007) (Cochran, J., concurring in denial of review); see also TEX. 

R. APP. P. 66.1 & 68.1. 

Appellant also makes no attempt to demonstrate that consideration of 

his complaint by this Court would have any importance to the 

jurisprudence of Texas. See generally TEX. R. APP. P. 66.3. 

Appellant’s fact-bound petition should be refused. Thank you. 

Respectfully submitted,

SHAREN WILSON /s/ ANNE SWENSON

Criminal District Attorney ANNE SWENSON, Assistant

Tarrant County, Texas State Bar No. 19575500

coaappellatealerts@tarrantcountytx.gov

DEBRA WINDSOR, /s/ DAVID M. CURL

Assistant Criminal DAVID M. CURL, Assistant

District Attorney Criminal District Attorney

Chief, Post-Conviction State Bar No. 05254950

401 W. Belknap Street

Fort Worth, Texas 76196-0201

(817) 884-1687

FAX (817) 884-1672

coaappellatealerts@tarrantcountytx.gov

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

The number of words in the portions of the document covered by TEX. 

R. APP. P. 9.4(i)(1) are 356. 
3

/s/ DAVID M. CURL____

DAVID M. CURL, Assistant

 Criminal District Attorney

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

One copy of the State's letter reply to Appellant's petition for 

discretionary review has been sent to (1) counsel for Appellant, Mr. Abe 

Factor at lawfactor@yahoo.com and (2) Ms. Lisa McMinn, State 

Prosecuting Attorney, at information@spa.texas.gov, on this the 8th day 

of July 2015. 

/s/ DAVID M. CURL____

DAVID M. CURL, Assistant

Criminal District Attorney