Stanley Bernard Abney v. State

Opinion

ACCEPTED

03-15-00421-CR

7937003

THIRD COURT OF APPEALS

AUSTIN, TEXAS

11/20/2015 5:16:38 PM

JEFFREY D. KYLE

CLERK

CAUSE NO. 03-15-00421-CR

_________________________________________________

FILED IN

3rd COURT OF APPEALS

AUSTIN, TEXAS

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 11/20/2015 5:16:38 PM FOR THE THIRD DISTRICT OF TEXAS JEFFREY D. KYLE AUSTIN DIVISION Clerk

_________________________________________________

STANLEY BERNARD ABNEY § §

v. § §

STATE OF TEXAS §

_______________________________________________

APPELLANT’S FIRST MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE APPELLANT’S BRIEF

_______________________________________________

Justin Bradford Smith

Texas Bar No. 24072348

Harrell, Stoebner, & Russell, P.C.

2106 Bird Creek Drive

Temple, Texas 76502

Phone: (254) 771-1855

FAX: (254) 771-2082

Email: justin@templelawoffice.com

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 1

TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS: COMES NOW, Appellant, STANLEY BERNARD ABNEY, who files this First Motion for Extension of Time to File Appellant’s Brief, and shows unto the Court as follows:

I.

Appellant’s brief is due on or before November 23, 2015.

II.

Appellant seeks an additional sixty-five (65) days to file his brief, which should make his brief due on or before January 27, 2015. Appellant’s counsel is requesting so much time, both on this case and others, because his briefing schedule is quite packed: as of the writing of this motion, he has nine briefs due in the next roughly two weeks. A great deal of time was lost preparing for oral argument and in the capital murder appeal, which record is voluminous, identified below, but a second factor necessitating a greater-than-usual request for more time is that Appellant’s counsel was appointed to represent a party in L.H. v. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, 03-15-00673-CV, which is an accelerated appeal in a parental rights termination case which also has a large record. As the Court knows, this Court has little leeway to grant extensions in

Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 2 those appeals. Appellant is asking for sixty-five days rather than sixty to try to avoid the due dates coinciding for different appeals on the same day.

III.

Facts relied on to reasonably explain the need for an extension include the following: 1. Preparation for oral argument that was held on November 5, 2015 in the capital murder case of Sherill Ann Small v. State, Cause No. 14-15-00039-CR. The record is voluminous (23 volumes of the Reporter’s Record; 1 Unsealed Clerk’s Record; 1 Sealed Clerk’s Record; 2 Supplemental Clerk’s Record), and preparation was frequent since the case was set for oral argument on September 24, 2015. (e.g., October 23, 2015; October 24, 2015; October 26, 2015; October 27, 2015; October 28, 2015; October 29, 2015; October 30, 2015; November 2, 2015; November 3, 2015; November 4, 2015; November 5, 2015) (only includes dates since instant brief became due). Also, Appellant’s counsel had to travel to and from Houston for oral argument, meaning the whole day was lost to this case.

Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 3 2. Drafting brief, reviewing record and performing legal research for brief due on November 25, 2015 in Santos Salinas, Jr. v. State; Cause No. 13-15-00310-CR (Work performed November 9, 2015, November 11, 2015; November 12, 2015; November 13, 2015; November 16, 2015; November 17, 2015; November 18, 2015; November 19, 2015; November 20, 2015).

3. Review record in L.H. v. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, 03-15-00673-CV. (Work performed on November 10, 2015; November 12, 2015; November 17, 2015; November 18, 2015.

4. Review record and perform legal research for brief due on November 30, 2015 in In the Matter of C.P., 03-15-00276-CV. (Work performed on November 6, 2015).

5. Briefs due on November 30, 2015 in Raymond Ross Mormino, II v. State, Cause Nos. 10-15-00167-CR and 10-15-00173-CR.

6. Work related to new appeals of four cause numbers in Eian Hurlburt v. State, 10-15-00400-CR, 10-15-00401-CR, 10-15- 00402-CR, 10-15-00402-CR. (e.g., draft notices of appeal, requests for clerk’s records, etc.) (Work performed on October

Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 4 23, 2015; October 26, 2015; November 6, 2015; November 13, 2015).

7. Work related to new appeal, Frank Ortegon v. State, 01-15- 00880-CR. (e.g., request clerk’s and reporter’s records) (Work performed November 16, 2015).

8. Work related to new appeal, David Joseph Gonzalez v. State (notice of appeal not yet processed); Trial Court Cause Number 73,960, 426th District Court, Bell County, Texas. (e.g., motion for new trial, request records, telephone conference with client) (Work performed November 19, 2015).

9. Brief due in Stanley Abney v. State, 03-15-00421-CR on November 23, 2015.

10. Brief due in Terri Lang v. State, 03-15-00332-CR, on November 30, 2015.

11. Deadline to file a reply brief in Jonathan Lee Fehr v. State, 03- 15-00231-CR is December 1, 2015.

12. Brief due in Michael Warren v. Krystal Charlene Ulatoski, 03- 15-00380-CV, on December 3, 2015.

Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 5 13. Brief due in Fernando Smith v. State, Cause No. 10-15-00263- CR on December 7, 2015.

14. Presented CLE to the Williamson County Bar Association on November 10, 2015 at the Georgetown Country Club. Preparation included November 6, 2015, November 9, 2015 and the morning of November 10, 2015.

15. Time which will be lost for the Thanksgiving Holidays (November 26, 2015; November 27, 2015) as well as Christmas and New Year’s.

16. Attended part of Fall Bench/Bar CLE on October 22, 2015. 17. Miscellaneous work related to cases not having cause numbers because not yet pending (e.g., coordinating pre-suit mediation) or are transactional (contract revision/review/research) (performed variously over the course of the last month).

IV.

No previous extensions have been requested and granted in this matter.

Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 6

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Appellant asks this Court to extend his time for filing his brief to sixty-five (65) days from the date his brief is currently due.

Respectfully submitted:

/s/ Justin Bradford Smith Justin Bradford Smith

Texas Bar No. 24072348

Harrell, Stoebner, & Russell, P.C.

2106 Bird Creek Drive

Temple, Texas 76502

Phone: (254) 771-1855

FAX: (254) 771-2082

Email: justin@templelawoffice.com

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 7

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that, on November 20, 2015, a true and correct copy of the Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief was provided to counsel via the method indicated below:

Gary W. Bunyard Llano County Assistant District Attorney P.O. Box 725 Llano, Texas 78639 Telephone: (325) 247-5755 Fax: (325) 247-5274 Email: g.bunyard@co.llano.tx.us VIA ESERVICE Attorneys for State of Texas

/s/ Justin Bradford Smith Justin Bradford Smith

Appellant’s First Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant’s Brief Page 8