Mehmet Turan Erkan v. Habibe Nalan Erkan

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 6, 2015·No. 03-14-00148-CV·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED 03-14-00148-CV 6386149 THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 8/6/2015 1:24:51 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE CLERK NO. 03-14-00148-CV

FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS IN THE THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS AUSTIN, TEXAS 8/6/2015 1:24:51 PM

JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk MEHMET TURAN ERKAN, Appellant, v.

HABIBE NALAN ERKAN, Appellee.

On Appeal from the 201st Judicial District Court Travis County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. D-1-FM- 12-002773 The Honorable Stephen Yelenosky, Presiding Judge

APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR LEAVE AND FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE 2nd AMENDED BRIEF AND AMENDED NOTICE OF APPEAL

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer L. Mathis Texas Bar No. 24081964 mathisjl@gmail.com 3603 Parkway Terrace Bryan, Texas 77802 (972) 822-6374 – Telephone (972) 692-5223 – Fax

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR LEAVE AND EXTENSION OF TIME Page 1

TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF SAID COURT:

Appellant Mehmet Turan Erkan (“Appellant”) files his Appellant’s Motion

for Leave and for Extension of Time to File 2nd Amended Brief and Amended

Notice of Appeal pursuant to TEX. R. APP. P. 38.7 and TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b).

Appellant asks the Court for leave to amend his brief to include the Second

Supplemental Record that was filed on July 13, 2015. In support of this motion,

Appellant would show the Court the following:

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. On February 6, 2014, Appellant filed a Notice of Appeal. 2. On March 12, 2014, the Clerk’s Record was filed with the court. 3. On March 19, 2014, the Docketing Statement was filed with the court. 4. On March 19, 2014, the Reporter’s Record was filed with the court. 5. On April 14, 2014, Appellant, pro se, filed his brief. 6. On May 19, 2014, the court issued a notice to Appellee that her brief was late, asking Appellee to respond by May 29, 2014.

7. On June 4, 2014, Appellant’s newly retained counsel filed an appearance Motion for Leave and Extension of Time to file an amended brief.

8. On June 5, 2014, Appellant’s motion was granted. 9. On July 7, 2014, Appellant filed his First Amended Brief. 10. On July 13, 2015, a supplemental record was filed containing an Amended Final Decree of Divorce. See Exhibit “A”.

APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR LEAVE AND EXTENSION OF TIME Page 2

REQUEST FOR LEAVE AND EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE AMENDED BRIEF AND NOTICE OF APPEAL

11. Pursuant to TEX. R. APP. P. 38.7, Appellant seeks leave to file an

amended brief and notice of appeal to correct a superficial error. Rule 38.7 allows

a party to amend or supplement a brief whenever justice requires, on whatever

reasonable terms the court may prescribe.

12. Mr. Erkan filed a notice of appeal pro se with the trial court on

February 6, 2014. After Mr. Erkan filed his notice of appeal, on March 6, the

divorce decree was amended. The undersigned was retained sometime in May,

2014, through a pro bono appellate organization. The undersigned was provided

with the clerk’s record and other documents relating to the appeal. However, the

original clerk’s record did not reflect that there was an amended divorce decree.

The undersigned was not aware of the amended decree when she prepared and

filed Appellant’s Amended Brief.

13. By chance, Appellant’s counsel recently became aware of the

Amended Final Decree of Divorce and requested a supplemental record, which was

filed on July 13, 2015. There are no material changes between the Final Decree of

Divorce and the Amended Final Decree of Divorce. The terms of the decree that

are the subject of this appeal are the same in both decrees. The grounds for this

appeal remain the same.

APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR LEAVE AND EXTENSION OF TIME Page 3 14. However, because Appellant’s counsel was not aware of the amended

decree, Appellant’s Amended Brief inadvertently refers to the original divorce

decree and not the amended one. Appellant’s counsel requests permission to

amend Appellant’s Brief and Notice of Appeal to correct this superficial error so

that Appellant will not be prejudiced by this error. The only changes Appellant

will make to his Brief and Notice of Appeal will be to change all references to the

original divorce decree to instead refer to the Amended Final Divorce Decree filed

on March 6, 2014.

15. The undersigned also requests an extension of time, pursuant to TEX.

R. APP. P. 10.5(b), of ten days to file Appellant’s Amended Brief and Notice of

Appeal.

16. Appellee will not be prejudiced by the granting of this motion.

Appellee is not represented by counsel and has not filed a responsive brief to

Appellant’s Amended Brief, filed more than one year ago.

17. Pursuant TO TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b)(1)(A), the original deadline for

filing Appellant’s Brief was April 18, 2014.

18. However, there is no deadline stated in the rules for filing an amended

brief. TEX. R. APP. P. 38.7 states that amended briefs are allowed when justice

requires and on whatever reasonable terms the court prescribes.

APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR LEAVE AND EXTENSION OF TIME Page 4

19. Pursuant to Tex. R. App. P. 10.5(b)(1)(B), the length of the extension

sought is ten days.1

20. Pursuant to TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b)(1)(C), the facts relied on to

reasonably explain the need for an extension are: (1) Appellant’s counsel was

unaware that the divorce decree had been amended; (2) Appellant’s Amended

Brief inadvertently refers to the wrong divorce decree; (3) There are no material

changes between the original divorce decree and the amended divorce decree; (4)

the grounds of appeal and the overall substance of Appellant’s Brief remain the

same; (5) Appellee has not yet filed a response to Appellant’s Amended Brief; and

(6) Appellee will not be prejudiced by granting the extension.

21. Pursuant to Tex. R. App. P. 10.5(b)(1)(D), there has been one

previous extension granted to Appellant regarding Appellant’s Brief.

PRAYER

For these reasons, Appellant Mehmet Turan Erkan requests that the Court

sign an order granting Appellant’s Motion for Leave and for Extension of Time to

File 2nd Amended Brief and Notice of Appeal and extend the time for filing the

Appellant’s 2nd Amended Brief and Notice of Appeal up to and including August

16, 2015. Appellant also requests any other relief to which he may be entitled.

1 Appellant’s Amended Brief would be due on or before August 16, 2015.

APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR LEAVE AND EXTENSION OF TIME Page 5

Respectfully submitted,

By: __________________________________ Jennifer L. Mathis Texas Bar No. 24081964 mathisjl@gmail.com 3603 Parkway Terrace Bryan, Texas 77802 (972) 822-6374 – Telephone (972) 692-5223 – Fax

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

In accordance with TEX. R. APP. P. 10.1(a)(5), I certify that on August 5,

2015, at 1:41 P.M., and again on August 6, 2015, at 10:09 A.M., I attempted to call

Appellee and confer on this motion. On both occasions, there was no answer, and

I was not able to leave a message for Appellee because her mailbox was full. It is

not known if Appellee is opposed to this motion. However, I have recently

obtained the correct address for Ms. Erkan and will be sending her a copy of this

Motion via certified and regular mail. The correct address is noted in my

Certificate of Service below for the Court’s records.

Jennifer L. Mathis

APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR LEAVE AND EXTENSION OF TIME Page 6

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned hereby certifies that, pursuant to the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, a true and correct copy of the above and foregoing instrument was mailed to Appellee on August 6, 2015, at the following address:

Habibe Nalan Erkan 8804 Tallwood Drive, Apt. 29 Austin, Texas 78759

APPELLEE

Jennifer L. Mathis

APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR LEAVE AND EXTENSION OF TIME Page 7

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