Jason Kownslar v. Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: November 17, 2020
• Docket: 14-20-00681-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Appellee’s Motion to Dismiss Granted; Appellant’s Motion to Abate Denied; Appeal Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed November 17, 2020.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

NO. 14-20-00681-CV

JASON KOWNSLAR, Appellant V.

METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 270th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2017-18307

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This is an attempted accelerated interlocutory appeal from an order signed July 3, 2020. Appellant’s notice of appeal was filed September 30, 2020. In an accelerated appeal, the notice of appeal must be filed within 20 days after the order is signed. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b). Appellant’s notice of appeal was not filed timely. A motion to extend time is necessarily implied when an appellant, acting in good faith, files a notice of appeal beyond the time allowed by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1, but within the 15-day grace period provided by Rule 26.3 for filing a motion to extend time. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617–18 (1997) (construing predecessor to Rule 26, former 1986 Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 41). Appellant’s notice of appeal was not filed within the 15-day period provided by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.3.

On October 6, 2020, appellee filed a motion to dismiss for want of jurisdiction based on the late notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a). This court determined it was necessary for the clerk’s record to be file before ruling on that motion. The clerk’s record was filed on November 3, 2020. The record confirmed that appellant’s notice of appeal was not timely filed as stated above.

On November 3, 2020, appellant filed a motion to abate the appeal “to permit appellant to take the steps necessary to make the order being appealed final.” Because we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, we deny that motion.

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

PER CURIAM

Panel Consists of Justices Bourliot, Zimmerer, and Spain.