PD-0186-15
PD-0186-15 COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
AUSTIN, TEXAS
Transmitted 2/17/2015 12:38:19 PM
Accepted 2/18/2015 10:07:24 AM
ABEL ACOSTA
No. ____________________ CLERK
ROBERT LYNN PRIDGEN, § IN THE COURT OF
§
Petitioner, §
§ CRIMINAL APPEALS
vs. §
§
THE STATE OF TEXAS § AUSTIN, TEXAS
__________________________________________________________________
PETITIONER’S MOTION FOR EXTENTION OF TIME
TO FILE PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW
__________________________________________________________________
To the Honorable Court of Criminal Appeals:
Robert L. Pridgen, Petitioner, respectfully asks the Court to
extend the March 2, 2015, deadline for his petition for discretionary
review (PDR) to April 6, 2015, pursuant to Rule 68.2(c).
THE PARTIES AND THEIR COUNSEL
The following is a list of all parties to the trial court’s judgment
and the names and addresses of all trial and appellate counsel:
Appellant Appellant’s Appellate Counsel
Mr. Robert Lynn Pridgen Mr. James W. Volberding
First Place
100 E. Ferguson Street
Suite 500
Tyler, TX 75702
(903) 597-6622
February 18, 2015
Appellant’s Trial Counsel
Mr. Jeff Haas
100 E. Ferguson, Suite 908
Pridgen v. State
Pridgen’s Motion for Extension
Page 1 of 5
Tyler, TX 75702
State of Texas State’s Appellate Counsel
Ms. Allyson Mitchell
(DA formerly Mr. Douglas Lowe)
Anderson County District
Attorney
500 N. Church Street, Room 38
Palestine, TX 75801
State’s Trial Counsel
Mr. Stanley Sokolowski
Mr. Scott Holden
Anderson Co. Asst. District
Attorneys
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Court of Appeals Robert L. Pridgen v. State, No. 12-13-00136-
CR, In the Twelfth Court of Appeals, Tyler.
Nature of the case Prosecution for murder, under Texas Penal
Code section 19.02, and the lesser-included
offense of manslaughter, under section
19.04.
District court Hon. Deborah Oakes Evans, 369th District
Court, Anderson County, case number
29956.
Course and disposition Mr. Pridgen pled not guilty. RR11:8-9.
of proceedings After the court denied his motion for
directed verdict, a jury convicted Pridgen of
murder, RR15:65; CR166, and sentenced
him to 20 years incarceration, RR15:128;
CR163, 164. The court denied Pridgen’s
Pridgen v. State
Pridgen’s Motion for Extension
Page 2 of 5
motion for new trial by operation of law.
RR13:137; CR170, 174 (presented).
Properly certified, CR157, Pridgen timely
appealed. CR177.
The Tyler Court of Appeals affirmed
Pridgen’s conviction and sentence December
3, 2014, and denied Pridgen’s January 20,
2015 motion for rehearing without comment
on January 30, 2015.
Deadline for PDR March 2, 2015
Length of Extension 34 days
Sought
New Deadline Sought April 6, 2015, Monday
Number of Previous None
Extensions Granted
REASON FOR EXTENSION
Mr. Pridgen’s lead attorney, Mr. Volberding, is an officer in the
U.S. Army Reserve. He will be deployed out of the country by the Army
for a short period from the end of February to mid-March. (The dates
and location are unclassified but inappropriate for public filing.) A
redacted copy of his orders are attached. This period of absence will
have the effect of compressing work on this and other cases before and
after the absence.
Pridgen v. State
Pridgen’s Motion for Extension
Page 3 of 5
Further, Mr. Volberding and the second attorney on the case, Mr.
Greg Smith, have a series of pending deadlines in other civil and
criminal appeals and trials. Finally, this is an appeal from a murder
conviction. The issues for the PDR are complex. This is Pridgen’s first
request for extension of his PDR and likely to be the only one.
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Mr. Pridgen’s counsel
respectfully asks the Court to extend to his rehearing motion deadline
34 days to April 6.
Respectfully submitted this 16 of February 2015,
/s/ James W. Volberding
By: ____________________________
JAMES W. VOLBERDING
SBN: 00786313
100 E. Ferguson Street
Suite 500
Tyler, Texas 75702
(903) 597-6622
(866) 398-6883 (Fax)
e-mail:
jamesvolberding@gmail.com
Attorney for Petitioner,
Mr. Robert Lynn Pridgen
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of this pleading has
been delivered this 16 day of February 2015 to:
Pridgen v. State
Pridgen’s Motion for Extension
Page 4 of 5
Anderson Co. District Attorney
Courthouse
500 North Church Street
Palestine, TX 75801
by the following means:
_____ By U.S. Postal Service Certified Mail, R.R.R.
_____ By First Class U.S. Mail
_____ By Special Courier _______________________
_____ By Hand Delivery
__X__ By Fax before 5 p.m. to (903) 723-7818
_____ By Fax after 5 p.m.
_____ By email. /s/ James W. Volberding
____________________________
JAMES W. VOLBERDING
Pridgen v. State
Pridgen’s Motion for Extension
Page 5 of 5