Brian Quinn Chief Justice
On Appeal from the 237th District Court Lubbock County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2014-513,191; Honorable Les Hatch, Presiding
CONCURRING OPINION
Before QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and PIRTLE, JJ.
I join in the opinion of the majority. In doing so, I do not read it as construing In re N.G., No. 18-0508, 2019 Tex. LEXIS 465 (Tex. May 17, 2019) (per curiam), to hold that, in an Anders setting, appellate courts must describe the evidence which may support a finding that termination of parental rights was appropriate under sections 161.001(b)(1)(D) or (E) of the Texas Family Code. Yet, the due process implications in a termination suit cannot be denied, as recognized in N.G. Nor can one deny the potential effect that a present decision to terminate may have on a future termination suit involving the same parent but different child, which potentiality the court in N.G. also broached. In coupling those considerations with the availability of the Anders procedure in an appeal from an order terminating parental rights, I am left to believe that, at the very least, an appellate court would further justice by assuring that findings based on (D) and (E) of § 161.001(b)(1) of the Family Code have sufficient evidentiary support in an Anders situation. So too do I believe that appellant's counsel would serve his client by also addressing and detailing the sufficiency of the evidence underlying such findings when concluding that the Anders procedure is the correct avenue to follow. Already is he perusing the record in search of potential error. Showing his work, as that term was alluded to in footnote 4 of In re E.K., No. 10-19-00070-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 6580 (Tex. App.—Waco July 31, 2019, no pet. h.) (mem. op.), would take only a bit more time and effort. And, the intangible value of a bit more time and effort hardly outweighs the due process concerns inherent in a termination suit. Our requesting assistance from appellant's counsel when Anders is pursued, as occurred here, should be anticipated and will be welcomed in the future, as well.
Again, I join in the opinion of the majority.
Brian Quinn
Chief Justice