Opinion

Michael Keith Coslett v. State

Court
Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston)
Filed
Mar 18, 2014
Status
Published
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 41.9%

emphasizing that reviewing court—and not counsel—determines, after full examination of proceedings, whether appeal is wholly frivolous

How later courts described this case

  • emphasizing that reviewing court—and not counsel—determines, after full examination of proceedings, whether appeal is wholly frivolous
  • reviewing court must determine whether arguable grounds for review exist
  • reviewing court determines whether arguable grounds exist by reviewing entire record

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

Opinion issued March 18, 2014

In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas

————————————

NO. 01-12-01123-CR

———————————

MICHAEL KEITH COSLETT, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 56th District Court

Galveston County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 12CR0266

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury found appellant, Michael Keith Coslett, guilty of the offense of

burglary of a habitation. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 30.02(a)(1), (c)(2) (West

2011). The jury then found the allegation in an enhancement paragraph true and

sentenced him to 11 years in prison. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 12.32, 12.42(b)

(West 2011). Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal.

Appellant’s appointed counsel on appeal has filed a motion to withdraw,

along with a brief stating that the record presents no reversible error and the appeal

is without merit and is frivolous. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S. Ct.

1396 (1967).

Counsel’s brief meets the Anders requirements by presenting a professional

evaluation of the record and supplying us with references to the record and legal

authority. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744, 87 S. Ct. at 1400; see also High v. State,

573 S.W.2d 807, 812 (Tex. Crim. App. 1978). Counsel indicates that he has

thoroughly reviewed the record and is unable to advance any grounds of error that

warrant reversal. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744, 87 S. Ct. at 1400; Mitchell v. State,

193 S.W.3d 153, 155 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2006, no pet.).

After independently reviewing the entire record in this appeal, we conclude

that no reversible error exists in the record, there are no arguable grounds for

review, and the appeal is frivolous. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744, 87 S. Ct. at 1400

(emphasizing that reviewing court—and not counsel—determines, after full

examination of proceedings, whether appeal is wholly frivolous); Garner v. State,

300 S.W.3d 763, 767 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009) (reviewing court must determine

whether arguable grounds for review exist); Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824,

2

826–27 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (same); Mitchell, 193 S.W.3d at 155 (reviewing

court determines whether arguable grounds exist by reviewing entire record). We

note that an appellant may challenge a holding that there are no arguable grounds

for appeal by filing a petition for discretionary review in the Texas Court of

Criminal Appeals. See Bledsoe, 178 S.W.3d at 827 & n.6.

We affirm the judgment of the trial court and grant counsel’s motion to

withdraw.* Attorney Steven Hershkowitz must immediately send appellant the

required notice and file a copy of the notice with the Clerk of this Court. See TEX.

R. APP. P. 6.5(c).

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Keyes, Bland, and Brown.

Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).

*

Appointed counsel still has a duty to inform appellant of the result of this appeal and

that he may, on his own, pursue discretionary review in the Texas Court of Criminal

Appeals. See Ex Parte Wilson, 956 S.W.2d 25, 27 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997).

3

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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