Livan Rios v. the State of Texas
CourtTexas Court of Appeals, 9th District (Beaumont)
Date FiledAugust 26, 2026
Docket09-25-00321-CR
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
In The
Court of Appeals
Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont
________________
NO. 09-25-00321-CR
________________
LIVAN RIOS, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
________________________________________________________________________
On Appeal from the 435th District Court
Montgomery County, Texas
Trial Cause No. 24-02-02474
________________________________________________________________________
MEMORANDUM OPINION
A grand jury indicted Appellant Livan Rios for the third-degree felony offense
of evading arrest or detention with a vehicle. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. §
38.04(b)(2)(A). After a jury trial, the jury found Rios guilty and after a separate trial
on punishment, the trial court sentenced Rios to six years’ incarceration in the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
1
Rios’s appellate counsel filed an Anders brief presenting counsel’s
professional evaluation of the record and concluding that the appeal is frivolous. See
Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967); High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807, 811, 813
(Tex. Crim. App. 1978) (outlining frivolous brief procedure in contested cases). On
May 13, 2026, after Rios’s counsel filed his brief, we granted an extension of time
for Rios to file a pro se brief in response by May 28, 2026. Rios has not filed a pro
se brief.
The Court of Criminal Appeals has held that we need not address the merits
of issues raised in an Anders brief. Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 826-27 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2005). Rather, an appellate court may determine: (1) “that the appeal is
wholly frivolous and issue an opinion explaining that it has reviewed the record and
finds no reversible error[;]” or (2) “that arguable grounds for appeal exist and remand
the cause to the trial court so that new counsel may be appointed to brief the issues.”
Id.
Upon receiving an Anders brief, a court must conduct a full examination of
the record to determine whether the appeal is wholly frivolous. Penson v. Ohio, 488
U.S. 75, 80 (1988) (citing Anders, 386 U.S. at 744). We have reviewed the entire
record and counsel’s brief, and have found no reversible error, and we conclude the
appeal is wholly frivolous. See Bledsoe, 178 S.W.3d at 827-28. Therefore, we find
it unnecessary to order appointment of new counsel to re-brief the appeal. Cf.
2
Stafford v. State, 813 S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). We affirm the trial
court’s judgment. 1
0F
AFFIRMED.
KENT CHAMBERS
Justice
Submitted on August 17, 2026
Opinion Delivered August 26, 2026
Do Not Publish
Before Johnson, Wright and Chambers, JJ.
Rios may challenge our decision by filing a petition for discretionary review.
1
See Tex. R. App. P. 68.
3