Estate of Luella C. Hardie

ACCEPTED 04-14-00786-CV FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 3/5/2015 11:27:54 AM KEITH HOTTLE CLERK NO. 04-14-00786-CV FILED IN 4th COURT OF APPEALS IN THE COURT OF APPEALS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS FOR 03/5/2015 11:27:54 AM THE FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT KEITH E. HOTTLE SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Clerk DON C. RESER, Appellant V. WINIFRED BISHOP, Appellee Appealed from Probate Court No. 2, Bexar County, Texas __________________________________________________________________ APPELLEE’S OBJECTION AND OPPOSITION TO APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME “TO RESPOND TO MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL” James T. Clancy Audrey Mullert Vicknair State Bar No. 00795292 State Bar No. 14650500 jclancy@branscombpc.com avicknair@vicknairlaw.com Clinton W. Twaddell, III LAW OFFICE OF AUDREY MULLERT State Bar No. 24071537 VICKNAIR ctwaddell@branscombpc.com 802 N. Carancahua Ste. 1350 BRANSCOMB|P.C. Corpus Christi, TX 78401-0022 802 North Carancahua, Suite 1900 (361) 888-8413; (361) 887-6207 (fax) Corpus Christi, Texas 78401-0036 (361) 886-3800; (361) 888-8504 (fax) ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE WINIFRED ANN BISHOP 1 TO THE HONORABLE FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS: Comes now Appellee Winifred Ann Bishop in her individual capacity and as Independent Executor of the Estate of Luellea C. Hardie and as Trustee of the Don C. Reser Trust (“Bishop”), and files this Objection and Opposition to Appellant’s Motion for Extension of Time “to Respond to Appellee’s Motion to Dismiss Appeal,” and would respectfully show: It appears that Appellant is confused about the Court Order to which he is supposed to respond. Bishop’s motion to dismiss was ruled on by this Court over 30 days ago. A response to that motion was indeed filed, after two extensions of time to which Bishop agreed (those motions included the same December 2014 trial and other obligations cited as the basis for the current motion). Over 30 days after Reser filed his Response to the motion to dismiss, this Court entered an order on February 2, 2015 ruling that “Appellant cannot rely on Rule 306a(4) to extend the time period for filing a notice of appeal.” (Order, February 2, 2015) “The court, however, has not determined whether appellant’s notice of appeal may be construed as a notice of restricted appeal under Rule 30.” (Id.) Appellant was “ORDERED to show cause in writing showing that this Court has jurisdiction . . . under Rule 30.” (Id.) Appellant now files a motion for extension to time to respond to the original motion to dismiss, suggesting that no response had been filed to that motion when a 2 response was indeed filed and considered by this Court. Appellant says nothing about the current Show Cause Order, the deadline to respond to which expired over 15 days ago. Bishop objects to and opposes any extension of time to respond -- a second time -- to a motion to dismiss that has long since been ruled on by the Court. Bishop would also note that given this is an appeal from a summary judgment order, clearly Appellant was present and participated in the case, so Rule 30 does not apply. The appeal must be dismissed. The motion and order timeline is as follows: 12/3/14 - Motion to Dismiss filed by Bishop 12/9/14 - Reser granted first extension of time to respond to Motion to Dismiss to 12/23/14 (Bishop did not oppose the extension) 12/18/14 - Reser granted second extension of time to respond to Motion to Dismiss to 12/31/14 (again Bishop did not oppose the extension) 12/23/14 – Reser files his Response to Bishop’s Motion to Dismiss 2/2/15 – This Court issues its Order holding that Rule 306a(4) does not apply to extend the time to file the notice of appeal, and orders that Appellant show cause that a Rule 30 appeal is available; Appellant has “15 days from the date of this Order” to comply. Deadline: 2/17/15. 3 2/3/15 – Reser’s counsel – past and present -- file a Notice of Appearance with this Court, notifying it that Mr. Hoelke will be taking over representation; Mr. Hoelke signs that Notice. 2/17/15 - deadline for Reser to show cause in writing that this Court has jurisdiction to retain this appeal on the docket under Rule 30. No action by Reser. 3/4/15 – 15 days after the deadline to show cause, Reser files MFET to respond to Motion to Dismiss that had already been ruled on by the Court on February 2, 2015. Reser makes no mention of the Show Cause Order. Bishop objects to Appellant’s motion to extend time to file a response to a motion that was ruled on by the Court over 30 days ago. Bishop also objects to any extension of time to respond to the Court’s Show Cause Order. The deadline to file a written response showing that Rule 30 applies (it does not) expired over 15 days ago. PRAYER WHEREFORE, Appellee Winifred Bishop, in her individual and fiduciary capacities, prays this Court to deny Appellant’s motion for extension of time, and dismiss this appeal. Bishop prays for all other relief to which she may be justly entitled. 4 Respectfully submitted, Audrey Mullert Vicknair Audrey Mullert Vicknair State Bar No. 14650500 LAW OFFICE OF AUDREY MULLERT VICKNAIR 802 N. Carancahua Ste. 1350 Corpus Christi, TX 78401-0022 (361) 888-8413; (361) 887-6207 fax avicknair@vicknlaw.com James T. Clancy State Bar No. 00795292 jclancy@branscombpc.com Clinton W. Twaddell, III State Bar No. 24071537 ctwaddell@branscombpc.com BRANSCOMB | PC 802 N. Carancahua, Suite 1900 Corpus Christi, Texas 78401-0036 (361) 886-3800; (361) 886-3805 (fax) Lawrence J. Souza State Bar No.: 18863500 802 S. St. Mary’s Street San Antonio, TX 78205-3401 Telephone: (210) 270-7870 Facsimile: (210) 225-5752 ATTORNEYS FOR WINIFRED ANN BISHOP, INDIVIDUALLY, AND AS INDEPENDENT EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF LUELLA C. HARDIE, DECEASED AND THE TRUSTEE OF THE DON C. RESER TRUST 5 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that the foregoing was forwarded to counsel of record, as shown below, on March 5, 2015, in accordance with the Texas Rules of Appellate and Civil Procedure. Frederick F. Hoelke 26545 IH-10 West, Suite 100 Boerne, Texas 78006 Roy R. Barrera Jr. Nicholas & Barrera, P.C. 424 Easy Nueva St. San Antonio, TX 78205 By tex.gov e-filing /s/ Audrey Mullert Vicknair Audrey Mullert Vicknair 6