Charles R. Johnson, Sr. v. State Farm Lloyds

Opinion

In the

Court of Appeals

Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-25-00082-CV

CHARLES R. JOHNSON, SR., Appellant V.

STATE FARM LLOYDS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 102nd District Court Bowie County, Texas

Trial Court No. 23C1423-102

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.

Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Stevens

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On September 18, 2025, Charles R. Johnson, Sr., filed a notice of appeal from the trial court’s August 1, 2025, final summary judgment. Under Rule 26.1 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, a notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days after the judgment is signed unless a qualifying post-judgment motion is filed that extends that deadline to ninety days. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(a). Based on the record before this Court, there were no post- judgment motions filed in this matter that extended the filing deadline; thus, the deadline for filing a notice of appeal from the trial court’s August 1, 2025, final summary judgment was September 2, 2025. The notice of appeal in this matter was not filed until September 18, 2025, making it untimely. Furthermore, to take advantage of the extension of time contemplated by Rule 26.3 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, Appellant was required to file his notice of appeal on or before September 17, 2025.1 He did not file his notice until September 18, 2025.

By letter dated October 17, 2025, we notified Appellant of the apparent defect in our jurisdiction over his appeal and afforded him the opportunity to demonstrate, if possible, grounds for our retention of the appeal on our docket. We warned Appellant that, if we did not receive an adequate response on or before November 6, 2025, we would dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3. On November 3, 2025, Appellant filed a response to the

1 Rule 26.3 states, “The appellate court may extend the time to file the notice of appeal if, within [fifteen] days after the deadline for filing the notice of appeal, the party: (a) files in the trial court a notice of appeal; and (b) files in the appellate court a motion complying with Rule 10.5(b).” TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3. Rule 10.5(b)(2) states that a motion to extend the time for filing a notice of appeal must state, among other things, the date of the trial court’s judgment, the deadline for filing the notice of appeal, and “the facts relied on to reasonably explain the need for an extension.” TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b)(2). Johnson did not comply with these rules.

3

Court’s request, but he did not adequately explain how this Court had jurisdiction over this matter.

Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Scott E. Stevens

Chief Justice

Date Submitted: November 18, 2025 Date Decided: November 19, 2025