Court Opinion

ID: 9769106
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 14:31:56.83268+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:54.789438
License: Public Domain

KELLER, Judge,
dissenting.
The majority states, correctly, that an appellant who seeks the benefit of rule 53(j)(2) must file an indigency affidavit, move the court for a hearing on that assertion, and demonstrate indigency at the hearing. Appellants did not move the court for a hearing on their motions, yet the majority grants them relief. I do not follow this reasoning.
Our rules of procedure place the responsibility for causing the statement of facts to be filed on the appellant. Tex.R.App.P. 5S(k). Rule 53(j)(2) makes it clear that the appellant has the burden to plead and prove indigency in order to obtain a taxpayer funded statement of facts on appeal. To show entitlement to a taxpayer funded appellate record, a defendant must: (1) exercise due diligence in asserting indigency, including timely filing of an affidavit, and (2) sustain the allegations in the affidavit at the hearing. Abdnor v. State, 712 S.W.2d 136, 140-41 (Tex.Crim.App. 1986); Snoke v. State, 780 S.W.2d 210, 213 (Tex.Crim.App.1989). Indigency alone is not sufficient without a showing of due diligence. Abdnor, 712 at 141.
The declarations of indigency and request for taxpayer funded statement of facts in appellants’ notices of appeal did not request a hearing on the indigency issue. No hearing was held. Consequently, appellants did not carry their burden of proving their claims. The majority argues that the requirement of a hearing to prove or disprove a factual proposition “in no way forces the party seeking the benefit of that hearing to ensure that it be held.” However, appellants do not argue that they requested and were denied hearings.
The majority seems to believe that obtaining a hearing on indigency is a difficult matter, requiring some kind of “prodding” of the trial court. On the contrary, requesting and scheduling a hearing is a simple enough business — in fact it is the routine business of every trial court.
I agree with the Court of Appeals that appellants did not exercise due diligence in asserting their indigency claims because they failed to request a hearing on the issue. A party who shoulders the burden of proof on an issue the resolution of which is not apparent from the record and requires the development of evidence must present his claims to the trial court in order to obtain a hearing. Although the language of Rule 53(j)(2) and its predecessor seem to assume that a hearing will be conducted, this should not be interpreted as requiring the trial court to schedule a hearing automatically. Instead, the assumption that a hearing will take place stems from the necessity that the defendant prove his allegations, since the affidavit itself is no longer self-proving and the trial court has discretion to determine the facts. Presentment is necessary when a motion is filed post-trial because the case is no longer on the court’s docket, and merely filing a motion may be insufficient to put the trial court on notice of the need to take action. (Compare Tex.RApp.Pro. 31(d) (requirement) that motion for new trial be filed and presented to the trial court). Therefore, I would hold that in order to be entitled to a hearing to prove indigence for purposes of obtaining a taxpayer funded statement of facts on appeal, the defendant must present his affidavit and motion to the trial court and request a hearing.
Because appellants did not seek a hearing in order to prove their indigency claims, they did not exercise due diligence in asserting them. Therefore, I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
McCORMICK, P. J., and WHITE and MANSFIELD, JJ., join.