Dominic D. Miller v. Angela Smoak, Assistant Criminal District Attorney, and Matthew R. Patton, IV, Criminal Defense Attorney

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: January 8, 2024
• Docket: 06-23-00066-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-23-00066-CV

DOMINIC D. MILLER, Appellant

V.

ANGELA SMOAK, ASSISTANT CRIMINAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY, AND MATTHEW R. PATTON, IV, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, Appellees

On Appeal from the 115th District Court Marion County, Texas Trial Court No. 2300042

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice van Cleef MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Dominic D. Miller filed a pro se notice of appeal on August 17, 2023. The

clerk’s record was filed on October 11, 2023. The original deadline for Miller’s appellate brief

was November 10, 2023.

On November 20, 2023, we received a document that purported to be Miller’s appellate

brief. The following day, we sent Miller a letter explaining that, for numerous reasons, the

document we received was inadequate to serve as a brief because it did not meet the

requirements of Rule 38.1 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.1.

In our letter, we provided Miller with a detailed explanation of why the document he provided to

this Court failed to comply with Rule 38.1. We informed Miller that, if he did not file a brief

that complied with Rule 38.1 by December 21, 2023, the appeal would be ripe for dismissal.

On January 4, 2024, Miller provided this Court with a second document that we

construed as his “corrected” brief. That document also failed to comply with the requirements of

Rule 38.1. Because Miller did not file a brief meeting the requirements of Rule 38.1, his appeal

is ripe for dismissal.

2 Pursuant to Rules 38.8 and 42.3 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, we dismiss

this appeal for want of prosecution. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.8, 42.3; see also Williams v. Johnson,

No. 10-02-346-CV, 2003 WL 21361266 (Tex. App.—Waco June 4, 2003, pet. denied)

(per curiam) (mem. op.).

Charles van Cleef Justice Date Submitted: January 5, 2024 Date Decided: January 8, 2024