Case Information
*1 Order entered February 1, 2017
In The
Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-15-01144-CR
ERNEST EDWARD GAINES, Appellant V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 282nd Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. F-0556570-S ORDER
Before the Court is Ernest Edward Gaines’s January 27, 2017 Second Motion for Extension of Time to File Appellant’s Pro-Se Brief or Response to Ander’s [sic] Brief in which Gaines requests an additional thirty days to file his pro se response because he has not received a complete trial record and has not had access to needed reference materials.
The trial court granted Gaines’s motion under chapter 64 of the code of criminal procedure and ordered that DNA testing be conducted on certain evidence from the underlying trial. After reviewing the results of the testing, the trial court found that, if the results had been available during the trial of the offense, it was not reasonably probable that Gaines would not have been convicted. Gaines filed this appeal from the trial court’s order.
Gaines’s appellate counsel filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California , 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and certified to this Court that she provided Gaines with a “full and complete record.” Gaines contends, however, he has not received a number of documents from the trial of the underlying case or “copies of all the “Data Information from the DNA testing results” that would “allow [him] a fair chance to prove [his] innocence.” The documents from the underlying case, in which Gaines pleaded guilty, are not relevant to this appeal of the trial court’s order under chapter 64 of the code of criminal procedure. Further, the DNA test report is not in the appellate record, and the trial court’s order reflects the only DNA test results obtained were from an unknown female contributor.
Gaines also contends, however, that he has been unable to obtain reference materials he needs to prepare his pro se response. We GRANT Gaines’s motion to provide him an opportunity to obtain those materials. Gaines shall file any pro se response to his counsel’s Anders brief by March 1, 2017. No further extensions will be granted.
/s/ ROBERT M. FILLMORE JUSTICE