ACCEPTED
01-14-00389-CR
FIRST COURT OF APPEALS
HOUSTON, TEXAS
2/27/2015 3:40:22 PM
CHRISTOPHER PRINE
CLERK
No. 01-14-00389-CR
No. 01-14-00390-CR
In the FILED IN
1st COURT OF APPEALS
Court of Appeals HOUSTON, TEXAS
For the 2/27/2015 3:40:22 PM
First District of Texas CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE
At Houston Clerk
Nos. 1350501 and 1350815
In the 263rd District Court
Of Harris County, Texas
JOHNATHAN RENARD CASTANEDA
Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS
Appellee
STATE’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE BRIEF
TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:
THE STATE OF TEXAS, pursuant to TEX. R. APP. P. 2 & 10.5, moves for
an extension of time in which to file its appellate brief and in its motion, would
show the Court the following:
1. The appellant was charged in cause number 1350501 with aggravated
sexual assault committed on June 8, 2012 (CR1 – 12). He was charged in
cause number 1350815 with the murder of Baron Armstrong committed
on June 8, 2012 (CR5 – 12). He pled “not guilty” to the charges, and the
cases were tried to a jury (CR1 – 81) (CR5 – 73). On April 24, 2014, the
jury found the appellant guilty of both offenses and sentenced him to life
in prison for the sexual assault; the trial court also sentenced him to 45
years in prison for the murder (CR1 – 81) (CR5 – 73). The appellant
filed notice of appeal the same day, and the trial court certified that he
had the right to appeal (CR1 – 77) (CR5 – 85).
2. The State’s brief is due on February 27, 2015. The State hereby requests
a 30-day extension for the filing of the State’s brief.
3. The following facts are relied upon to show good cause for an extension
of time to allow the State to file its brief:
a. The record in this case is over 90 megabytes in length split over
ten volumes and will take a large amount of time to process.
b. The undersigned attorney is responsible for screening every bill
filed in the Texas Legislature to determine its possible impact on
the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and this task has
consumed a large amount of time since pre-filing started in the
Texas Legislature in November 2014.
c. The undersigned attorney researched and answered by email more
than 40 legal questions of trial prosecutors since the appellant filed
his brief. The undersigned attorney researched and answered even
more such questions by phone during that time period.
d. The undersigned attorney is responsible for supervising six other
appellate prosecutors, and has spent a substantial amount of time
reviewing the briefs of those prosecutors, attending their oral
arguments, and assisting in the preparation of both during that time
period. The undersigned attorney has also been responsible for
training two new appellate prosecutors, which requires more
intense supervision and editing, and therefore, more of a time
commitment.
e. The undersigned attorney has been involved in completing the
following written appellate project since the appellant filed his
brief:
(1) Jennifer Waite v. The State of Texas
No. 14-13-00588-CR
Brief filed February 3, 2015
(2) Terry Cox Ferguson v. The State of Texas
No. 01-14-00247-CR
Brief filed February 12, 2015
WHEREFORE, the State prays that this Court will grant the requested extension.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Eric Kugler
ERIC KUGLER
Assistant District Attorney
Harris County, Texas
1201 Franklin, Suite 600
Houston, Texas 77002-1923
(713) 755-5826
Kugler_eric@dao.hctx.net
TBC No. 796910
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that a copy of the foregoing instrument will be served by
efile.txcourts.gov to:
Jani Wood
Assistant Public Defender
Harris County, Texas
1201 Franklin, 13th Floor
Houston, Texas 77002
Jani.maselli@pdo.hctx.net
/s/ Eric Kugler
ERIC KUGLER
Assistant District Attorney
Harris County, Texas
1201 Franklin, Suite 600
Houston, Texas 77002-1923
(713) 755-5826
TBC No. 796910
Date: February 27, 2015