ACCEPTED
14-14-00665-CV
FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS
HOUSTON, TEXAS
3/27/2015 2:27:57 PM
CHRISTOPHER PRINE
CLERK
No. 14-14-00665-CV
______________________________________________________________________________
In the
Court of Appeals
For the
Fourteenth District of Texas
At Houston
______________________________________________________________________________
No. 2013-12988
In the 234th District Court of
Harris County, Texas
______________________________________________________________________________
DOV K. AVNI
Appellant,
v.
HARRIS COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT,
Appellee
______________________________________________________________________________
APPELLEE’S OPPOSITION TO APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR SECOND EXTENSION OF
TIME TO FILE APPELLANT’S BRIEF AND APPENDIX
______________________________________________________________________________
TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS OF TEXAS:
COMES NOW THE HARRIS COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT, Appellee, by and
through its undersigned counsel, and files this, its Opposition to Appellant’s First Extension of
Time to File Appellant’s Brief and Appendix (the “Motion to Extend Time”) and in support of its
Opposition states as follows:
Overview
1. Appellant’s brief was due on or before March 26, 2015. Appellant’s arguments for an
extension of time are without merit and the Second Motion to Extend Time should be denied.
Appellant’s Motion to Extend Time is Without Merit.
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2. Appellant’s brief was due on or before March 26, 2015. Appellant’s Second Motion to
Extend Time was filed March 26, 2015. The Second Motion to Extend Time requests an
extension of twenty-two days to file the brief, until April 17, 2015.
3. Rule 10.5(b)(1)(C) requires that a motion to extend time contain “the facts relied on to
reasonably explain the need for an extension.” See also Rios v. Calhoon, 889 S.W.2d 257, 259
(Tex.1994)(“A party seeking an extension of time in the court of appeals is required to file a
motion specifically stating the facts that reasonably explain the need for an extension.”).
4. Appellant asserts that there are “exceptional circumstances,” relating to the valuation of
property for tax year 2014 – a matter wholly unrelated to the underlying lawsuit and the present
appeal pending before this court. Appellant references numerous cases and state court lawsuits
he has filed, none of which are related to the appeal in the underlying case. Further, Appellant
claims to have obtained records and documents, not part of the underlying trial court record,
which he intends on using in his brief and presenting as evidence to the Court of Appeals in the
instant appeal.
5. “A reasonable explanation for the need for an extension of time is ‘any plausible
statement of circumstances indicating that failure to file within the [required] period was not
deliberate or intentional, but was the result of inadvertence, mistake[,] or mischance.’” Pidcock
v. City of Wichita Falls, No. 2-05-244-CV, 2006 WL 668709, at *1 (Tex. App. – Fort Worth,
Mar. 16, 2006, pet. denied), citing Hone v. Hanafin, 104 S.W.3d 884, 886 (Tex.2003).
6. The Second Motion to Extend Time states no reasonable explanation for the need for a
further extension of time. Appellant’s citations to causes of action which are unrelated to the
underlying state court case which is the subject of this instant appeal, and which have no bearing
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on the ultimate disposition of this case, are not a reasonable explanation of why a second
extension of time is warranted.
7. Appellant has advanced no reasonable explanation why an extension of time should be
granted in this case. Appellee would be prejudiced by a grant of an extension of time where such
request is made with no foundation or relation to the instant proceeding. Appellant’s Motion to
Extend Time should be denied.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, Appellee requests that the honorable Court of
Appeals deny Appellant’s Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief and Appendix.
Respectfully submitted,
By: /s/ L. Susan Herrera
L. Susan Herrera
State Bar No.09530160
Matthew P. Crouch
State Bar No. 24072481
Department of Legal Services
Harris County Appraisal District
P. O Box 920975
Houston, Texas 77292-0975
Telephone: (713) 957-7497
Fax: (713) 957-5219
sherrera@hcad.org;
mcrouch@hcad.org
ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT,
HARRIS COUNTY APPRAISAL
DISTRICT
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on March 27, 2015, a true and correct copy of the foregoing Motion
to Dismiss was served via:
telecopy
certified mail, return receipt requested
hand delivery
to Dov K. Avni, 150-B Forest Drive, Jericho, NY 11753.
/s/ L. Susan Herrera
L. Susan Herrera
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CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
Pursuant to TEX. R. APP. P. 9.4(i)(3), I certify that the forgoing Appellee’s Opposition is a
computer-generated document containing 728 words, including textboxes, footnotes, endnotes,
headings, and/or quotations. I certify that I am relying upon the word count provided by the
computer program that I used in preparing this document.
/s/ L. Susan Herrera
L. Susan Herrera
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