Harold Alexander Jackson v. State ( 2013 )

IN THE
TENTH COURT OF APPEALS
No. 10-12-00483-CR
HAROLD ALEXANDER JACKSON,
Appellant
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS,
Appellee
From the 87th District Court
Freestone County, Texas
Trial Court No. 11-067-CR
ORDER
The reporter’s record in this appeal was originally due on February 12, 2013.
TEX. R. APP. P. 35.2(a). In a letter dated March 22, 2013, the Clerk of this Court notified
the court reporter, Helen C. Wooten, that the reporter’s record had not been filed.
Wooten did not respond to this letter. Thus, the Clerk of this Court sent Wooten a
second letter dated April 26, 2013, notifying Wooten that the reporter’s record had not
been filed and requesting a response within ten days. On April 29, 2013, Wooten
responded by requesting a thirty-day extension to file the reporter’s record in this case.
Thereafter, we ordered Wooten to file the reporter’s record within thirty-five days of
May 9, 2013. We also notified Wooten that a failure to file the reporter’s record within
thirty-five days of May 9, 2013 would result in the case being abated to the trial court
for a hearing to determine a date certain when the reporter’s record could be completed
and filed.
Because Wooten did not file the reporter’s record in this case within thirty-five
days of May 9, 2013, on July 25, 2013, we abated and remanded this case to the trial
court for a hearing to determine a date certain by when the reporter’s record can be
filed in a manner that does not further delay the prosecution of this appeal or have the
practical effect of depriving appellant of his right of appeal. We ordered that the
hearing take place within twenty-one days of July 25, 2013.
On August 19, 2013, we received the reporter’s record in this case. Included with
the record was a letter from the trial judge, the Honorable Deborah Oakes Evans of the
87th Judicial District Court of Freestone County, Texas. The letter stated that, with
regard to our abatement order, a hearing was conducted on August 15, 2013, and that
an official record of the hearing was made by Misty M. McAdams, Certified Court
Reporter. The trial judge further noted that the record of the August 15, 2013 hearing
would be filed within seven days. We have not yet received this record.
Moreover, with regard to the reporter’s record that was filed on August 19, 2013,
we note that it is incomplete and non-compliant with the rules governing the
preparation of reporter’s records. First, the record is missing State’s exhibit 15, which
the master index indicates is a DVD. Second, the reporter’s record does not comply
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with Section 6.4 of the Uniform Format Manual for Texas Court Reporters, which
provides that exhibits must be contained in volumes separate from testimony.
As stated before, it is the joint responsibility of this Court and the trial court to
ensure that the appellate record is timely filed. Id. at R. 35.3(c). Further, this Court may
enter any order necessary to ensure the timely filing of the appellate record. Id.
Accordingly, we order the trial court to conduct a hearing within twenty-one days of
the date of this order to determine why State’s exhibit 15 and the supplemental
reporter’s record from the August 15, 2013 hearing have not been filed. With regard to
the formatting of the reporter’s record, we inform the court reporters that all records
filed in the future must comply with the provisions of the Uniform Format Manual for
Texas Court Reporters, including Section 6.4. Because of the delay in this case, we will
accept the previously-filed reporter’s record as filed for this time only, even though the
record is non-compliant with the Uniform Format Manual for Texas Court Reporters.
The court reporter is ordered to file a supplemental reporter’s record with this
Court containing the transcription of the hearing within seven days of the hearing.
Further, the district clerk shall file a supplemental clerk’s record with this Court
containing the trial court’s findings and order within seven days of the hearing.
PER CURIAM
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Before Chief Justice Gray,
Justice Davis, and
Justice Scoggins
Order issued and filed October 3, 2013
Do not publish
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