Court Opinion

ID: 9811677
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 22:27:13.734773+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:21:05.973154
License: Public Domain

DISSENTING OPINION

DAVID GAULTNEY, Justice.
An indigent parent’s statutory right to counsel in a termination case includes the right to effective assistance of counsel. In re M.S., 115 S.W.3d 534, 544 (Tex.2003). A finding by the trial court that an appeal would be frivolous means the indigent party does not get a trial court record transcribed without cost. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 263.405(d)(3) (Vernon Supp. 2007); Tex. Civ. PRác. & Rem.Code Ann. § 13.003(b) (Vernon 2002). Appellate counsel, representing the indigent for the first time after the judgment is signed, and concerned with the sufficiency of the evidence, cannot adequately discharge her duty without the trial record. See generally Hardy v. United States, 375 U.S. 277, 279-80, 84 S.Ct. 424, 11 L.Ed.2d 331 (1964) (criminal case); see generally In re M.S., 115 S.W.3d at 550 (right to effective assistance of counsel in parental termination cases). A state “may not deny [a person], because of her poverty, appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence on which the trial court found her unfit to remain a parent.” M.L.B. v. S.L.J., 519 U.S. 102, 107, 117 S.Ct. 555, 136 L.Ed.2d 473 (1996).
An indigent party must be afforded a record of sufficient completeness to permit consideration of a factual sufficiency claim. See generally id. at 110-12, 117 S.Ct. 555. In my view, the post-judgment record here, in which an attorney summarizes the trial evidence, is not a record of sufficient completeness. A factual sufficiency challenge may appear to be a losing issue based on summaries presented at the post-trial hearing. That assumption carries a risk when the evidence is disputed and the *308appellant’s trial attorney was not present to challenge the summary. If appellant’s trial attorney had been present at the post-trial hearing in this case, he may have contested any summary he thought was false based on his memory or notes, or provided his own summary. The majority reasonably takes his absence as “some indication that there was no record of ineffectiveness to develop.” See, e.g., In re M.S., 115 S.W.3d at 546 (To complain of ineffectiveness of counsel in failing to secure a complete record, there must be a showing of harm.). The Department’s brief in this case persuasively argues that any appeal would be frivolous, and that the evidence clearly supports the jury’s findings. But, with reason, court reporters are employed to transcribe trial records on disputed facts, appellate courts receive briefs from both parties, and parties are required to include trial record citations in the ordinary appeal. See generally Tex. R.App. P. 13.1, 38.1(f),(h), 38.2.
The Texas Constitution provides courts of appeals “conclusive appellate review of all factual sufficiency questions that are properly presented on appeal.” In re M.R.J.M, 193 S.W.3d 670, 675 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2006, no pet.) (citing Tex. Const, art. V, § 6(a); Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.225(a) (Vernon Supp. 2007)). Once the Legislature has granted jurisdiction over an appeal, our constitutionally assigned powers of review control. See id. at 676 n.26. Generally a court of appeals reviews evidence to determine whether a factual sufficiency point has merit. See Id. at 673-74. A portion of the trial record may also be necessary to review a finding on other issues, for example, a claim that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance at trial. Because section 263.405(g) authorizes courts of appeals to issue “appropriate orders,” the statute recognizes the Court’s authority to order a record of sufficient completeness to review a trial court’s determination that an appeal point is frivolous. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 263.405(g) (Vernon Supp. 2007). For that reason, the statute does not violate the separation of powers provided under the Texas Constitution. In re M.R.J.M., 193 S.W.3d. at 676. And for that reason, the statute may survive an equal protection and due process challenge. See, e.g., M.L.B., 519 U.S. at 107, 119-128, 117 S.Ct. 555. I believe the appropriate order under the circumstances is to require the record of the evidence transcribed and filed. The Family Code authorizes that procedure. See In re M.R.J.M., 193 S.W.3d at 676.