Sean Michael McGuire v. State

ACCEPTED 01-14-00240-cr FIRST COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 1/9/2015 5:07:00 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK No. 01-14-00240-CR In the FILED IN 1st COURT OF APPEALS COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS For the 1/9/2015 5:07:00 PM FIRST SUPREME JUDICIAL DISTRICTCHRISTOPHER A. PRINE at Houston Clerk ______________________________________ On Appeal from the 240th Judicial District Court of Fort Bend County, Texas Cause Number 10-DCR-055898 ______________________________________ SEAN MICHAEL MCGUIRE, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee _____________________________________ APPELLANT’S MOTION TO EXCEED WORD COUNT ______________________________ TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF THE FIRST COURT OF APPEALS: COMES NOW, Sean Michael McGuire, Appellant herein, by and through his attorney of record, Kristen Jernigan, and files this, his Motion to Exceed Word Count. In support of said motion, Appellant would show the Court the following: 1. Contemporaneous with this filing, the undersigned filed Appellant’s brief in this case which consists of 16,240 words. 2. The trial in this case lasted almost two weeks and the record is at least twenty-seven volumes. Appellant was convicted of the offense of murder. This case involved extensive legal research into complex legal issues such as an illegal blood draw in violation of Missouri v. McNeely, 133 S.Ct. 1522 (2013) and the Court of Criminal Appeals’ recent decision in The State of Texas v. Villarreal, No. PD-0306-14, delivered on November 26, 2014. 3. In addition, Appellant raised eight points of error. Two of those points of error involve pre-trial matters which were extensively litigated including a challenge to the indictment and a motion for change of venue. Appellant’s other points of error challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, the chain of custody and admissibility of a blood vial, a warrantless blood draw in violation of Missouri v. McNeely, 133 S.Ct. 1522 (2013), the validity of a conviction used to enhance Appellant’s punishment, the lack of affirmative links to tie Appellant to two prior convictions at the guilt or innocence phase of trial, and the bias of a seated juror. 4. It was necessary for the undersigned to exceed the word count to sufficiently address the errors that occurred at trial. The undersigned has never before filed a motion to exceed the word count in any Court of Appeal. PRAYER WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Appellant respectfully requests that this Court grant his Motion to Exceed Word Count. Respectfully submitted, _______/s/__Kristen Jernigan______ KRISTEN JERNIGAN State Bar Number 90001898 207 S. Austin Ave. Georgetown, Texas 78626 (512) 904-0123 (512) 931-3650 (fax) Kristen@txcrimapp.com CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE The undersigned hereby certifies that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Appellant’s Motion to Exceed Word Count has been mailed to the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, 301 Jackson, Richmond, Texas 77469, on January 9, 2015. __/s/ Kristen Jernigan__________________ Kristen Jernigan 2