Darlene Smith v. Anthony Simpson, Alan Patterson and Corinth Missionary Baptist Church F.K.A Mount Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: July 27, 2023
• Docket: 01-23-00080-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued July 27, 2023

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-23-00080-CV ——————————— ARTHUR J. SMITH AND DARLENE SMITH, Appellants V. ANTHONY SIMPSON, ALAN PATTERSON, AND CORINTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH F.K.A MOUNT CORINTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, Appellees

On Appeal from the 55th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 2019-37366

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellants, Arthur J. Smith and Darlene Smith, filed separate notices of

appeal on January 31, 2023, attempting to appeal a final judgment signed on May

23, 2022. We dismiss the appeal.

Generally, a notice of appeal is due within thirty days after the final judgment

is signed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1. The deadline to file a notice of appeal is extended to ninety days after the date the judgment is signed if, within thirty days after the

judgment is signed, any party timely files a motion for new trial, motion to modify

the judgment, motion to reinstate, or, under certain circumstances, a request for

findings of fact and conclusions of law. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(a); TEX. R. CIV. P.

329b(a), (g).

Here, appellants’ January 31, 2023 notices of appeal were untimely filed over

eight months after the trial court signed its final judgment on May 23, 2022. See

TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1. Absent a timely filed notice of appeal, our Court lacks

jurisdiction over the appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.1; Jarrell v. Bergdorf, 580

S.W.3d 463, 466 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2019, no pet.).

On May 11, 2023, our Court issued a notice to appellants, advising them that

their appeal was subject to dismissal unless appellants filed a response establishing

this Court’s jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a). On May 15, 2023, one of the

appellees—Alan Patterson—filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.

Appellants did not respond to either this Court’s notice or Patterson’s motion to

dismiss.

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP.

P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f). We dismiss any pending motions as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Goodman, Landau, and Rivas-Molloy.