Q: My son's court appointed appellate lawyer resigned from his case what can we(family) do next.
My son was convicted of capital murder in Tarrant County earlier this year.
A:
Your son can appeal pro se or hire a private attorney.
If a court-appointed attorney does not see a good faith basis for an appeal in the trial record, he/she can file what is called an Anders brief. In a famous case (Anders v. California), a court-appointed attorney filed a motion to withdraw because he determined from a review of the record that there was no ground for appeal which was not frivolous. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the attorney can file a brief (now called an Anders brief after this case) outlining the case and any potential (albeit possibly frivolous) grounds for appeal, that the appellate court must independently review the case, and that a defendant must be allowed the right to appeal either pro se or by other counsel.
It is extremely rare that an appellate court finds any reversible error in a case in which an Anders brief is filed by a court-appointed attorney on a convicted defendant's behalf.
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