Hector Manuel Rodriguez v. The State of Texas

Summary

The First Court of Appeals of Texas affirmed the judgments sentencing Hector Manuel Rodriguez to concurrent 30-year terms in two child-sexual-assault cases. The court declined to abate the appeals to permit out-of-time motions for new trial, concluding that alleged ineffective assistance of trial counsel could be raised through a post-conviction habeas corpus proceeding and that the circumstances were not truly extraordinary.

Holdings

1. An intermediate appellate court should not use Rule 2 to allow out-of-time motions for new trial after the appeal has been perfected and the record filed absent truly extraordinary circumstances.
2. An ineffective-assistance claim that can be developed in a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus does not, by itself, constitute the truly extraordinary circumstance necessary for an appellate court to order an out-of-time motion for new trial.
3. The court did not decide whether Rodriguez signed invalid waivers of his right to file motions for new trial.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court of appeals should suspend the applicable filing deadline under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 2 and remand to permit Rodriguez to file out-of-time motions for new trial.
2. Whether the asserted ineffective assistance of trial counsel constituted truly extraordinary circumstances warranting abatement and remand.
3. Whether the court should decide whether Rodriguez's waivers of the right to file motions for new trial were invalid.

Disposition

affirmed