COURT OF APPEALS SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS FORT WORTH

NO. 2-08-362-CR

RODNEY E. OWENS APPELLANT V. THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE ------------ FROM THE 371ST DISTRICT COURT OF TARRANT COUNTY ------------ MEMORANDUM OPINION 1 ------------ A jury convicted Appellant Rodney E. Owens of murder and assessed his punishment at life imprisonment. The trial court sentenced him accordingly.

Owens’s court-appointed appellate counsel has filed a motion to withdraw as counsel and a brief in support of that motion. Counsel’s brief and motion meet the requirements of Anders v. California by presenting a professional evaluation of the record demonstrating why there are no arguable grounds for

… See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4. relief. 386 U.S. 738, 87 S. Ct. 1396 (1967). We gave Owens an opportunity to file a pro se brief, but he did not file one.

Once an appellant’s court-appointed attorney files a motion to withdraw on the ground that the appeal is frivolous and fulfills the requirements of Anders, this court is obligated to undertake an independent examination of the record. See Stafford v. State, 813 S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991); Mays v. State, 904 S.W.2d 920, 922–23 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1995, no pet.). Only then may we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw. See Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 82–83, 109 S. Ct. 346, 351 (1988).

We have carefully reviewed the record and counsel’s brief. We agree with counsel that this appeal is wholly frivolous and without merit; we find nothing in the record that might arguably support the appeal. See Bledsoe v. State, 178 S.W.3d 824, 827–28 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005). Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

PER CURIAM PANEL: WALKER, GARDNER, and MCCOY, JJ.

DO NOT PUBLISH Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b) DELIVERED: August 20, 2009