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Boyette v State982 S.W.2d 428December 16, 1998 No. 1282-95 IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS NO. 1282-95 DON GENE BOYETTE, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS ON STATES PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW FROM THE FIRST COURT OF APPEALS HARRIS COUNTY The opinion was delivered per curiam. O P I N I O N Appellant was convicted by a jury of delivery of cocaine. Appellant argued on appeal he was denied his constitutional right to counsel during a critical stage of the proceedings. Specifically, Appellant complained he was not represented by counsel during the time period between the imposition of his sentence and the expiration of the thirty day deadline for filing a motion for new trial. The Court of Appeals agreed, suspended the requirements of former Tex. R. App. P. 31(a), abated the appeal, and remanded the case to the trial court so that Appellant could, with the aid of counsel, file a timely motion for new trial. Boyette v. State, 908 S.W.2d 56 (Tex. App. -Houston [1st] 1995). The State filed a petition for discretionary review challenging the appellate courts decision. At the time the Court of Appeals handed down its decision in Boyette, this Court was considering the same issue in Oldham v. State, S.W.2d (Tex. Crim. App. No. 1350-94, delivered September 30, 1998). In Oldham, this Court held the Fourteenth Court of Appeals erred in using Tex. R. App. P. 2(b) to suspend the time limits for filing the defendants motion for new trial. Oldham, slip op. at 12. This Court further held the defendant failed to overcome the presumption that he was represented by counsel during the time period in which a motion for new trial could be timely filed. Id. at 19. The Court of Appeals in the instant case did not have the benefit of this Courts opinion in Oldham when it handed down its opinion. Therefore, we summarily grant the States petition, and remand the case to the Court of Appeals for reconsideration in light of this Courts opinion in Oldham. PER CURIAM DATE DELIVERED: December 16, 1998 This information is made available as a free public service for your personal, non-commercial use. While every effort has been made to provide accurate material at this site, it is provided "as is" and no representations are made that it is free of mistakes or inaccuracies. This file was derived from the text posted on the web site of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, by the automatic operation of conversion software, and may contain errors. Baker's Legal Pages are a public service of Freelance Enterprises, Inc.
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