Charles Ray Carter v. State

ACCEPTED 01-14-01006-CR FIRST COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 9/9/2015 3:08:15 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TEXAS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT FILED IN CHARLES RAY CARTER § 1st COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS § 9/9/2015 3:08:15 PM vs. § Case No. 01-14-01006-CR CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE § Clerk THE STATE OF TEXAS § MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE BRIEF TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF THIS COURT: Appellant Charles Ray Carter, through counsel, moves the Court to extend time to file his brief, due September 8, 2015, for the following reasons: 1. Counsel, Assistant Public Defender, Melissa Martin has been working on many cases including, but not limited to Humphrey v. State , 14-15-00226-CR; Hill v. State, 01-14-00945- CR; Sanchez v. State, 01-15-00609-CR; Davison v. State, 14-15-00511-CR; Jones v. State, PD- 0587-CR (brief due September 29, 2015); as well as the instant case and has been unable to complete the brief despite due diligence. 2. This is the fourth request for an extension in this case. 3. This is a murder case in which a motion for new trial was held, which involved many documents and which lasted several hours. The brief is nearly complete but still requires editing. Further, due to some confusion as to which documents belonged in the reporter’s record, the record from the hearing needs further correction, despite the first amended version submitted to the Court. 4. This office recently lost a member of the appellate staff and his cases have been distributed among the seven remaining appellate lawyers; this has temporarily created unanticipated scheduling difficulties. In view of the foregoing, Mr. Carter asks the Court to extend the time to file his brief for 30 days, or up to and including October 6, 2015. Counsel anticipates filing the brief sooner than that but asks for 30 days out of an abundance of caution. This request is made in the interest of justice and effective assistance of counsel and not for purposes of delay. Respectfully submitted, ALEXANDER BUNIN Chief, Harris County Public Defender’s Office /s/ Melissa Martin _________________________________ MELISSA MARTIN Assistant Public Defender TX. Bar No. 24002532 1201 Franklin St., 13th Fl. Houston, TX 77002 email: melissa.martin@pdo.hctx.net 713/274-6709 Fax 713/437-4319 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that a copy of the foregoing motion was electronically served on the Harris County District Attorney’s office on September 9, 2015. /s/ Melissa Martin __________________________ Melissa Martin