ACCEPTED
14-15-00430-cv
FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS
HOUSTON, TEXAS
12/1/2015 2:47:11 PM
CHRISTOPHER PRINE
CLERK
CAUSE NO. 14-15-00430-CV
In the Court of Appeals 14th COURT FILED IN
OF APPEALS
HOUSTON, TEXAS
for the Fourteenth Judicial District12/1/2015 2:47:11 PM
Houston, Texas CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE
Clerk
IN THE MATTER OF THE MARRIAGE OF
CLIFFORD LAYNE HARRISON AND
CONNIE V. HARRISON
On Appeal from the 311th Judicial District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2006-68864
MOTION TO DISMISS
SARAH H. JOYCE | ATTORNEY AT LAW
Sarah Hirsch Joyce
State Bar No. 24092522
3355 W. Alabama St. Suite 825
Houston, Texas 77098
(T) (713) 529-3982
(F) (855) 624-7224
sjoyce@sjoycelaw.com
Attorney for Clifford Harrison, Appellee
TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:
Pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.8(a)(1) and prior order of
this Court, Appellee, CLIFFORD LAYNE HARRISON, asks this Court to dismiss
the appeal and deny Appellant, CONNIE V. HARRISON any further requested
relief. In support, Appellee would show as follows:
The Appellant filed her Notice of Appeal in this matter on April 29, 2015.
This Court gave the Appellant notice that her brief was due within thirty (30)
days of the clerk’s record in this case having been filed. The clerk’s record in this
appeal was filed on September 11, 2015. Thus, the original deadline for submission
of Appellant’s brief was October 12, 2015. Appellant’s brief was not filed.
By a letter dated October 29, 2015 this Court notified Appellant that
Appellant’s brief was now due on or before November 30, 2015 and failure to file
by November 30, 2015 would result in dismissal of the appeal for want of
prosecution.
On November 16, 2015, Mr. Alan Daughtry, Counsel for Appellant, initiated
conference with Appellee’s counsel regarding our position on an extension of time
to file Appellant’s brief. That same day, counsel notified Mr. Daughtry that
Appellee was in fact opposed to such an extension.
Nine (9) days later, on November 25, 2015, Mr. Daughtry filed a “Notice of
Appearance of Counsel for Appellant Connie Harrison” with this Court.
The November 30, 2015 deadline for Appellant to submit her brief has since
come and gone, with no brief having been submitted on behalf of Appellant,
CONNIE V. HARRISON, in this matter.
On December 1, 2015, Counsel received an email from Appellant’s Counsel,
Mr. Alan Daughtry, attached was a copy of Appellant’s “Motion to Extend Time to
File Appellant’s Brief.” Mr. Daughtry advised counsel that the Motion had already
been filed with the Court, and explained that service was prevented because he
encountered an issue with counsel’s email registered with electronic service
registry. The sole copy counsel has received of Appellant’s motion is neither time-
stamped nor file-marked. Further, as of the filing of this Motion, the Court’s
website does not reflect that Appellant’s Motion to Extend has been filed with the
Court. Any difficulty encountered in filing and serving the motion may be
explained due in part to the incorrect case number listed on Appellant’s Motion.
Regardless, the fact remains that Appellant’s brief is now seven (7) weeks
past due. Appellant has already been afforded one extension with the stipulation
that failure to adhere to the deadline would result in dismissal. Furthermore, Mr.
Daughtry has been engaged in this case for some period of time and was aware of
Appellee’s opposition to any further extensions in this case, yet two (2) weeks
transpired before this request for an extension was even made.
Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.8(a)(1) allows an appellate court to
dismiss an appeal for want of prosecution in civil cases when an appellant fails to
timely file its brief.
Appellee, CLIFFORD LAYNE HARRISON, now asks this Court to deny
Appellant’s Motion for Extension of Time to File Appellant’s Brief and to dismiss
the appeal pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.8(a)(1) and pursuant
to this Court’s October 29, 2015 order.
PRAYER
For these reasons, Appellee, CLIFFORD LAYNE HARRISON requests this
Honorable Court dismiss the appeal and grant such other and further relief for
which the Court deems proper.
Respectfully submitted,
_____________________________
SARAH HIRSCH JOYCE
SBN: 24092522
3355 W. Alabama St., Suite 825
Houston, Texas 77098
Tel: (713) 529-3982
Fax: (855) 624-7224
sjoyce@sjoycelaw.com
Attorney for Appellee
CLIFFORD LAYNE HARRISON
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that a true copy of the above was served on the following attorneys
of record by the method indicated in accordance with the Texas Rules of Appellate
Procedure on this 1st day of December, 2015:
ALAN B. DAUGHTRY
State Bar No. 00793583
3355 W. Alabama St. Suite 444
Houston, Texas 77098
(T) 281-300-5202
(F) 281-404-4478
alan@alandaughtrylaw.com
Attorney for Connie V. Harrison, Appellant
_____________________________
SARAH HIRSCH JOYCE