In The
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
No. 06-12-00117-CR
JERRY DON WHATLEY, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 294th District Court
Van Zandt County, Texas
Trial Court No. CR05-00442
Before Morriss, C.J., Carter and Moseley, JJ.
ORDER
Richard A. Schmidt, Assistant Criminal District Attorney for Van Zandt County, has
filed a motion to extend time to file the State’s brief in this matter. The brief was due March 22,
2013.
In his motion, counsel does not provide the Court with a reasonable explanation of the
need for an extension of time, stating only that he was assigned to complete the appellate brief in
this case in addition to his normal prosecutorial duties and that he has “been unable to complete
the . . . brief in the time allotted.” This Court interprets Rule 10.5(b)(2) of the Texas Rules of
Appellate Procedure as requiring counsel to provide the Court with specific information to
justify a requested extension of time, including the cause numbers of other briefs filed, the dates
they were filed, the dates of trials, how long those trials are expected to last, 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 filed with this Court must contain case-specific
information adequate to justify the request, or they will be denied.
In this instance, we grant the motion for an extension, for a period of thirty days, making
appellant’s brief now due on or before April 22, 2013. Further requests for extensions will not
be looked upon with favor.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
BY THE COURT
Date: April 2, 2013
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