Jamey Justin Smith v. State

In The Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana Nos. 06-14-00041-CR & 06-14-00042-CR JAMEY JUSTIN SMITH, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee On Appeal from the 196th District Court Hunt County, Texas Trial Court Nos. 28,911 & 28,912 Before Morriss, C.J., Carter and Moseley, JJ. ORDER Nancy Kennedy, counsel for appellant, Jamey Justin Smith, has filed a motion to extend the deadline for filing Smith’s brief. The brief was due May 12, 2014. In her motion, counsel does not provide the Court with a reasonable explanation of the need for an extension of time. This Court interprets Rule 10.5(b)(2) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure as requiring counsel to provide specific information to justify a requested extension, including the cause numbers of cases in which other briefs were filed, the dates they were filed, the dates, cause numbers and style of cases scheduled for trial, the exact dates of trial (if known), the expected duration of trial, etc. Broad, general statements do not provide the required facts and are not adequate to meet the requirements of the rule. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b)(2). All future motions to extend time must contain case-specific information adequate to justify the request, or they will be denied. In this instance, we grant appellant’s motion and extend the deadline for filing appellant’s brief by thirty days, making the brief now due June 11, 2014. Further requests for extensions will not be looked upon with favor. IT IS SO ORDERED. BY THE COURT Date: May 20, 2014 2