Randall Gene Looney v. the State of Texas

In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-22-00299-CR
RANDALL GENE LOONEY, APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE
On Appeal from the 485th District Court
Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. 1584436D, Honorable Steve Jumes, Presiding
March 15, 2023
ORDER OF ABATEMENT AND REMAND
Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and YARBROUGH, JJ.
Appellant, Randall Gene Looney, appeal his conviction for continuous sexual
abuse of a child1 and sentence to thirty years’ confinement.2 The appellate record was
originally due November 28, 2022. The clerk’s record was filed by this deadline, but the
reporter’s record was not. We subsequently granted the reporter three extensions to file
1 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 21.02.
2Originally appealed to the Second Court of Appeals, this appeal was transferred to this Court by
the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to its docket equalization efforts. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 73.001.
the reporter’s record due to her caseload. By letter of January 27, 2023, we admonished
the reporter that no further extensions would be granted and that failure to file the
reporter’s record by February 27 would result in the appeal being abated and the cause
remanded to the trial court for further proceedings without further notice. To date, the
reporter’s record has not been filed and the reporter has had no further communication
with this Court.
Accordingly, we abate the appeal and remand the cause to the trial court for further
proceedings. See TEX. R. APP. P. 35.3(c) (“The trial and appellate courts are jointly
responsible for ensuring that the appellate record is timely filed.”); 37.3(a)(2) (requiring
appellate courts to “make whatever order is appropriate to avoid further delay and to
preserve the parties’ rights” when the appellate record is not timely filed). On remand,
the trial court shall determine the following:
(1) what tasks remain to complete the filing of the reporter’s record;
(2) why the reporter has not completed the necessary tasks;
(3) what amount of time is reasonably necessary for the completion of those
tasks; and
(4) whether the reporter can complete the tasks within the time the trial court
finds reasonable.
Should the trial court determine that the reporter will require more than thirty days
to complete, certify, and file the reporter’s record, it shall arrange for a substitute reporter
to do so. The trial court is directed to enter such orders necessary to address the
aforementioned questions. So too shall it include its findings on those matters in a
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supplemental clerk’s record and cause that record to be filed with this Court by April 14,
2023.
Should the reporter file the record on or before March 29, 2023, she is directed to
immediately notify the trial court of the filing, in writing, whereupon the trial court shall not
be required to take any further action.
It is so ordered.
Per Curiam
Do not publish.
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