Amelia v. Kelly v. Matthew D. Wiggins, Jr. and D. L. Hammaker

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 1, 2017
• Docket: 14-17-00541-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order filed August 1, 2017

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-17-00541-CV ____________

AMELIA V. KELLY, Appellant

V.

MATTHEW D. WIGGINS, JR. AND D. L. HAMMAKER, Appellees

On Appeal from the 122nd District Court Galveston County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 13-CV-1392

ORDER

This is an appeal from a judgment signed May 15, 2017. The notice of appeal was due June 14, 2017. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed the notice of appeal on June 20, 2017, a date within 15 days of the due date for the notice of appeal. A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when the perfecting instrument is filed within 15 days of its due date. Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Appellant did not file a motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal. While an extension may be implied, appellant is still obligated to come forward with a reasonable explanation to support the late filing. See Miller v. Greenpark Surgery Center Assocs., Ltd., 974 S.W.2d 805, 808 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, no pet.). Accordingly, we ORDER appellant to file a proper motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal on or before 10 days after the date of this order. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3;10.5(b). If appellant does not comply with this order, we will dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3.

PER CURIAM