Julia Helene Finley v. State ( 2013 )

In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-13-00284-CR
JULIA HELENE FINLEY, APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE
On Appeal from the 181st District Court
Randall County, Texas
Trial Court No. 23941-B, Honorable Lee Waters, Presiding
December 18, 2013
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and PIRTLE, JJ.
Appellant, Julia Helene Finley, appeals her conviction for felony theft. Appellant
pled guilty without the benefit of a plea bargain. She had the trial court assess
punishment which was assessed at twelve years in prison. Appellant appealed.
Appellant’s appointed counsel filed a motion to withdraw, together with an
Anders1 brief, wherein he certified that, after diligently searching the record, he
concluded that the appeal was without merit. Along with his brief, appellate counsel
1
See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 744-45, 87 S.Ct.1396,18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967).
filed a copy of a letter sent to appellant informing her of counsel’s belief that there was
no reversible error and of appellant’s right to file a response pro se. By letter dated
November 6, 2013, this court notified appellant of her right to file her own brief or
response by December 6, 2013, if she wished to do so. Appellant filed a response
wherein she requested the appointment of new appellate counsel and challenged her
sentence.
In compliance with the principles enunciated in Anders, appellate counsel
discussed two potential areas for appeal which included voluntariness of her guilty plea
and ineffective assistance of counsel. However, counsel then proceeded to explain why
the issues were without merit.
In addition, we conducted our own review of the record to assess the accuracy of
appellate counsel’s conclusions and to uncover any arguable error pursuant to In re
Shulman, 252 S.W.3d 403 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) and Stafford v. State, 813 S.W.2d
508 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). We also reviewed appellant’s complaint about her
sentence. Upon undertaking these tasks, we too find no arguable error supported by
the record before us.
Accordingly, the motion to withdraw is granted and the judgment is affirmed. 2
Furthermore, appellant’s request for new appellate counsel is denied as moot.
Brian Quinn
Chief Justice
Do not publish.
2
Appellant has the right to file a petition for discretionary review with the Court of Criminal
Appeals.
2