Full Opinion

In The Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo No. 07-26-00244-CR KEVIN D. HOLMES, APPELLANT V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE On Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. 4 Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 1698222 (Counts I, II, & III), Honorable Andy Porter, Presiding September 30, 2026 ORDER OF ABATEMENT AND REMAND Before PARKER, C.J., and DOSS and YARBROUGH, JJ. Appellant, Kevin D. Holmes, appeals1 his convictions for two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child2 and one count of indecency with a child.3 The trial court sentenced Appellant to forty-five years of confinement for each count of aggravated 1 Originally appealed to the Second Court of Appeals, this appeal was transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to its docket equalization efforts. See TEX. GOV’T CODE § 73.001. 2 See TEX. PENAL CODE § 22.021(a)(2)(B). 3 See TEX. PENAL CODE § 21.11(d). sexual assault of a child and ten years of confinement for indecency with a child. The trial court ordered the sentences to run concurrently. Appellant’s brief was due August 24, 2026, but was not filed. By letter of September 2, 2026, we admonished Appellant’s appointed counsel that failure to file a brief by September 14, 2026, would result in the appeal being abated and the cause remanded to the trial court for further proceedings without further notice. To date, Appellant’s counsel has neither filed a brief nor had any further communication with this Court. Accordingly, we abate the appeal and remand the cause to the trial court for further proceedings. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.8(b)(2), (3). Upon remand, the trial court shall determine the following: 1. whether Appellant still desires to prosecute the appeal; 2. whether Appellant is indigent; 3. if Appellant is not indigent, whether Appellant has made the necessary arrangements for filing a brief; 4. why a timely appellate brief has not been filed on behalf of Appellant; 5. whether Appellant’s counsel has abandoned the appeal; 6. whether Appellant has been denied the effective assistance of counsel; 7. whether new counsel should be appointed; and 8. if Appellant desires to continue the appeal, the date the Court may expect Appellant’s brief to be filed. The trial court is also directed to enter such orders necessary to address the aforementioned questions. So too shall it include its findings on those matters in a 2 supplemental record and cause that record to be filed with this Court by October 30, 2026. If it is determined that Appellant desires to proceed with the appeal, is indigent, and has been denied the effective assistance of counsel, the trial court may appoint new counsel; the name, address, email address, phone number, and state bar number of any newly appointed counsel shall be included in the aforementioned findings. Should Appellant’s counsel file a brief on or before the date the trial court acts per our directive, he shall immediately notify the trial court of the filing, in writing, whereupon the trial court shall not be required to take any further action. It is so ordered. Per Curiam Do not publish. 3