Bell v. State

Before appellant was adjudicated guilty of these offenses, his lawyer left the courtroom for reasons the record does not disclose. Counsel remained absent when, after his conviction, appellant was sentenced to fifty years in prison. The absent lawyer took the present appeal. Arguing in appellant’s amended initial brief that his client was deprived of the right to counsel, the lawyer intimates that he left the courtroom because he had another commitment at the time. To judge from the transcript, he did not have an opportunity to communicate this to his client, who asked, ‘Why is Mr. Kimmel not…