Lawrence Edward Thompson v. Unknown Harris County Sheriff's Deputy/Jailer

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: May 7, 2024
• Docket: 14-24-00238-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed May 7, 2024

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

NO. 14-24-00238-CV

LAWRENCE EDWARD THOMPSON, Appellant

V. UNKNOWN HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY/JAILER, Appellee

On Appeal from the County Civil Court at Law No. 2 Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 1195687

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This is an attempted appeal from an order dismissing the underlying case for want of prosecution signed December 4, 2023. On January 10, 2024, appellant filed an untimely and unverified motion to reinstate the appeal. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 165a(3) (providing that a motion to reinstate must be verified and filed within 30 days after the order of dismissal is signed). Because the motion was not timely filed, the appellate deadlines were not extended. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a)(3) (extending deadline for filing notice of appeal to 90 days when a timely motion to reinstate has been filed). Accordingly, appellant’s notice of appeal was due January 3, 2024. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant filed his notice of appeal on February 26, 2024.

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 the predecessor to Rule 26). Appellant’s notice of appeal was not filed within the 15- day period provided by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.3.

On April 10, 2024, notification was transmitted to all parties the appeal was subject to dismissal without further notice for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a). Appellant filed no response.

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Jewell, Bourliot, and Poissant.