Haskell, Ronald Lee

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
OF TEXAS
NO. AP-77,091
RONALD LEE HASKELL, Appellant
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS
ON DIRECT APPEAL FROM CAUSE NO. 1434395
IN THE 351ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
HARRIS COUNTY
Per curiam. M CC LURE, J., not participating.
ORDER
The above-styled and numbered cause is pending before this Court as a result of
Appellant’s capital murder conviction and resulting sentence of death in the 351 st Judicial
District Court of Harris County, Cause No. 1434395, styled The State of Texas v. Ronald
Lee Haskell. Appellant has filed a motion requesting this Court to abate the appeal and to
“order the trial court to complete findings of fact and conclusions of law pertaining to
Appellant’s two denied motions to suppress.”
During a motions hearing on June 27, 2019, the trial court denied Appellant’s
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“Motion to Suppress Custodial Oral Statements and All Evidence Derived from Any
Unlawful Seizure of the Accused” and “Motion to Suppress Evidence Derived from
Unlawful Search Warrants A-G.” Defense counsel asked the trial court “to make findings
of fact and conclusions of law” on the two denied motions, and the trial court agreed to
do so. Appellant now asserts: “Despite this request and despite the trial court’s
agreement, the record does not contain any trial court findings of fact and conclusions of
law.”
In State v. Cullen, 195 S.W.3d 696, 699 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006), we held that the
trial court must make findings when requested by the losing party on a motion to suppress
evidence. Appellant asks that we abate the appeal of this case in order for the trial court
to supplement the record with the required findings and conclusions. However, under
Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.5(c)(2), an appellate court can order the trial court
to “prepare and file findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by law” and have
the clerk supplement the record with those findings and conclusions without abating the
case. Assuming that the findings and conclusions appellant seeks to include in the record
were required by law to be made, then the record can simply be supplemented without
abating the case.
Therefore, the trial court is directed to prepare and file findings of fact and
conclusions of law regarding Appellant’s two denied motions to suppress evidence. The
trial court clerk must then prepare, certify, and file in this Court a supplemental clerk’s
record containing the findings and conclusions. The findings and conclusions are to be
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made, and the supplemental clerk’s record is to be filed, within 30 days of the date of this
order. See T EX. R. A PP. P. 34.5(c)(2).
IT IS SO ORDERED THIS THE 10 TH DAY OF MARCH, 2021.
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