Rocha, Cesar

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: April 15, 2015
• Docket: PD-0407-15
• Status: Published

Opinion

PD-0407-15 PD-0407-15 COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS Transmitted 4/10/2015 8:25:21 PM Accepted 4/15/2015 3:59:25 PM ABEL ACOSTA NO. ___________________ CLERK

In the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas Austin, Texas

CESAR ADOLFO ROCHA-MORENO, Petitioner,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Respondent.

From the First Court of Appeals, Case No. 01-13-00897-CR, and County Criminal Court at Law No. 1 of Harris County, Texas, Trial Cause No. 1914250, Honorable Paula Goodhart Presiding

Petitioner’s First Motion to Extend Time To File Petition for Discretionary Review

John M. Bray, Esq. Attorney for Petitioner OOSTERHOF & BRAY, PLLC 1910 Pacific Ave., Ste. 15550 April 15, 2015 Dallas, Texas 75201 Tel: (214) 550-4664 Fax: (214) 550-4654 Email: john@oblawfirm.com TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS:

NOW COMES Cesar Adolfo Rocha-Moreno, Petitioner herein, and by and

through his attorney of record, John M. Bray hereby moves this Court to extend the

time to file a Petition for Discretionary Review pursuant to Tex. R. App. Proc. 68.2

for good cause shown, and in accordance with Tex. R. App. Proc. 10.1 and 10.5(b).

In support of this motion, Petitioner would show as follows:

1. Petitioner’s deadline for filing a Petitioner for Discretionary Review

pursuant to Tex. R. App. Proc. 68.2(a) is April 10, 2015, as the First

Court of Appeals’ decision reconsidering the matter en banc, and

affirming the panel decision, issued on March 12, 2015. Prior to this,

the First Court of Appeals rendered judgment in a memorandum

opinion dismissing Petitioner’s appeal issued on October 16, 2014.

2. Pursuant to Tex. R. App. Proc. 68.2(c), Petitioner would request the

Court to grant an extension of at least 30 days to submit a Petitioner

for Discretionary Review.

3. Over the course of the last several weeks, Counsel for Petitioner has

been forced to prepare and submit appellate briefs to the U.S. Court of

Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in two unrelated matters. See Exh. A

(Notices of Briefing Deadlines). As a consequence, Counsel for

2 Petitioner has not had a sufficient opportunity to prepare a Petition for

Discretionary Review in the instant matter.

4. Counsel for Petitioner, whose practice is located in Dallas, Texas will

be traveling to Boston, Massachusetts and New York, New York for

contested hearings in unrelated matters in Federal Immigration Court.

5. In light of the foregoing, Petitioner would submit that Counsel has

been burdened by time constraints effectively depriving Counsel of an

adequate opportunity to properly draft a cogent and succinct Petitioner

for Discretionary Review for submission to this Court. Accordingly,

Petitioner seeks this extension of time to be able to prepare such a

Petitioner and supporting brief and thereby preserve Petitioner’s rights

to due process.

6. Counsel for Petitioner would submit that the Court has granted no

previous extensions for submission of a Petition for Review in this

matter.

7. Furthermore, Petitioner would contend that the State of Texas would

not suffer any undue hardship or other prejudice as a result of an

extension in the present case. This request is sought not for delay but

so that justice may be done.

3 8. All facts recited in this motion are within the personal knowledge of

the counsel signing the present motion; therefore, no verification is

necessary pursuant to Tex. R. App. Proc. 10.2.

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Petitioner respectfully moves

this Court to grant the requested Petitioner’s First Motion to Extend Time to File

Petition for Discretionary Review, extend the deadline to file aforementioned

Petitioner under Tex. R. App. Proc. 68.2, and grant any and all relief that the Court

deems proper.

Respectfully submitted,

OOSTERHOF & BRAY, PLLC 1910 Pacific Ave., Ste. 15550 Dallas, Texas 75201 Tel: (214) 550-4664 Fax: (214) 550-4654

By: /s/ John M. Bray John M. Bray Texas Bar No. 24081360

ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER

4 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, John M. Bray, hereby certify that on this day, a true and correct copy of the foregoing

Petitioner’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Petition for Discretionary Review, as well as

any and all attachments, was properly served on the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in

accordance with Tex. R. App. Proc. 6.3 and 9.5(b), (d), and (e) via electronic filing to the

following:

Mr. Alan Curry Chief Prosecutor, Appellate Division Harris County District Attorney’s Office 1201 Franklin, Ste. 600 Houston, TX 77002-1923

/s/ John M. Bray ___04/10/2015________________ John M. Bray Date