ACCEPTED
03-15-00421-CR
7937003
THIRD COURT OF APPEALS
AUSTIN, TEXAS
11/20/2015 5:16:38 PM
JEFFREY D. KYLE
CLERK
CAUSE NO. 03-15-00421-CR
_________________________________________________
FILED IN
3rd COURT OF APPEALS
AUSTIN, TEXAS
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 11/20/2015 5:16:38 PM
FOR THE THIRD DISTRICT OF TEXAS JEFFREY D. KYLE
AUSTIN DIVISION Clerk
_________________________________________________
STANLEY BERNARD ABNEY §
§
v. §
§
STATE OF TEXAS §
_______________________________________________
APPELLANT’S FIRST MOTION TO EXTEND
TIME TO FILE APPELLANT’S BRIEF
_______________________________________________
Justin Bradford Smith
Texas Bar No. 24072348
Harrell, Stoebner, & Russell, P.C.
2106 Bird Creek Drive
Temple, Texas 76502
Phone: (254) 771-1855
FAX: (254) 771-2082
Email: justin@templelawoffice.com
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT
Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 1
Stanley Bernard Abney v. State; Cause No. 03-15-00462-CR
TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:
COMES NOW, Appellant, STANLEY BERNARD ABNEY, who files this
First Motion for Extension of Time to File Appellant’s Brief, and shows unto the
Court as follows:
I.
Appellant’s brief is due on or before November 23, 2015.
II.
Appellant seeks an additional sixty-five (65) days to file his brief, which
should make his brief due on or before January 27, 2015. Appellant’s counsel is
requesting so much time, both on this case and others, because his briefing
schedule is quite packed: as of the writing of this motion, he has nine briefs due in
the next roughly two weeks. A great deal of time was lost preparing for oral
argument and in the capital murder appeal, which record is voluminous, identified
below, but a second factor necessitating a greater-than-usual request for more time
is that Appellant’s counsel was appointed to represent a party in L.H. v. Texas
Department of Family and Protective Services, 03-15-00673-CV, which is an
accelerated appeal in a parental rights termination case which also has a large
record. As the Court knows, this Court has little leeway to grant extensions in
Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 2
Stanley Bernard Abney v. State; Cause No. 03-15-00462-CR
those appeals. Appellant is asking for sixty-five days rather than sixty to try to
avoid the due dates coinciding for different appeals on the same day.
III.
Facts relied on to reasonably explain the need for an extension include the
following:
1. Preparation for oral argument that was held on November 5,
2015 in the capital murder case of Sherill Ann Small v. State,
Cause No. 14-15-00039-CR. The record is voluminous (23
volumes of the Reporter’s Record; 1 Unsealed Clerk’s Record;
1 Sealed Clerk’s Record; 2 Supplemental Clerk’s Record), and
preparation was frequent since the case was set for oral
argument on September 24, 2015. (e.g., October 23, 2015;
October 24, 2015; October 26, 2015; October 27, 2015;
October 28, 2015; October 29, 2015; October 30, 2015;
November 2, 2015; November 3, 2015; November 4, 2015;
November 5, 2015) (only includes dates since instant brief
became due). Also, Appellant’s counsel had to travel to and
from Houston for oral argument, meaning the whole day was
lost to this case.
Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 3
Stanley Bernard Abney v. State; Cause No. 03-15-00462-CR
2. Drafting brief, reviewing record and performing legal research
for brief due on November 25, 2015 in Santos Salinas, Jr. v.
State; Cause No. 13-15-00310-CR (Work performed November
9, 2015, November 11, 2015; November 12, 2015; November
13, 2015; November 16, 2015; November 17, 2015; November
18, 2015; November 19, 2015; November 20, 2015).
3. Review record in L.H. v. Texas Department of Family and
Protective Services, 03-15-00673-CV. (Work performed on
November 10, 2015; November 12, 2015; November 17, 2015;
November 18, 2015.
4. Review record and perform legal research for brief due on
November 30, 2015 in In the Matter of C.P., 03-15-00276-CV.
(Work performed on November 6, 2015).
5. Briefs due on November 30, 2015 in Raymond Ross Mormino,
II v. State, Cause Nos. 10-15-00167-CR and 10-15-00173-CR.
6. Work related to new appeals of four cause numbers in Eian
Hurlburt v. State, 10-15-00400-CR, 10-15-00401-CR, 10-15-
00402-CR, 10-15-00402-CR. (e.g., draft notices of appeal,
requests for clerk’s records, etc.) (Work performed on October
Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 4
Stanley Bernard Abney v. State; Cause No. 03-15-00462-CR
23, 2015; October 26, 2015; November 6, 2015; November 13,
2015).
7. Work related to new appeal, Frank Ortegon v. State, 01-15-
00880-CR. (e.g., request clerk’s and reporter’s records) (Work
performed November 16, 2015).
8. Work related to new appeal, David Joseph Gonzalez v. State
(notice of appeal not yet processed); Trial Court Cause Number
73,960, 426th District Court, Bell County, Texas. (e.g., motion
for new trial, request records, telephone conference with client)
(Work performed November 19, 2015).
9. Brief due in Stanley Abney v. State, 03-15-00421-CR on
November 23, 2015.
10. Brief due in Terri Lang v. State, 03-15-00332-CR, on
November 30, 2015.
11. Deadline to file a reply brief in Jonathan Lee Fehr v. State, 03-
15-00231-CR is December 1, 2015.
12. Brief due in Michael Warren v. Krystal Charlene Ulatoski, 03-
15-00380-CV, on December 3, 2015.
Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 5
Stanley Bernard Abney v. State; Cause No. 03-15-00462-CR
13. Brief due in Fernando Smith v. State, Cause No. 10-15-00263-
CR on December 7, 2015.
14. Presented CLE to the Williamson County Bar Association on
November 10, 2015 at the Georgetown Country Club.
Preparation included November 6, 2015, November 9, 2015 and
the morning of November 10, 2015.
15. Time which will be lost for the Thanksgiving Holidays
(November 26, 2015; November 27, 2015) as well as Christmas
and New Year’s.
16. Attended part of Fall Bench/Bar CLE on October 22, 2015.
17. Miscellaneous work related to cases not having cause numbers
because not yet pending (e.g., coordinating pre-suit mediation)
or are transactional (contract revision/review/research)
(performed variously over the course of the last month).
IV.
No previous extensions have been requested and granted in this matter.
Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 6
Stanley Bernard Abney v. State; Cause No. 03-15-00462-CR
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Appellant asks this Court to
extend his time for filing his brief to sixty-five (65) days from the date his brief is
currently due.
Respectfully submitted:
/s/ Justin Bradford Smith
Justin Bradford Smith
Texas Bar No. 24072348
Harrell, Stoebner, & Russell, P.C.
2106 Bird Creek Drive
Temple, Texas 76502
Phone: (254) 771-1855
FAX: (254) 771-2082
Email: justin@templelawoffice.com
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT
Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 7
Stanley Bernard Abney v. State; Cause No. 03-15-00462-CR
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that, on November 20, 2015, a true and correct copy of the
Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief was provided to
counsel via the method indicated below:
Gary W. Bunyard
Llano County Assistant District Attorney
P.O. Box 725
Llano, Texas 78639
Telephone: (325) 247-5755
Fax: (325) 247-5274
Email: g.bunyard@co.llano.tx.us
VIA ESERVICE
Attorneys for State of Texas
/s/ Justin Bradford Smith
Justin Bradford Smith
Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 8
Stanley Bernard Abney v. State; Cause No. 03-15-00462-CR