Opinion
05-23-00645-CR
09-13-2023
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellant v. PAVANKUMAR VANGA, Appellee
On Appeal from the County Criminal Court No. 6 Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. M-22-10331
ORDER
ERIN A. NOWELL, JUSTICE
Before this Court is the State's August 31, 2023 motion requesting we abate this case to the trial court to take certain actions including making findings of facts and conclusions of law after holding a hearing.
The State points out that the county clerk and court reporter have filed their respective records with this Court. However, in its motion, the State sets out various issues that it has experienced in obtaining the court reporter's record in its entirety. For one, the State has been unable to obtain an exhibit, State's exhibit A, which is crucial to the appeal and missing from the record. Moreover, it is unclear whether the trial court made findings of facts and conclusions of law after granting appellee's motion for new trial or if the trial court's findings and conclusions are simply absent from the record. Finally, because the record does not contain a deputy reporter statement as required by rule 13.5 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the State cannot discern if there were other transcribed hearings that are not included in the record that may contain such findings or other matters relevant to the hearing of the motion for new trial.
According to the State, before it requested the reporter's record, Counsel for the State was informed that the trial court had no official court reporter, and that the only court reporter known to have participated in this proceeding is Shanna Toal, who was the court reporter at the June 8, 2023 hearing on the motion for new trial.
Accordingly, we ORDER the trial court to:
(1) Make written findings as to:
(a) whether the trial court has appointed an official court reporter as required by Section 52.041 of the Government Code, and if so, the identity of that court reporter;
(b) if the trial court has not appointed an official court reporter, the identity of the deputy reporters, if any, who transcribed:
1. any hearing related to appellee's motion for new trial, other than the June 8, 2023 hearing already on file;
2. any findings of fact and conclusions of law related to appellee's motion for new trial; and
3. Appellee's plea of guilty or nolo contendere on April 5, 2023
(2) If there is no identifiable transcript of the trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law related to appellee's motion for new trial, then make written findings of fact and conclusions of law; and
(3) Conduct a hearing on the record to determine whether State's Exhibit A has been lost, and if so, whether the lost exhibit can be replaced either by agreement of the parties or with a copy that the trial court determines to accurately duplicate with reasonable certainty the original exhibit.
The trial court shall file a supplemental clerk's record containing the court's written findings and orders pursuant to this order within THIRTY DAYS of the date of this order. The court reporter shall file a supplemental reporter's record containing a transcription of the hearing as required by this order within THIRTY DAYS of the date of this order.
We DIRECT the Clerk to send copies of this order to the Honorable Angela King, Presiding Judge, County Criminal Court No. 6; Shanna Toal, Court Reporter; John F. Warren, Dallas County Clerk; and counsel for all parties.
This appeal is ABATED for the trial court to comply with the above order. The appeal will be reinstated when the supplemental clerk's and reporter's records containing the trial court's findings, recommendations, and orders are received or at such other time as the Court deems proper.