Nathaniel Paul Fox v. State

ACCEPTED 03-14-00617-CR 8024723 THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 12/1/2015 9:12:51 AM JEFFREY D. KYLE CLERK NO. 03-14-00617-CR NATHANIEL PAUL FOX § IN THE THIRD FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS § AUSTIN, TEXAS V. § DISTRICT 12/1/2015 COURT9:12:51 OF AM § JEFFREY D. KYLE THE STATE OF TEXAS § APPEALS OF TEXAS Clerk STATE’S MOTION TO FILE AMENDED BRIEF TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF SAID COURT: Now comes the State of Texas, Appellee in the above-styled and -numbered cause, and moves this Honorable Court to accept the filing of Appellee’s amended brief, and for good cause would show the following: I. Appellant was indicted by a grand jury on March 13, 2013 for the charges of Murder and Aggravated Assault of a Family or Household Member with a Deadly Weapon in CR2013-091. He was subsequently convicted for both offenses. Appellant filed his brief on January 22, 2015. The State filed its brief on April 13, 2015 at 11:22 p.m. No other briefs have been filed. II. I am handling the appeal for the State in this case. While reviewing the briefs in this case in preparation for oral argument tomorrow, December 2nd, I observed that although Appellant requested that the Court return the conviction for the more serious offense and set aside the lesser conviction in the event it found a 1 double jeopardy violation (Brief for Appellant at 9), the State’s brief through an apparent oversight omitted a corresponding explicit prayer for such alternative relief. See Ex parte Cavazos, 203 S.W.3d 333, 337 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006); see also Tex. R. App. P. 43.3 (“When reversing a trial court’s judgment, the court must render the judgment that the trial court should have rendered….”). Accordingly, the State moves the Court to accept its amended brief – submitted along with the instant motion – for filing in this case. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.7 (“A brief may be amended or supplemented whenever justice requires, on whatever reasonable terms the court may prescribe”); Majeed v. Hussain, 03-08-00679-CV, 2010 WL 4137472, at *9 (Tex. App.—Austin Oct. 22, 2010, no pet.) (mem. op.) (not designated for publication) (allowing for the amendment of a brief to add an explicit alternative prayer); Lopez-Juarez v. Kelly, 348 S.W.3d 10, 15 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2011, pet. denied) (holding that “[w]e agree with the Austin Court of Appeals that a prayer can be amended”); Tex. R. App. P. 38.9. The only changes in the State’s amended brief are the explicit additions to the prayer for relief and corresponding changes to the certificates of service and compliance.1 III. WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, the State’s counsel respectfully prays that this Honorable Court accept and file its amended brief, 1 Although the State has located some additional authorities for some issues since the original filing of its brief, it will file these separately in a “letter of additional authorities.” 2 submitted alongside the instant motion, as justice requires. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Joshua D. Presley Joshua D. Presley SBN: 24088254 preslj@co.comal.tx.us Comal Criminal District Attorney’s Office 150 N. Seguin Avenue, Suite 307 New Braunfels, Texas 78130 Ph: (830) 221-1300 / Fax: (830) 608-2008 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Joshua D. Presley, Assistant District Attorney for the State of Texas, Appellee, hereby certify that a true and correct copy of this State’s Motion to File Amended Brief has been delivered to Appellant NATHANIEL PAUL FOX’s attorney in this matter: Paul A. Finley pfinley@reaganburrus.com Reagan Burrus PLLC 401 Main Plaza, Suite 200 New Braunfels, TX 78130 Counsel for Appellant on Appeal By electronically sending it to his above-listed email address through efile.txcourts.gov, this 1st day of December, 2015. /s/ Joshua D. Presley Joshua D. Presley 3