Christian Sendejas v. State ( 2016 )

Abatement Order filed October 4, 2016 In The Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________ NO. 14-16-00710-CR ____________ CHRISTIAN SENDEJAS, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee On Appeal from the 122nd District Court Galveston County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 14CR0535 ABATEMENT ORDER Appellant was represented by retained counsel in the trial court but is not represented by counsel on appeal. The clerk’s record contains a letter from appellant’s wife asking the trial court to appoint a lawyer to represent appellant on appeal. This court is unaware whether appellant is entitled to appointment of counsel and to proceed without the payment of costs. Accordingly, we ORDER the judge of the 122nd District Court to immediately conduct a hearing at which appellant and counsel for the State shall be present to determine whether appellant desires to prosecute his appeal, and, if so, whether appellant is indigent and, thus entitled to appointed counsel and a free record. The judge shall appoint appellate counsel for appellant, if necessary. The judge shall see that a record of the hearing is made, shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law, and shall order the trial clerk to forward a record of the hearing and a supplemental clerk’s record containing the findings and conclusions. Those records shall be filed with the clerk of this court by November 3, 2016. The appeal is abated, treated as a closed case, and removed from this court’s active docket. The appeal will be reinstated on this court’s active docket when the trial court’s findings and recommendations are filed in this court. The court will also consider an appropriate motion to reinstate the appeal filed by either party, or the court may reinstate the appeal on its own motion. It is the responsibility of any party seeking reinstatement to request a hearing date from the trial court and to schedule a hearing in compliance with this court’s order. If the parties do not request a hearing, the court coordinator of the trial court shall set a hearing date and notify the parties of such date. PER CURIAM 2