Okay, how, or should I, cite to an opinion by the court of criminal appeals that has not yet been released for publication?

The opinion is Spence v. State, 2010 WL 3564801 (2010). It comes down on my side of the argument and I really would like to, at a minimum, bring it to the attention of my court of appeals.

Spence v. State, __ S.W.3d __, No. (case number), 2010 WL 3564801, at *(page no) (Tex. Crim. App. Month Day, 2010).

Strictly speaking, the "__ S.W.3d __" isn't necessary, but I like to include it to make it clear that it IS a published case.

Thank you.

Of course, that assumes the appellate court uses West Law. Could be Lexis. I generally put the appellate cause number rather than a cite to Westlaw or Lexis and a parenthetical (not yet published).

For example (made up):

Jack v. State, No. 05-00645-CR, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 251, at *254 (Tex. App.--Dallas, Oct. 10, 2010, no pet. hist.).

If you have Westlaw, simply substitute the Westlaw cite for the LEXIS cite.

Greenbook says to cite to either Westlaw or Lexis, whichever you use. The case number is there for the court to use if they don't have Westlaw/Lexis.

I think the 6th Court of Appeals still has both WL and Lexis.

In my experience, the justices and the staff attorneys at the Texarkana CoA also appreciate parallel citation to the page number(s) of the slip opinions. (I use the corresponding page numbers from the .pdf version of the Spence opinion available on the CCA's website.)

I.E.: Spence v. State, No. PD-1458-09, slip op. at 2, 2010 WL 3564801, at *1 (Tex. Crim. App. Sept. 15, 2010) ("We conclude that the plain language of Texas Transportation Code 502.404(a) requires that a license plate be displayed at the foremost part or front of a vehicle, most commonly the front bumper.").