David Charles v. State

The State of TexasAppellee Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas Tuesday, May 12, 2015 No. 04-14-00761-CR David CHARLES, Appellant v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee From the 437th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2012CR5564 Honorable Lori I. Valenzuela, Judge Presiding ORDER Appellant is represented on appeal by retained counsel Nancy Barohn and Megan Cook. The notice of appeal in this case was filed October 30, 2014, and appellant’s brief was originally due to be filed on January 29, 2015. On January 29, 2015, this Court granted a motion filed by Barohn and Cook requesting a 30- day extension of time to file appellant’s brief, thereby extending the deadline to file appellant’s brief to March 2, 2015. On February 25, 2015, Barohn and Cook filed a second motion requesting an additional 30-day extension of time. By order dated February 27, 2014, this Court granted the motion in part, extending the deadline to March 16, 2015. This Court’s order stated, “FURTHER REQUESTS FOR EXTENSIONS OF TIME ARE DISFAVORED.” On March 11, 2015, Barohn and Cook filed a third motion for extension of time, requesting an extension of time to file appellant’s brief to Friday, April 3, 2015. By order dated March 13, 2015, this Court granted the motion, extending the deadline to April 3, 2015. This Court’s order stated, “NO FURTHER EXTENSIONS OF TIME WILL BE GRANTED.” On March 31, 2015, Barohn and Cook filed a motion entitled, “Motion for Leave to Supplement the Record on Appeal; Motion for Relief from ‘No Further Extension’ Order; and Motion for Extension of Time to File Mr. David Charles’s Opening Brief.” In this motion, Barohn and Cook requested an extension of time to 30 days after the appellate record was supplemented. In requesting the extension, Barohn and Cook relied upon an inadvertent failure to ensure certain documents were included in the appellate record. In a subsequent advisory to the court, Barohn explained the need for a supplemental clerk’s record containing designated documents from appellant’s 2009 causes. Barohn also referred to the open-ended possibility of the need to supplement the appellate record with additional reporter’s records from hearings held in appellant’s 2009 cases. Finally, Barohn stated she was serving as co-counsel on the appeal based on Cook’s lack of appellate experience and claimed responsibility for the failure to request the supplemental records at an earlier time. Although Barohn admitted she could have sought supplementation much earlier, this Court ordered that the requested supplemental clerk’s record be filed no later than April 29, 2015. Based upon Barohn’s ambiguous statements regarding the open-ended possibility of the necessity for supplemental reporter’s records, this Court ordered Barohn and Cook to file a written notice in this court on or before April 29, 2015, listing all additional reporter’s records of hearings that would be requested in this appeal and providing copies of the letters sent to the court reporters responsible for preparing those records. Although the supplemental clerk’s records were filed by April 28, 2015, as of the date of this order, Barohn and Cook have failed to file the written notice they were ordered to file in this court by April 29, 2015. In the absence of written notice that any additional reporter’s record will be requested, this Court deems the appellate record in this 7-month old appeal complete. It is therefore ORDERED that Nancy Barohn and Megan Cook file appellant’s brief in this appeal no later than thirty days from the date of this order. GIVEN THE PROCEDURAL HISTORY OF THIS APPEAL AND THE PREVIOUSLY GRANTED EXTENSIONS, NO FURTHER EXTENSIONS OF TIME TO FILE THE APPELLANT’S BRIEF WILL BE GRANTED. If Nancy Barohn or Megan Cook fail to file appellant’s brief in this appeal by the deadline stated in this order, they will be ordered to appear and show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court or otherwise sanctioned. The clerk of this court shall cause a copy of this order to be served on Nancy Barohn and Megan Cook by certified mail, return receipt requested, with delivery restricted to addressee only, or give other personal notice of this order with proof of delivery. _________________________________ Jason Pulliam, Justice IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 12th day of May, 2015. ___________________________________ Keith E. Hottle Clerk of Court