UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.2021-05-26No. No. 20-10801

Summary · law.co

Holding. The court granted counsel's motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal, finding no nonfrivolous issues for appellate review.

Joseph Dean Taylor's appointed counsel filed a motion to withdraw from his appeal, accompanied by an Anders brief indicating the appeal lacked any nonfrivolous issues warranting appellate review. Taylor submitted a response to this motion. The court examined both counsel's brief and Taylor's response, and determined that the record was too underdeveloped to fairly evaluate Taylor's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, so those claims were set aside without prejudice for potential future collateral review.

The appellate panel agreed with counsel's conclusion that no nonfrivolous issues existed for the court to address on appeal. Accordingly, the court granted counsel's motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal entirely.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

Whether appellate counsel could withdraw based on lack of nonfrivolous issues
Whether Taylor's ineffective assistance of counsel claims could be reviewed on appeal
Sufficiency of the record for appellate review

Procedural posture

Appellate counsel sought leave to withdraw from representing Taylor in his criminal appeal, filing an Anders brief indicating the absence of nonfrivolous issues.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion · public domain

The attorney appointed to represent Joseph Dean Taylor has moved for leave to withdraw and has filed a brief in accordance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), and United States v. Flores, 632 F.3d 229 (5th Cir. 2011). Taylor has filed a response. The record is not sufficiently developed to allow us to make a fair evaluation of Taylors claims of ineffective assistance of counsel; we therefore decline to consider the claims without prejudice to collateral review. See United States v. Isgar, 739 F.3d 829, 841 (5th Cir. 2014).

We have reviewed counsels brief and the relevant portions of the record reflected therein, as well as Taylors response. We concur with counsels assessment that the appeal presents no nonfrivolous issue for appellate review. Accordingly, the motion for leave to withdraw is GRANTED, counsel is excused from further responsibilities herein, and the APPEAL IS DISMISSED. See 5th Cir. R. 42.2.

FOOTNOTES

FOOTNOTE

Per Curiam:*

FN* Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.