AP-77,040
COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
AUSTIN, TEXAS
November 30, 2015 Transmitted 11/30/2015 1:08:35 PM
Accepted 11/30/2015 2:10:32 PM
ABEL ACOSTA
CLERK
IN THE
COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS
CEDRIC ALLEN RICKS, §
APPELLANT §
V. § NO. AP-77,040
§
THE STATE OF TEXAS, §
APPELLEE §
STATE’S SECOND MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME
TO FILE THE STATE’S BRIEF
TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS:
COMES NOW, The State of Texas, by and through the Criminal District
Attorney of Tarrant County, Texas, and moves the Court to extend the time for
filing the State’s brief in this cause to February 1, 2016.
I.
In May 2014, Appellant was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to
death in the 371st Judicial District Court of Tarrant County, Texas, the Hon. Mollee
Westfall presiding. The case style and cause number below were The State of
Texas v. Cedric Allen Ricks, No. 1361004R.
II.
The trial judge signed the judgment on May 16, 2014. Appeal to this Court
was automatic. Appellant is currently incarcerated.
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III.
The clerk’s record was filed on September 15, 2014. The reporter’s record
was filed on December 18, 2014.
IV.
Appellant filed his brief on August 4, 2015, after being granted extensions
totaling 196 days. The State’s Brief is currently due on December 2, 2015. The
State requests a sixty-day extension of time to file its brief, thus creating a new due
date of February 1, 2016.
V.
The State previously was granted a 120-day extension of time to file its brief
in this cause.
VI.
This extension is not requested for purposes of delay. This extension is
necessary to allow the State adequate time in this death-penalty appeal to research
and respond to Appellant’s twenty points of error. The State cannot complete the
State’s brief by the current deadline, and good cause exists to extend the time for
filing the State’s brief as requested herein.
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VII.
Counsel for Appellant, the Hon. Mary B. Thornton, informed the
undersigned counsel for the State during a telephone conversation on November
17, 2015, that she does not oppose the State’s motion for extension.
VIII.
Counsel has been reading the lengthy trial record, researching the issues, and
drafting the State’s brief in this cause. Counsel was out of the office due to the
death of her father and matters that she has been required to handle as a result.
Additionally, counsel attended a CLE course the afternoon of November 13, 2015;
assisted in gathering records in death-penalty cases handled by the Criminal
District Attorney’s Office where DNA testing was performed; handled various
matters relating to the death-penalty case of Christopher Chubasco Wilkins, Nos.
AP-75,878 (direct appeal) & WR-75,229-01 (initial habeas petition), before and
after the October 28, 2015, execution date was withdrawn; updated her lengthy
paper entitled “State Law of Charging Instruments,” published every two years by
Thompson Reuters; filed the State’s brief in Rafael Rodriguez v. The State of
Texas, No. 02-14-00377-CR, on September 14, 2015; handled administrative
duties in the post-conviction section of the Criminal District Attorney’s Office on
August 3-14, 2015, on October 1-7, 2015, and on other days when asked to do so;
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and reviewed the work of other attorneys in the post-conviction section when
requested to do so. Counsel was out of the office the week of November 19, 2015;
and will be out of the office the week of December 21, 2015.
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, the State respectfully requests
that the Court extend the time for filing the State’s brief to February 1, 2016.
Respectfully submitted,
SHAREN WILSON
Criminal District Attorney
Tarrant County, Texas
DEBRA WINDSOR
Assistant Criminal District Attorney
Chief, Post-Conviction
/s/ Helena F. Faulkner
HELENA F. FAULKNER
Assistant Criminal District Attorney
State Bar No. 06855600
401 W. Belknap
Fort Worth, Texas 76196-0201
(817) 884-1687
FAX (817) 884-1672
CCAappellatealerts@tarrantcountytx.gov
CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE
On November 17, 2015, Appellant’s counsel, Mary B. Thornton, informed
the undersigned counsel that she does not oppose this motion for extension.
/s/ Helena F. Faulkner
HELENA F. FAULKNER
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
On November 30, 2015, a copy of the State’s motion was e-served on
Appellant’s direct-appeal counsel Mary B. Thornton, marybrabson01@gmail.com;
and his habeas counsel, Catherine Clare Bernhard, cbernhard@sbcglobal.net.
/s/ Helena F. Faulkner
HELENA F. FAULKNER
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