Roque Tercero-Aranda v. Cathy Moores











NUMBER 13-04-00631-CV



COURT OF APPEALS



THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS



CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG

_ __________________________________________________________

ROQUE ARANDA, APPELLANT,



v.

CATHY MOORES, ET AL., APPELLEES.

____________________________________________________________



On Appeal from the 214th District Court

of Nueces County, Texas.

____________________________________________________________



MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Chief Justice Valdez and Justices Garza and Vela

Memorandum Opinion Per Curiam



Appellant, Roque Aranda, appearing pro se, appealed an order of the trial court dismissing his civil lawsuit against prison officials for want of prosecution. Appellant has failed to request and file a reporter's record in this cause, and appellant's brief in the above cause was due on October 25, 2007. To date, said brief has not been filed. On November 28, 2007, the Court notified appellant that the appeal was subject to dismissal for want of prosecution unless, within ten days, appellant reasonably explained his failure to file the brief and the appellee was not significantly injured by his failure to do so. The order was sent to appellant's last known forwarding address; however, the notice was returned unclaimed and no response has been filed. The Court has sent other correspondence to appellant, which has also been returned as undeliverable.

Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.1(b) requires unrepresented parties to sign any document filed and "give the party's mailing address, telephone number, and fax number, if any." See Tex. R. App. P. 9.1(b). Appellant has neither provided this court with a forwarding address nor taken any other action to prosecute this appeal.

Rule 42.3 permits an appellate court, on its own initiative after giving ten days' notice to all parties, to dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution or for failure to comply with a requirement of the appellate rules. See id. 42.3(b), (c). Rule 2 authorizes an appellate court to suspend a rule's operation in a particular case to expedite a decision. See id. 2. Given the length of inactivity in this appeal and this court's inability to give effective notice to appellant during the period of inactivity, we suspend Rule 42.3's requirement of ten days' notice to all parties, and dismiss the appeal on our own motion. See id. 42.3(b), (c).

The appeal is DISMISSED FOR WANT OF PROSECUTION.





PER CURIAM

Memorandum Opinion delivered

and filed this the 10th day of January, 2008.