Case Information
*0 FILED IN 12th COURT OF APPEALS TYLER, TEXAS 9/9/2015 4:06:37 PM PAM ESTES Clerk *1 ACCEPTED 12-14-00044-CR TWELFTH COURT OF APPEALS TYLER, TEXAS 9/9/2015 4:06:37 PM Pam Estes CLERK In The Twelfth Court Of Appeals Tyler, Texas
No. 12-14-00044-CR Shakeitha Cartwright, Appellant, v.
The State of Texas, Appellee. On Appeal from the 273rd District Court, Shelby County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2013-CR-18695 APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR REHEARING (TRAP 49.1) AND
MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING (TRAP 49.8
Seth T. Johnson, Tex. Bar No. 24082212
928 N University Dr
Nacogdoches, Texas75961
Telephone: (936) 205-6775
Fax: (936)715-3022
Email:johnsondefenselaw@gmail.com
Attorney for Appellant
APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR REHEARING (TRAP49.1) MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING WITHIN THIRTY
DAYS (TRAP 49.8 & TO THE HONORABLE JUDGES OF THE TWELFTH COURT OF APPEALS:
COMES NOW, Appellant, Shakeitha Cartwright, by her attorney of record, Seth
T. Johnson, and respectfully makes this motion .
Appellant moves this Honorable Court for rehearing of Appellant's "Motion to
Abate Appeal and Remand for a De Novo Hearing". In support, Appellant would show
as follows:
I. MOTION FOR REHEARING (TRAP 49.1)
Appellant respectfully submits that the Honorable Court's August 13, 2015 Order
overruling Appellant's original motion is contrary to the holding in Vasquez v. State, 411
S.W.3d 918 (Tex.Crim.App. 2013). The caselaw authorities and reasoning relied upon
in the Order were effectively overruled and superseded by Vasquez. To the extent that
intermediate Courts of Appeal previously held or suggested that there are
circumstances or scenarios under which a trial court, or an appellate court, may ignore
the mandatory dictates of Art. 38.22 §6 pertaining to the issuance of trial court findings
of fact and conclusions of law, Vasquez effectively overruled those opinions.
"Under article 38.22 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, " [i]n all cases
where a question is raised as to the voluntariness of a statement of an accused,
the [trial] court ... must enter an order stating its conclusion as to whether or not
the statement was voluntarily made, along with the specific finding of fact upon
wh ich the conclusion was based , which order shall be filed among the papers of
this cause." We have held that if a statement is involuntary as a matter of federal
constitutional law, it is also involuntary for purposes of article 38.22. This,
essentially, means that the requirement for 38.22 findings applies whenever
there is a challenge to a statement's voluntariness.
In this case , no findings of fact were filed . This was error. The Court of Appea ls
further erred by not abating for such findings.
Here, neither party requested written findings at any level of the proceedings,
and the issue was not considered by the lower court. Nonetheless, section 6 of
article 38.22 clearly requires that the trial court make such findings . We hold that
written findings are required in all cases concerning voluntariness. The statute
has no exceptions." /d. at 920 (emphasis added).
If Appellant's motion is granted and this case is remanded for findings and
conclusions to be entered by the trial court, the second issue raised in Appellant's
original motion is whether a de novo suppression hearing is mandatory due to the
unorthodox procedural history at the trial level. As to th is second issue, Appel lant
simply re-urges her original motion in favor of a de novo hearing, and again emphasizes
that the end resu lt of the bifurcated suppression hearing process employed was that 1)
neither trial Judge viewed the interrogation videos in full prior to admitting them at trial
despite the fact that the videos were admitted at the suppression hearing for that
purpose, and 2) the trial Judge that denied suppression did not preside over the live
testimony portion of the suppression hearing.
II. MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING (TRAP 49.8
COMES NOW , Appellant, Shakeitha Cartwright, by her attorney of record , Seth
T. Johnson, and respectfully moves for an extension of time to file the Motion For
Rehearing herein attached and incorporated in Section 1. In support, Appellant would
show as follows:
1. The Order overruling Appellant's original motion was issued August 13,
2015.
2. "A Motion for Rehearing may be filed within 15 days after the court of
appeals' judgment or order is rendered ." Tex. R. App. P. 49.8. Appellant's deadline was
August 28, 2015.
3. However, Tex. R. App. P. 49.8 provides that "A court of appeals may
extend the time for filing a motion for rehearing or en bane reconsideration if a party files
a motion complying with Rule 1 0.5(b) no later than 15 days after the last date for filing
the motion." In that instance Appellant's deadline would be September 12, 2015.
3. Regarding Tex. R. App. P. 1 0.5(b): The Motion for Rehearing is filed today
(September 9, 2015) and accompanies this motion for extension; no further extension is
necessary. No prior extensions have been requested with respect to a Motion for
Rehearing.
4. Counsel failed to meet the standard 15-day timeframe due to caseload
demands. In the past 27 days I have prepared for trial and held jury selection on an
indictment charging seven 1 51 -degree felonies. A review of my calendar also indicates
that I have appeared in court or held related appointments pertaining to 52 separate
criminal cases in the past 27 days. I am also getting married on October 2nd and have
been involved in preparations for that.
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Appellant, prays that her Motion for
Rehearing and related Motion for Extension of Time to File be granted.
Respectfully submitted , Seth T. Johnson, #24082212 *5 ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT 928 N University Dr. Nacogdoches, TX 75961 (P) 936-205-6775 (F) 936-715-3022 johnsondefenselaw@gmail.com CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Motion, was delivered via
electronic filing service to: Kenneth Florence, Shelby County District Attorney, on
September 9, 2015.
Seth T. Johnson, #24082212