in Re Commitment of John Graves ( 2017 )

In The
Court of Appeals
Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont
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NO. 09-17-00287-CV
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IN RE COMMITMENT OF JOHN GRAVES
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On Appeal from the 435th District Court
Montgomery County, Texas
Trial Cause No. 12-05-05201-CV
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
John Graves was civilly committed in 2012. See generally In re Commitment
of Graves, No. 09-13-00141-CV, 2013 WL 6705980, at *1 (Tex. App.—Beaumont
Dec. 19, 2013, pet. denied) (mem. op.). On June 15, 2017, the trial court signed a
biennial review order that continued the previous order of civil commitment without
modification. Graves filed a notice of appeal. We questioned our jurisdiction and
asked the parties to file responses regarding whether the appeal was frivolous. The
State filed responses but no response has been filed by Graves.
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A biennial review order continuing a person’s civil commitment is not an
appealable order. See In re Commitment of Richards, 395 S.W.3d 905, 908–10 (Tex.
App.—Beaumont 2013, pet. denied). Graves has not identified an order that is
appealable at this time.
“To determine whether an appeal is objectively frivolous, we review the
record from the viewpoint of the advocate and decide whether the advocate had
reasonable grounds to believe the case could be reversed.” Glassman v. Goodfriend,
347 S.W.3d 772, 782 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2011, pet. denied). Graves
has not presented any authority contrary to Richards nor has he presented any
argument that Richards was wrongly decided and should be overruled. We conclude
that the appeal is frivolous. See Tex. R. App. P. 45. In the event Graves files a
frivolous appeal with this Court in the future, the Court will consider imposing
sanctions. See id.
The appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a);
43.2(f).
APPEAL DISMISSED.
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CHARLES KREGER
Justice
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Submitted on September 27, 2017
Opinion Delivered September 28, 2017
Before McKeithen, C.J., Kreger and Johnson, JJ.
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