Paul Wayne Harris v. State

ACCEPTED 14-14-00514-CR FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 6/5/2015 2:19:02 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK Cause No. 14-14-00514-CR IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FILED IN 14th COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT 6/5/2015 2:19:02 PM CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE HOUSTON, TEXAS Clerk PAUL WAYNE HARRIS APPELLANT VS. THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE LETTER REPLY BRIEF FOR PAUL WAYNE HARRIS, APPELLANT Cause No. 11-DCR-057904 In the 268th Judicial District Court of Fort Bend County, Texas David Alan Disher Attorney for the Appellant, SBC # 05895600 1167 FM 2144, Schulenburg, Texas 78956 Telephone Number: 979-263-5174 Fax Number: 979-263-5183 1 TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF THE COURT OF APPEALS: Comes now, Paul Wayne Harris, Appellant, by and through his attorney of record David Alan Disher, presents this Letter Reply Brief For Paul Wayne Harris, Appellant, in the above entitled and numbered cause and would show the following: Appellant has shown prejudice on the record, both District Clerk’s and reporter’s record through numerous citations thereof. Further, Appellant has shown prejudice on the nine specific instances of trial court error not objected to by Appellant’s trial counsel but briefed on the record with citations to statutes and case law. Appellant’s brief pages 36-44. See also pages 45 and 46 Ibid. None of the nine failures of trial counsel to object to the court’s errors are consistent with the State’s purported trial counsel’s strategy or any other sound trial court strategy one could conceive . According to the State, Appellant’s trial counsel’s failure to object to the errors of the court was excused by the trial counsel’s sound strategy of the following defensive theory that “...the complainant had fabricated the allegations in this case out of anger toward Appellant.” State’s brief at page 16. Appellant’s counsel on appeal is unable to see the logic in State’s argument. 2 Although the State would like the Appeals Court to be dismissive of Appellant’s brief, TEX. R. APP. P. 38.9 entitled Briefing Rules to be Construed Liberally and the Bufkin case are informative. Bufkin v. State, 179 S.W.3d 166, 173-174 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2005) aff’d, 207 S.W.3d 779 (Tex.Crim.App.2006) held, “[T]he State chastens this court for failing to address its contention that appellant has failed to present anything for review by omitting citations to the record regarding this point of error. [I]t is the court’s prerogative, not the parties’, to insist on unerring compliance with the briefing rules. Where… the court has had no difficulty locating the pertinent portions of the record relating to appellant’s third point of error, it is within the court’s discretion to review the point of error.” 3 PRAYER FOR RELIEF For the reasons herein alleged, Appellant urges the court of appeals to consider Appellant’s brief on its merits and grant a new trial. Respectfully submitted, /s/ David Alan Disher ______________________________ David Alan Disher, TBC # 05895600 Attorney at Law 1167 FM 2144 Schulenburg, Texas Phone number: 979-263-5174 Fax number: 979-263-5183 E-mail: disherdave@aol.com 4 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE I certify, pursuant to TEX. R. APP. P. 9.4i (2) (C) and TEX. R. APP. P. 9.4i (3) that a copy of this document contains 696 words (containing all parts of the document except as excluded by TEX. R. APP. P. 9.4i (1)). /s/ David Alan Disher ______________________________ David Alan Disher, TBC # 05895600 Attorney at Law 1167 FM 2144 Schulenburg, Texas Phone number: 979-263-5174 Fax number: 979-263-5183 5 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that the original foregoing Letter Reply Brief for Paul Wayne Harris, Appellant, has been filed via e-filing on Mr. Christopher A. Prine, Clerk The Fourteenth Court of Appeals 301 Fannin Street Suite 245 Houston, Texas 77002 And a copy of the foregoing Letter Reply Brief for Paul Wayne Harris, Appellant, has been served on Mr. John F. Healey, Jr. Fort Bend County Criminal District Attorney Fort Bend County Courthouse 1422 Eugene Heimann Circle Richmond, Texas 77469 Via postpaid, U.S. mail, return receipt requested or via personal delivery And a copy of the foregoing Letter Reply Brief for Paul Wayne Harris, Appellant, has been served on Paul Wayne Harris, Appellant, at his last known address of Larry Gist Unit 3925 FM 3514 Beaumont, Texas 77705 6 On this the 5th day of June, 2015. Respectfully submitted, /s/ David Alan Disher ______________________________ David Alan Disher, TBC # 05895600 Attorney at Law 1167 FM 2144 Schulenburg, Texas Phone number: 979-263-5174 Fax number: 979-263-5183 7