PD-0257-15
PD-0257-15 COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
AUSTIN, TEXAS
Transmitted 3/9/2015 9:31:44 AM
Accepted 3/10/2015 9:28:03 AM
IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS ABEL ACOSTA
CLERK
OF TEXAS
GREGORY SHAWN HENLEY, §
APPELLANT §
§
V. § NO.
§
THE STATE OF TEXAS, §
APPELLEE §
STATE’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME
TO FILE THE STATE’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW
TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS:
Pursuant to Rules 10.5(b) and 68.2(c) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure,
the State of Texas, by and through the Criminal District Attorney of Tarrant County,
Texas, moves the Court to grant a thirty-day extension of time for filing the State’s
petition for discretionary review in this case, thereby creating a new due date of April 8,
2015.
I.
The court below is the County Criminal Court Number Five of Tarrant County,
Texas. The case was styled The State of Texas v. Gregory Shawn Henley, cause number
1277030. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the offense of assault causing bodily injury
to a family member. A jury found him guilty. The trial court assessed a sentence of
confinement for two hundred (200) days in the Tarrant County Jail. The sentence was
1
March 10, 2015
imposed on April 11, 2013, and the judgment was signed on April 12, 2013. The
defendant is not currently confined.
On December 18, 2014, Justice Lee Ann Dauphinot, writing the majority opinion
for a panel for the Court of Appeals for the Second District of Texas, sustained the
defendant’s two issues. Gregory Shawn Henley v. The State of Texas, No. 02-13-00178-CR,
2014 WL 7332021 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Dec. 18, 2014, no pet. h.). The published
majority opinion held that the trial court abused its discretion by excluding evidence
showing that the defendant’s conduct was justified as an act in defense of a third party
and that the trial court improperly limited the defendant’s right to cross-examine and
confront the witnesses against him by excluding extrinsic proof of his statements to the
victim and her mother. Id., slip op. at 22. The court reversed the defendant’s conviction
and remanded the case for a new trial. Id.
After an extension was granted, the State timely filed a motion for rehearing and a
motion for rehearing en banc on January 20, 2015. The court of appeals overruled the
State’s motions on February 5, 2015.
II.
The State’s petition for discretionary review is currently due on or before March 9,
2015. The State requests a thirty-day extension of time to file its petition for discretionary
review, thus creating a new due date of April 8, 2015.
2
III.
The State has not previously requested or been granted an extension of time to file
its petition for discretionary review in this case. The defendant’s counsel, the Hon.
William S. Harris, has stated that he does not oppose the State’s request for an extension
to file a petition for discretionary review.
IV.
This extension is not requested for purposes of delay. This extension is necessary
to allow the State adequate time to prepare the State’s petition for discretionary review.
The State asserts that it cannot complete the State’s petition by the current deadline and
that good cause exists to extend the time for filing the State’s petition as requested herein.
On January 9, 2015, undersigned counsel was promoted to chief of post-conviction
for the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. In that new position, counsel
has been working to implement certain changes within the office as well as supervising,
making assignments to, and reviewing the work of fifteen other post-conviction attorneys
and support staff and providing research support for trial attorneys in the office. Counsel
has been working to draft the State’s petition in this case, but is not yet finished.
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, the State respectfully requests that
the Court grant the State a thirty-day extension of time for filing the State’s petition for
discretionary review, thus creating a new due date of April 8, 2015.
3
Respectfully submitted,
SHAREN WILSON
Criminal District Attorney
Tarrant County, Texas
/s/ Debra Windsor
DEBRA WINDSOR
Assistant Criminal District Attorney
Chief, Post-Conviction
Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center
401 W. Belknap
Fort Worth, Texas 76196-0201
(817) 884-1687
Fax (817) 884-1672
State Bar No. 00788692
CCAAppellateAlerts@TarrantCounty.com
Certificate Of Service
A true copy of the State’s Motion For Extension Of Time To File The State’s
Petition For Discretionary Review has been e-served on counsel for the defendant,
William S. Harris, at wmsharris.law@sbcglobal.net, and on Lisa C. McMinn, State
Prosecuting Attorney, at information@spa.texas.gov, on this 9th day of March, 2015.
/s/ Debra Windsor
DEBRA WINDSOR
4