Michael Allen Trevino v. State

NUMBER 13-20-00132-CR
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG
MICHAEL ALLEN TREVINO, Appellant,
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
On appeal from the 23rd District Court
of Matagorda County, Texas.
ORDER
Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Hinojosa and Silva
Order Per Curiam
This cause is before the Court on appellant Michael Allen Trevino’s request that
this Court remand this cause to the trial court for findings of facts and conclusions of law.
The clerk’s record in this cause was filed on July 15, 2020. According to appellant, the
trial court denied appellant’s motion to suppress; however, findings of fact and
conclusions of law do not appear in the appellate record.
Article 38.22, § 6, of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure requires a trial court
to “enter an order stating its conclusion as to whether or not the statement was voluntarily
made, along with the specific finding of facts upon which the conclusion was based.” TEX.
CODE CRIM. PRO. ANN. art. 38.22, § 6; Vasquez v. State, 411 S.W.3d 918, 920 (Tex. Crim.
App. 2013); Urias v. State, 155 S.W.3d 141 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004). This requirement is
mandatory whether or not a defendant objects to the absence of the findings. Urias, 155
S.W.3d at 142; Wiker v. State, 740 S.W.2d 779, 783 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987). Accordingly,
the intermediate appellate court must exercise its authority under Rule 44.4 of the Texas
Rules of Appellate Procedure and remand the case to the trial court and order the trial
court to enter findings of fact and conclusions of law. TEX. R. APP. PROC. 44.4; see
Vasquez, 411 S.W.3d at 920.
The Court, having reviewed the record, appellant’s brief, wherein this request is
made, and appellee’s brief, wherein appellant’s request is not contested, is of the opinion
that appellant’s motion should be granted. Accordingly, we GRANT appellant’s motion
and abate the present appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 44.4. This appeal is ABATED and the
cause REMANDED to the trial court.
Upon remand, the trial court is instructed to make and file findings of fact and
conclusions of law. A supplemental record containing these findings of fact and
conclusions of law should be included in a supplemental clerk’s record which should be
submitted to the Clerk of this Court within thirty days from the date of this order. The trial
court should also clarify its ruling on the motion to suppress and have the court reporter
produce the trial court’s ruling to be included as a supplemental reporter’s record.
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It is so ORDERED.
PER CURIAM
Do not publish.
TEX. R. APP. P.47.2(b).
Delivered and filed on the
13th day of January, 2021.
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