Sandra F. Berry v. State

ACCEPTED 14-15-00400-CR FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 11/16/2015 6:14:06 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK No. 14-15-00400-CR SANDRA F. BERRY § IN THE FOURTEENTH FILED IN 14th COURT OF APPEALS § HOUSTON, TEXAS VS. § COURT OF APPEALS 11/16/2015 6:14:06 PM § CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE THE STATE OF TEXAS § OF TEXAS Clerk MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE APPELLANT’S BRIEF TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF SAID COURT OF APPEALS: COMES NOW Sandra F. Berry, Appellant, by and though her undersigned attorney of record, and files this Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s brief herein, and as sufficient cause therefore shows the following facts within the personal knowledge of Appellant’s attorney: I. Appellant was indicted for the offense of Tampering with Evidence. Appellant pled not guilty and proceeded to trial. The trial jury found Appellant guilty and sentenced her to serve 15 years in prison. Appellant filed timely written notice of appeal. II. On September 24, 2015, Appellant’s attorney received notice from this Honorable Court that Appellant’s motion to extend time to file Appellant’s brief had been granted, making Appellant’s brief due on or before November 2, 2015. 1 III. Appellant’s attorney hereby requests that the due date for Appellant’s brief be extended by a period of 30 days until December 2, 2015. This is Appellant’s fourth request for an extension in this matter. IV. The facts relied upon to reasonably explain the need for the requested extension are as follows: Appellant’s attorney is a solo practitioner who had a full schedule of court appearances on numerous pending felony cases since October 1, 2015. In addition, during this same period Appellant’s attorney was involved in pre-trial preparations followed by a two day jury trial in one felony case, as well as in pre-trial preparations in six other pending felony trial cases. Further, Appellant’s attorney was involved in reviewing records and researching points of error in four other pending direct appeals. Finally, Appellant’s attorney was out of the country on a previously scheduled family trip for three weeks. Given the foregoing facts, Appellant’s attorney did not have adequate time available to properly review the appellate record, fully research potential points of error, and draft and file an appropriate appellate brief on Appellant’s behalf by the current due date of November 2, 2015. 2 WHEREFORE, ALL PREMISES CONSIDERED, Appellant prays that this Honorable Court of Appeals will grant this motion and extend the time to file Appellant’s brief for a period of 30 days to December 2, 2015. Respectfully Submitted, /s/ Randall J. Ayers _________________________ Randall J. Ayers Attorney for Appellant State Bar #01465950 P.O. Box 1569 Houston, Texas 77251-1569 rjayerslaw@comcast.net (e-mail) 281-493-6333 (office) 281-493-9609 (fax) 3 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that I served the foregoing motion on the District Attorney of Harris County, Texas, by sending a copy to Mr. Alan Curry, Chief of the Appellate Division, Harris County District Attorney’s Office, via electronic service to curry_alan@dao.hctx.net on November 16, 2015. /s/ Randall J. Ayers _________________________ Randall J. Ayers Attorney for Appellant State Bar #01465950 P.O. Box 1569 Houston, Texas 77251-1569 rjayerslaw@comcast.net (e-mail) 281-493-6333 (office) 281-493-9609 (fax) CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE Pursuant to the provisions of Rule 9(i)(3) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure I certify that this document contains 536 words. /s/ Randall J. Ayers _________________________ Randall J. Ayers Attorney for Appellant State Bar #01465950 P.O. Box 1569 Houston, Texas 77251-1569 rjayerslaw@comcast.net (e-mail) 281-493-6333 (office) 281-493-9609 (fax) 4