I am filing a PDR and am confused on one point: the rules say that the PDR gets filed in the court of appeals and then the clerk forwards it the CCA. So do you file the PDR in the court of appeals cause number or do you prepare it as if filing in the CCA? If the latter, do you need to notice the CCA to get a case number or do you simply leave that off? I don't see any procedure like the one for direct appeals where you would file your notice and get your cause number first.

Anyone done these before that can help? The State's attorneys guys are all out today.

I prepare the cover as though the document were being filed in the CCA and leave a blank in the number space at the top, but also immediately below that list the Court of Appeals case #. I also place "On Appeal from the ____ District Court of ____ County, Texas and the ____ Court of Appeals" underneath the style of the case. The Clerk of the CCA will assign a number when it reaches Austin (2-4 weeks later).

Wes,

I am sending you a cover sheet I used. I captioned it with the COA cause number and left a blank for a handwritten CCA cause number. No warranty on this procedure.

You leave the cause number at the top blank (unless you have filed a motion for extension to file the PDR, in which case you will have a cause number). Under the style you can put a one paragraph history that includes the coa cause number.

IN THE
COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS

JOHN DOE, §
APPELLANT §
v. § NO.
§
THE STATE OF TEXAS §
APPELLEE §


STATE’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW OF THE OPINION THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS IN CAUSE NUMBER 2-03-555-CR, REVERSING THE CONVICTION IN CAUSE NUMBER 0862480, IN THE COUNTY CRIMINAL COURT NUMBER EIGHTH OF TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS; THE HONORABLE HARRY HOPKINS AND THE HONORABLE DARYL R. COFFEY, PRESIDING.

§ § §
STATE'S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW
§ § §

Thanks for the advice. I have since learned that part of my confusion was due to looking at a model PDR that had been filed after a motion for extension of time to file had been granted, so my sample had a cause number on it due to having been filed after the court had ruled on the motion. I hadn't figured out how the PDR writer had gottent he cause number ahead of time.