Jennifer Leann Watson v. State

ACCEPTED 01-15-00134-CR FIRST COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 7/15/2015 7:26:50 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK No. 01-15-00134-CR JENNIFER LEANN WATSON § IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FILED IN 1st COURT OF APPEALS § HOUSTON, TEXAS VS. § FOR THE FIRST DISTRICT 7/15/2015 7:26:50 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 Jennifer Leann Watson, 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 felony offense of Possession With Intent to Deliver a Controlled Substance. Appellant pled guilty and was placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for a period of three years. The State subsequently filed a motion to adjudicate guilt alleging that Appellant violated the conditions of her community supervision. Appellant pled true to the motion to adjudicate without any agreed recommendation from the State, and the trial court found Appellant guilty and sentenced her to serve six years in prison. Appellant filed timely written notice of appeal. 1 II. On June 17, 2015, Appellant’s attorney received notice from this Honorable Court of Appeals that Appellant’s first motion to extend time to file Appellant’s brief had been granted, making Appellant’s brief due on or before July 15, 2015. III. Appellant’s attorney hereby requests that the due date for Appellant’s brief be extended by a period of 30 days until August 14, 2015. This is Appellant’s second 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 pending felony cases since June 15, 2015. In addition, during this same period Appellant’s attorney was involved in pre-trial preparations in five pending felony trial cases, four of which were set for jury trial the week of July 6, 2015. Further, Appellant’s attorney was involved in reviewing records and researching points of error in nine other pending direct appeals, including three with briefs filed the week of July 6, 2015. And finally, Appellant’s attorney was out of town on a previously scheduled family vacation for a period of two weeks. 2 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 July 15, 2015. 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 August 14, 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 July 15, 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 601 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