Robert Wayne Mitchell v. Bryan Collier in His Official Capacity as Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Opinion

ACCEPTED 15-24-00033-cv FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 1/17/2025 2:13 PM No. 15-24-00033-CV CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE CLERK FILED IN IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE 15th COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS FIFTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS 1/17/2025 2:13:54 PM AUSTIN CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE Clerk

ROBERT WAYNE MITCHELL,

Appellant,

V.

BRYAN COLLIER IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE,

Appellee. th ON APPEAL FROM THE 298 JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS TRIAL COURT CAUSE NO. DC-23-04417

APPELLEE BRYAN COLLIER’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE BRIEF OUT OF TIME

Defendant-Appellee Bryan Collier moves to file his brief out of time and to extend the

submission deadline. This appeal was recently reassigned to Assistant Attorney General (“AAG”)

Vishal V. Iyer, as the prior attorney assigned to this case, Jordan D. Ninh is no longer employed

with the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”). Upon AAG Vishal Iyer’s monthly docket review,

the existence of this subsequent appeal was discovered by legal support staff, which was not

referenced in the case files of the prior attorney assigned. Since current Counsel did not realize that

Appellant had filed a subsequent appeal, appellee’s brief was not filed. This appeal implicates

important government interests and the very existence of sovereign immunity. Moreover, Robert

Wayne Mitchell (“Mitchell”) has received multiple extensions of time to file his appellant’s brief,

including one that was filed out of time. For this unintended oversight, undersigned counsel apologizes to this Court and respectfully

requests that the Court grant Appellee Bryan Collier’s motion for leave to file brief out of time and

to extend the submission deadline.

Respectfully submitted,

KEN PAXTON Attorney General of Texas

BRENT WEBSTER First Assistant Attorney General

RALPH MOLINA Deputy First Assistant Attorney General

JAMES LLOYD Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation

SHANNA E. MOLINARE Division Chief Law Enforcement Defense Division

/s/ Vishal V. Iyer VISHAL V. IYER Texas Bar No. 24106134 Assistant Attorney General Law Enforcement Defense Division Office of the Attorney General P.O. Box 12548 Austin, Texas 78711–2548 p: (512) 463–2080 e: vishal.iyer@oag.texas.gov COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE BRYAN COLLIER CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

On January 17, 2025, I called counsel for Mitchell, Taj A. Warren, to leave a message asking about his position on this motion. As of the date this motion was filed, Mr. Warren has failed to respond. Thus, it is unclear whether this motion is opposed.

January 17, 2025 /s/ Vishal V. Iyer VISHAL V. IYER

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

This is to certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing document has been served upon counsel for the appellant as indicated below, on January 17, 2025, in accordance with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure as follows:

Taj A. Warren twarren@warrenlawpllc.com Counsel for Appellant Robert Wayne Mitchell /s/ Vishal V. Iyer Vishal V. Iyer Assistant Attorney General Automated Certificate of eService This automated certificate of service was created by the efiling system. The filer served this document via email generated by the efiling system on the date and to the persons listed below. The rules governing certificates of service have not changed. Filers must still provide a certificate of service that complies with all applicable rules.

Jill Couey on behalf of Vishal Iyer Bar No. 24106134 Jill.Couey@oag.texas.gov Envelope ID: 96363380 Filing Code Description: Motion Filing Description: Mitchell MFL File Appellees Brief OOT Status as of 1/17/2025 2:26 PM CST

Associated Case Party: Bryan Collier

Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status

James Rheams James.Rheams@oag.texas.gov 1/17/2025 2:13:54 PM SENT

Vishal Iyer vishal.iyer@oag.texas.gov 1/17/2025 2:13:54 PM SENT