COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE

FIRST DISTRICT OF TEXAS AT HOUSTON

ORDER

Appellate case name: Christopher Pelletier v. The State of Texas

Appellate case number: 01-21-00425-CR, 01-21-00430-CR

Trial court case number: 20CR1225, 21CR1166

Trial court: 10th District Court of Galveston County

On August 25, 2022, appellant, Christopher Pelletier, incarcerated and acting pro se, filed 

correspondence that we construe as a motion requesting that this Court order the Galveston 

County District Attorney’s Office, the Galveston County Public Defender’s Office, the 

Galveston County Jail, and the Law Office of Haley Sloss to “turn over to the Appellant every 

single page of evidence they filed against” appellant and “all records pertaining to both causes 

that they used to obtain a conviction.” Appellant also requests “ALL body cam, pictures, video 

and media used in trial, as well as the jail phone records of the entire 16 months [he] was there”

be forwarded to his “Power of Attorney,” Shawn McManus. Finally, appellant requests access to 

“the Uniform Commercial Code, the Texas Constitution, FOIA and PA, and Case Law on 

Ferreta vs. California.”

1

This Court is authorized to review the appellate record in deciding appeals. In re K.M., 

401 S.W.3d 864, 866 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2013, no pet.). The appellate record 

comprises the clerk’s record and, if necessary to the appeal, the reporter’s record. TEX. R. APP.

P. 34.1. An appellate court generally may not consider matters outside of the appellate record. 

In re K.M., 401 S.W.3d at 866; see also Hogg v. Lynch, Chappell & Alsup, 480 S.W.3d 767, 773 

(Tex. App.—El. Paso 2015, no pet.) (“To the extent [a party] has made references to facts that do 

not appear in the appellate record, we will not consider those facts in our analysis.”).

In a criminal case, the clerk’s record contains the indictment or information, any special 

plea or defense motion that was presented to the court and overruled, any written waiver, any 

written stipulation, and, in cases in which a plea of guilty or nolo contendere has been entered, 

any documents executed for the plea; the court’s docket sheet; the court’s charge and the jury’s 

verdict, or the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law; the court’s judgment or other order 

1 Presumably, appellant refers to Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975), where the Supreme

Court held a competent criminal defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to waive his right to 

counsel and represent himself at trial.
that is being appealed; any request for findings of fact and conclusions of law, any post-judgment 

motion, and the court's order on the motion; the notice of appeal; any formal bill of exception;

any request for a reporter's record; any request for preparation of the clerk's record; the trial 

court's certification of the defendant's right of appeal under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure

25.2; and subject to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.5(b), any filing that a party designates 

to have included in the record. TEX. R. APP. P. 34.5(a). Rule 34.5(b) provides that a written 

designation specifying additional items to be included in the record may be filed with the trial 

court clerk before the clerk’s record is prepared, but the request must be specific. TEX. R. APP. P.

34.5(b). “The clerk will disregard a general designation, such as one for ‘all papers filed in the 

case.’” TEX. R. APP. P. 34.5(b)(2).

The reporter’s record consists of “the court reporter's transcription . . . of the proceedings, 

and any of the exhibits, that the parties to the appeal designate” if the proceedings were 

stenographically recorded. TEX. R. APP. P. 34.6(a)(1). If the proceedings were electronically 

recorded, the reporter’s record consists of “certified copies of all tapes or other audio-storage 

devices on which the proceedings were recorded, any of the exhibits that the parties to the appeal 

designate, and certified copies of the logs prepared by the court recorder under Rule 13.2.” TEX.

R. APP. P. 34.6(a)(2).

The clerk’s record was filed on September 21, 2021, and supplemented on June 24, 2022 

and June 28, 2022. The reporter’s record was filed on October 18, 2021 and supplemented on 

June 21, 2022. If a relevant item was omitted from the clerk’s or reporter’s record, this Court, 

the trial court, or any party may direct the trial court clerk or the court reporter to prepare a 

supplement containing the omitted item(s). See TEX. R. APP. P. 34.5(c), 34.6(d). However, this 

Court is not authorized to order the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office, the Galveston 

County Public Defender’s Office, the Galveston County Jail, or the Law Office of Haley Sloss to 

produce records to appellant for use in his appellate brief.

2

 Nor is this Court required to assist 

with appellant’s legal research by providing statutes, constitutions, or caselaw.

3

 

To the extent appellant contends items were omitted from the clerk’s record or reporter’s 

record, he may ask the trial court to supplement the clerk’s record or reporter’s record pursuant 

to Rules 34.5(c) and 34.6(d), respectively. 

Appellant’s motion for this Court to order records that are not in the appellate record and

for research materials to be provided to him is denied.

Judge’s signature: ___________/s/ Julie Countiss__________

Acting individually 

Date: September 8, 2022

2 Even if the Court could order production of such documents, which is not the case, the documents 

would not be part of the appellate record and, therefore, would be of no value to this Court in 

adjudicating the appeal.

3 See Bolling v. Farmers Branch Indep. Sch. Dist., 315 S.W.3d 893, 895 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2010, 

no pet.) (“[W]e are not responsible for doing the legal research that might support a party's

contentions. Were we to do so, even for a pro se litigant untrained in law, we would be

abandoning our role as judges and become an advocate for that party.”) (internal citation

omitted).