ACCEPTED
14-14-00835-CR
FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS
HOUSTON, TEXAS
1/2/2015 1:58:22 PM
CHRISTOPHER PRINE
CLERK
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE
FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF TEXAS FILED IN
14th COURT OF APPEALS
AT HOUSTON HOUSTON, TEXAS
1/2/2015 1:58:22 PM
EX PARTE § CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE
§ CAUSE NO. Clerk
14-14-00835-CR
CHIDIEBELE GABRIEL OKONKWO §
APPELLANT’S UNOPPOSED MOTION
TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE BRIEF
TO THE HONORABLE FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS:
Chidiebele Gabriel Okonkwo, appellant, moves to extend the time to file his
brief, and would show as follows:
I.
Appellant was charged with forgery in cause number 09-DCR-52539 in the
434th District Court of Fort Bend County. He pled not guilty before the Honorable
James Shoemake. A jury convicted him on July 16, 2010, and the court assessed his
punishment at three years in prison, probated for three years, on October 22, 2010.
This Court reversed the conviction in a published opinion issued on December
20, 2011. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed this Court’s judgment and
affirmed the conviction in a published opinion issued on May 15, 2013. Okonkwo v.
State, 357 S.W.3d 815 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist] 2011), rev’d, 398 S.W.3d
689 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013).
Appellant filed a habeas corpus application pursuant to article 11.072 of the
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Code of Criminal Procedure on May 23, 2014. The trial court denied relief on
September 23, and appellant timely filed notice of appeal on October 17. His brief is
due on January 2, 2015.
II.
This Court may extend time to file a brief. TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b) and
38.6(d). Appellant has not previously requested an extension of time to file his brief.
Appellate counsel was out of town over the Christmas holiday; and his secretary
unexpectedly quit in mid-December, which has bogged down all administrative
matters. Thus, he needs more time to finalize the brief. He requests that the Court
grant a 15-day extension of time to file the brief.
CONCLUSION
Appellant requests that the Court grant this motion.
Respectfully submitted,
/S/ Josh Schaffer
Josh Schaffer
State Bar No. 24037439
McKinney, Suite 3100
Houston, Texas 77010
(713) 951-9555
(713) 951-9854 (facsimile)
josh@joshschafferlaw.com
Attorney for Appellant
CHIDIEBELE GABRIEL OKONKWO
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I served a copy of this motion on Gail McConnell, assistant district attorney
for Fort Bend County, by electronic mail on January 2, 2015.
/S/ Josh Schaffer
Josh Schaffer
CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE
I conferred with Gail McConnell, assistant district attorney for Fort Bend
County, on January 2, 2015, and she does not oppose this motion.
/S/ Josh Schaffer
Josh Schaffer
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