John Gabriel Esquivel v. State

ACCEPTED 03-15-00439-CR 6553028 THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 8/18/2015 7:33:16 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE CLERK Gregory Sherwood Attorney P.O. Box 200613 RECEIVED IN Austin, Texas 78720-0613 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS (512) 484-9029 8/18/2015 7:33:16 PM Board Certified Criminal JEFFREY Appellate LawD. KYLE (2011) Clerk Civil Appellate Law (2012) Texas Board of Legal Specialization August 19, 2015 Hon. Jeffrey D. Kyle Clerk, Third Court of Appeals P.O. Box 12547 Austin, Texas 78711-2547 by e-filing Re: No. D-1-DC-14-301500; The State of Texas v. John Gabriel Esquivel; in the 299 th District Court of Travis County, Texas; Appeal No. 03-15-00439-CR; in the Third Court of Appeals at Austin, Texas Dear Mr. Kyle: I received the court’s August 18, 2015 letter stating that a supplemental clerk’s record was filed and the docketing statement was past due, with the letter being addressed only to myself and the District Attorney. However, I am not Mr. Esquivel’s appointed attorney on appeal anymore, as either he or his family hired Amber Vasquez Bode to be his attorney, which I learned on July 24, 2015 when I received an email from her office stating that, and asking me to sign the attached Motion to Substitute Counsel. I informed Ms. Bode’s office that this motion, which is addressed to the trial court, should probably be filed with the Third Court as well. I do not know if that happened, because I do not know if this motion was signed by the trial court, or included in the record. Once Ms. Bode informed me that she had been hired, I stopped all work on this case, which is why I have not filed a docketing statement, nor do I plan on filing one since Ms. Bode is his attorney now. I have also submitted my voucher to Travis County and I have been paid a small amount by the county for the work I did before Ms. Bode was hired, which does not include the time I am taking to draft and e-file this letter and mail it to Mr. Esquivel. The First Attorney to be Certified in Both Criminal Appellate Law and Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization Hon. Jeffrey D. Kyle Clerk, Third Court of Appeals August 19, 2015 Page 2 I am concerned that the court’s August 18, 2015 letter was not addressed to Amber Vasquez Bode, the retained attorney for appellant in this case, since she is his attorney now, not me. If the court believes that I am still the attorney of record in this case, then perhaps this case be remanded to the trial court so that a hearing can be held to determine whether Ms. Bode is actually the retained attorney for Mr. Esquivel in this appeal, and so that appropriate orders can be entered substituting counsel, if this has not already been done. Very truly yours, /s/ Gregory Sherwood Gregory Sherwood encl. cc: District Attorney’s office (by email AppellateTCDA@travis.co.tx.us) client (by first class email) Amber Vasquez Bode (by email amberv@lawyer.com) CAUSE NO. D-1-DC-14-301500 ) STATE OF TEXAS ) 299 111 ) ) DISTRICT COU RT ) VS. ) ) ) TRA VTS COUNTY, TEXAS JOHN ESQU IVEL ) Defendant ) AGREED MOTION TO SUBSTITUTE COUNSEL TO THE HONORABLE JUDG E OF SAlD COU RT: NOW CO MES JOHN ESQUlVEL, Defendant in the above sty led causes, and would show the Co urt as follo\NS: The Defendant wishes to substitute counsel. Gregory Sherwood currently represents Defendant as Attorney of Reco rd . Defendant wishes to substitute the following co unsel, Amber Vazquez Bode. Undersigned counsel has contacted Gregory Sherwood and he has no obj ection to this moti on, as ev idenced by hi s signature below. WHEREFORE, PRE MI SES CONSIDERED, Defendant prays that the Court allow the Subst ituti on of Counse l. and Amber Vazquez Bode be the attorney of record , as set forth herein. Dated : Jul y 24, 2015 Res pectfull y submitted, Austin, Texas 78720-0613 Amber Vazquez Bode emaiI: gsherwood@mai l.com Vazquez Law Firm 1004 West Ave. Austin , Texas 7870 I 512-220-8507 office 512-480-0760 facsimile Texas Bar Number 24039225 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE f hereby certify that a true copy of the above Motion to Substitute Co unse l has, on thi s 24 111 day of Jul y 20 15, been sent to: Gregory Sherwood GS herwood @mail.co m