ACCEPTED
04-14-00862-CR
FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
2/6/2015 2:38:48 PM
KEITH HOTTLE
CLERK
NO. 04-14-00862-CR
STATE OF TEXAS § IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
FILED IN
4th COURT OF APPEALS
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
VS. § THE FOURTH SUPREME
2/6/2015 2:38:48 PM
KEITH E. HOTTLE
NOEL M. BALDERAS § JUDICIAL DISTRICT,
Clerk TEXAS
UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE APPELLANT'S BRIEF
TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF SAID COURT:
Now comes NOEL M. BALDERAS, appellant in the above styled and numbered
cause, and moves this Court to grant an extension of time to file appellant's brief, pursuant
to Rule 10.5 (b) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, and for good cause shows the
following:
I.
This case is on appeal from the 187th Judicial District Court of Bexar County, Texas.
The case below was styled the State of Texas vs. Noel M. Balderas, and numbered
2012-CR-7108.
II.
Appellant was convicted of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Penalty Group 1,
Less than 1 Gram. A sentence of eighteen (18) months in the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice-State Jail Division was assessed on 11/20/2014.
III.
Timely Notice of appeal was given on December 11, 2014. The clerk's record was
filed on December 22, 2014; the reporter's record was filed on January 9, 2015. The
Appellant's brief is presently due on February 9, 2015.
IV.
Appellant requests an extension of time of thirty (30) days from the present date, i.e.,
to March 11, 2015. Appellant has conferred with the office of the appellate counsel for the
State, and the State does not object to this request.
V.
No extensions to file the brief have been received in this cause.
VI.
Appellant relies on the following facts as good cause for the requested extension:
The principal effort precluding counsel from completing Appellant’s Brief to date, was the
preparation and filing of a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, in the matter of Carlos Trevino v. William
Stephens, Cause No. SA-01-CV-306-XR (DEATH PENALTY), Filed February 3, 2015. This is
continuing litigation in a case that was previously denied by the United States District Court, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and subsequently reversed and remanded by the
Supreme Court of the United States. See Trevino v. Thaler, 133 S.Ct. 1911 (2013). The Fifth
Circuit in turn remanded it to the District Court. While undersigned counsel is second chair to
Warren Wolf in that matter, he is the principal writer of the team. Counsel received last minute input
from defense experts on January 1, 2015, and on January 18, 2015. The effort to organize and write
the associated argument, and compile the petition was extensive and done in a compressed time
frame. This prevented undersigned counsel from completing appellant’s Brief in this matter as
scheduled.
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WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, appellant prays that this Court grant this
Motion To Extend Time to File Appellant's Brief, and for such other and further relief as the Court
may deem appropriate.
Respectfully submitted:
/JOHN J. RITENOUR, JR.
JOHN J. RITENOUR. JR.
State Bar No. 00794533
Milam Building, Suite 1716
115 E. Travis Street, Suite 1716
San Antonio, TX 78205
(210) 222-0125
Fax: (210) 222-2467
Ritenourlaw@aol.com
Attorney for Appellant
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on this the 6th day of February , 2015 I electronically
served a copy of appellant's Unopposed Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant's Brief
on the District Attorney for Bexar County, Texas, (ATTN: Appellate Section) by addressing
it to Jeanette.Canales@Bexar.org through the Texas efiling system.
/JOHN J. RITENOUR, JR.
JOHN J. RITENOUR, JR.
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