In The
Court of Appeals
Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont
_________________
NO. 09-19-00174-CV
_________________
IN THE INTEREST OF R.S.C. JR.
________________________________________________________________________
On Appeal from the 356th District Court
Hardin County, Texas
Trial Cause No. 59344
________________________________________________________________________
ORDER
R.C., appellant, appealed a judgment terminating the parent-child relationship
between appellant and R.S.C. Jr. R.C.’s appellate counsel filed a brief that presents
counsel’s professional evaluation of the record and concludes the appeal is frivolous.
See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967); In re L.D.T., 161 S.W.3d 728, 731
(Tex. App.—Beaumont 2005, no pet.) (holding that Anders procedures apply in
parental-rights termination cases).
Our review of the record reveals arguable error regarding whether insufficient
evidence supports the grounds for termination under Tex. Fam. Code Ann. §
1
161.001(1)(D) and (E) (West Supp. 2018). Because of the potential consequences
for parental rights to a different child, a sufficiency challenge to (D) and (E) findings
is not frivolous solely because sufficient evidence supports other grounds for
termination under section 161.001(1). See generally In re N.G., No. 18-0508, 2019
WL 2147263, at *3 (Tex. May 17, 2019); In re C.M.C., 554 S.W.3d 164, 173 (Tex.
App.—Beaumont 2018, no pet.). Having found arguable error, we must remand the
case to the trial court for appointment of new counsel. See Stafford v. State, 813
S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). We therefore grant counsel’s motion to
withdraw, abate the appeal, and remand the cause to the trial court. The trial court
shall, within twenty days from the date of this Order, appoint a new attorney on
appeal to present all arguable grounds of error, including but not limited to the
nonfrivolous ground noted in this Order.
It is, therefore, ORDERED that the appeal is ABATED and the cause is
REMANDED to the trial court for appointment of new appellate counsel for R.C.
A supplemental clerk’s record containing the order appointing new counsel shall be
filed with the Court by August 28, 2019. The brief of the appellant shall be due
twenty days after the appeal is reinstated. The Department’s brief shall be due twenty
days after the appellant’s brief is filed. We remove the case from the submitted
docket. The appeal will be re-submitted after the briefs on the merits have been filed.
2
ORDER ENTERED August 8, 2019.
PER CURIAM
Before McKeithen, C.J., Kreger and Johnson, JJ.
3