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Leslie Allen Foster v. State ( 2007 )


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                                                   COURT OF APPEALS

                                                     SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS

                                                                    FORT WORTH

     

     

                                            NO. 2-06-169-CR  

                                            NO. 2-06-170-CR

     

     

    LESLIE ALLEN FOSTER                                                         APPELLANT

     

                                                       V.

     

    THE STATE OF TEXAS                                                                STATE

     

                                                  ------------

     

            FROM CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT NO. 2 OF TARRANT COUNTY

     

                                                  ------------

     

                                    MEMORANDUM OPINION[1]

     

                                                  ------------

    Appellant Leslie Allen Foster entered an open plea of guilty to burglary of a habitation and aggravated robbery of an elderly person.  The trial court convicted Appellant and sentenced him to twenty years= confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) on the burglary conviction and thirty years= confinement in the Institutional Division of the TDCJ on the aggravated robbery conviction, with the sentences to run concurrently.

    In each case, Appellant=s court‑appointed appellate counsel has filed a motion to withdraw as counsel and a brief in support of that motion.  In his brief, counsel has reviewed the history of the case, including detailing the evidence presented.  Counsel=s brief and motion meet the requirements of Anders v. California[2] by presenting a professional evaluation of the record demonstrating why there are no reversible grounds on appeal and referencing any grounds that might arguably support the appeal.[3]  Although this court gave Appellant the opportunity to file a pro se brief, he did not file one.

    In our duties as a reviewing court, we must conduct an independent evaluation of the record to determine whether counsel is correct in determining that the appeal is frivolous.[4]  Only then may we grant counsel=s motion to withdraw.[5]  Because Appellant entered an open plea of guilty, our independent review for potential error is limited to potential jurisdictional defects, the voluntariness of Appellant=s plea, error that is not independent of and supports the judgment of guilt, and error occurring after entry of the guilty plea.[6]       We have carefully reviewed the record and counsel=s brief.  We agree with counsel that these appeals are wholly frivolous and without merit. We find nothing in the record that might arguably support the appeals.[7]

    Consequently, we grant the motion to withdraw in each case and affirm the trial court=s judgments.

     

    PER CURIAM

    PANEL F:    DAUPHINOT, GARDNER, and WALKER, JJ.

    DO NOT PUBLISH

    Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)

    DELIVERED:  July 5, 2007


    [1]See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.

    [3]See Mays v. State, 904 S.W.2d 920, 922‑23 (Tex. App.CFort Worth 1995, no pet.).

    [4]See Stafford v. State, 813 S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991); Mays, 904 S.W.2d at 923.

    [5]See Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 83‑84, 109 S. Ct. 346, 351 (1988).

    [6]See Monreal v. State, 99 S.W.3d 615, 620 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003); Young v. State, 8 S.W.3d 656, 666-67 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000).

    [7]See Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 827 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005).