Brenda Collier v. Coppermill

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: November 20, 2024
• Docket: 04-24-00589-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas MEMORANDUM OPINION No. 04-24-00589-CV

Brenda COLLIER, Appellant

v.

COPPERMILL, Appellee

From the County Court At Law No. 10, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2024CV05385 Honorable Timothy Johnson, Judge Presiding

PER CURIAM

Sitting: Beth Watkins, Justice Liza A. Rodriguez, Justice Lori I. Valenzuela, Justice

Delivered and Filed: November 20, 2024

DISMISSED FOR WANT OF JURISDICTION

Appellant filed a notice of appeal from a forcible detainer judgment signed on August 2,

2024. The clerk’s record, which was filed on September 12, 2024, shows that the challenged

judgment contains the following handwritten notation: “Tenant to vacate by 8-31-24[;] if not

eviction granted and writ to be issued.”

“[A] final judgment cannot be conditional upon future or uncertain events.” Clarent Energy

Servs., Inc. v. Leasing Ventures, LLC, No. 01-18-00036-CV, 2018 WL 4087003, at *1 (Tex. 04-24-00589-CV

App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Aug. 28, 2018, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op.). “A judgment must be

definite to be final, and a conditional order, therefore, is not final for purposes of appeal.” See,

e.g., In re Guardianship of Bernsen, No. 13-20-00241-CV, 2020 WL 4812639, at *1 (Tex. App.—

Corpus Christi–Edinburg Aug. 13, 2020, no pet.) (mem. op.).

The handwritten notation in the challenged judgment conditions the judgment on a future

event—i.e., whether appellant vacated the premises after the judgment was signed. Because the

judgment is therefore conditional rather than final, on September 20, 2024, we abated this appeal

and remanded this cause to the trial court. We ordered appellant to ensure that a supplemental

clerk’s record with a final, appealable judgment was filed in this court by October 21, 2024. We

cautioned appellant that if she failed to cure the jurisdictional defect as ordered, we would reinstate

this appeal and dismiss it for want of jurisdiction without further notice. See TEX. R. APP. P.

42.3(a).

Appellant did not respond to our September 20, 2024 order, and no supplemental clerk’s

record was filed. Accordingly, we reinstate this appeal and dismiss it for want of jurisdiction.

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