Raul Lopez v. the State of Texas ( 2022 )

NUMBER 13-22-00230-CR
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG
RAUL LOPEZ, Appellant,
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
On appeal from the 93rd District Court
of Hidalgo County, Texas.
ORDER OF ABATEMENT
Before Justices Longoria, Hinojosa, and Silva
Order Per Curiam
This appeal is before the Court on its own motion. Court reporter Reena Briones
has informed us that she is unable to file exhibits SX-340 and SX-341 because they are
password protected. Briones asserts that she has communicated with the District
Attorney’s office regarding obtaining access to the password, but her efforts have been
unsuccessful. Further, Briones has attempted to file original exhibits SX-9 and SX-224
with this Court; however, the appellate rules presuppose that the court reporter should
file copies of exhibits rather than the original exhibits. See TEX. R. APP. P. 34.6(g). Given
the difficulties inherent in the safekeeping, transportation, review, and return of original
exhibits, this Court routinely accepts and prefers to receive copies of exhibits and does
not accept original exhibits for filing unless the trial court determines that exhibits should
be filed in lieu of copies, or unless we determine that they are necessary for proper review
of the appeal. See id.
This sequence of events requires us to effectuate our responsibility to avoid further
delay and to preserve the parties’ rights. See TEX. R. APP. P. 35.3(b), (c). Accordingly, we
abate this appeal and remand the cause to the trial court. The trial court shall cause a
hearing to be held to determine if any part of the reporter’s record is missing, lost,
destroyed, or otherwise inaccessible. Furthermore, the trial court is instructed to make
findings under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.6(f), if necessary. See id. R. 34.6(f).
Otherwise, the court shall determine what steps are necessary to ensure the prompt
preparation of the exhibit volume to the reporter’s record and shall enter any orders
required to avoid further delay and to preserve the parties’ rights. The trial court is
instructed to take notice of the Uniform Format Manual for Texas Reporters’ Records,
section 8.3, which specifically states computer files must not be password-protected, and
section 8.10, which allows recordings to be broken into multiple files.
The trial court shall cause its findings, together with any orders it may enter, to be
included in a supplemental clerk’s record. Furthermore, the trial court shall cause a
supplemental reporter’s record of any proceedings to be prepared. The supplemental
clerk’s record and supplemental reporter’s record shall be filed with the Clerk of this Court
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on or before the expiration of thirty days from the date of this order.
PER CURIAM
Do not publish.
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
Delivered and filed on the
18th day of October, 2022.
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