Petra Mueller v. Norbert Mueller

Opinion

Order filed April 28, 2020

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-18-00676-CV ____________

PETRA MUELLER, Appellant

V.

NORBERT MUELLER, Appellee

On Appeal from the 250th District Court Travis County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. D-1-GN-16-003688

ORDER

This is an appeal from an order granting a partial summary judgment made final and appealable by the trial court’s severance order signed June 25, 2018. Appellant filed a notice of appeal on July 23, 2018. The notice of appeal is defective.

An incorrect cause number on the notice of appeal does not defeat the jurisdiction of the court of appeals if the instrument is a “bona fide attempt” to invoke appellate court jurisdiction. See City of San Antonio v. Rodriguez, 828 S.W.2d 417, 418 (Tex. 1992). An appellant should be given an opportunity to amend a defective perfecting instrument before the court of appeals may dismiss an appeal. See Grand Prairie I.S.D. v. S. Parts Imports, Inc., 813 S.W.2d 499, 500 (Tex. 1991).

Appellant was given the opportunity to amend her defective notice of appeal. Appellant was ordered by this Court to file an amended notice of appeal reflecting the correct trial court cause number on or before March 20, 2020. We informed appellant that, if appellant did not comply with our order, we would consider dismissal of the appeal. Appellant failed to file an amended notice of appeal as ordered.

We again order appellant to file an amended notice of appeal reflecting the correct trial court cause number.

The amended notice of appeal shall be filed on or before May 8, 2020. If appellant does not comply with this order, this Court will dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(b).

Panel consists of Chief Justice Frost and Justices Wise and Hassan.