United States v. Herschel Caruthers

Case: 12-40225 Document: 00512003119 Page: 1 Date Filed: 09/28/2012 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED September 28, 2012 No. 12-40225 Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. HERSCHEL WAYNE CARUTHERS, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 2:11-CR-763-1 Before REAVLEY, JOLLY, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* The Federal Public Defender appointed to represent Herschel Wayne Caruthers has moved for leave to withdraw and has filed a brief in accordance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and United States v. Flores, 632 F.3d 229 (5th Cir. 2011). Caruthers has filed a response. The record is insufficiently developed to allow consideration at this time of Caruthers’s claims of ineffective assistance of counsel; such claims generally “cannot be resolved on direct appeal when the claim has not been raised before the district court since * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 12-40225 Document: 00512003119 Page: 2 Date Filed: 09/28/2012 No. 12-40225 no opportunity existed to develop the record on the merits of the allegations.” United States v. Cantwell, 470 F.3d 1087, 1091 (5th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). We have reviewed counsel’s brief and the relevant portions of the record reflected therein, as well as Caruthers’s response. We concur with counsel’s assessment that the appeal presents no nonfrivolous issue for appellate review. Accordingly, the motion for leave to withdraw is GRANTED, counsel is excused from further responsibilities herein, and the APPEAL IS DISMISSED. See 5TH CIR. R. 42.2. Caruthers’s motion for the appointment of substitute counsel is DENIED. 2