Susan G. Reid and Gerald R. Reid v. Charles Hutton, Lafreita Hutton, Gary Hutton, and Jimmy Hutton

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: June 30, 2011
• Docket: 11-09-00250-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order filed June 30, 2011

                                                                       In The

  Eleventh Court of Appeals

                                                                   __________

                                                         No. 11-09-00250-CV

                 SUSAN G. REID AND GERALD R. REID, Appellants

                                                             V.

                        CHARLES HUTTON, LAFREITA HUTTON,

                  GARY HUTTON, AND JIMMY HUTTON, Appellees

                                    On Appeal from the 91st District Court

                                                          Eastland County, Texas

                                               Trial Court Cause No. CV-07-40750

O R D E R

Tex. R. App. P. 38.1 sets out the requirements for appellate briefs.  By its express terms, the requirements of Rule 38.1 apply to appellant’s briefs.  The requirements of Rule 38.1 also apply to appellee’s briefs under Tex. R. App. P. 38.2(a)(1) (“An appellee’s brief must conform to the requirements of Rule 38.1 . . . .”).  Our review of the appellees’ brief filed in this appeal reveals noncompliance with Rule 38.1.  Specifically, Rule 38.1(g) provides that the “statement of facts” portion of a brief must be supported by record references.  Additionally, Rule 38.1(i) provides that the “argument” portion of the brief must contain appropriate citations to the record.  Following submission, the court noted that neither the statement of facts section nor the argument section of appellees’ brief complies with Rule 38.1.

          We abate this appeal for ten days from the date of this order.  During the abatement period, appellees are directed to amend their brief to comply with Rule 38.1 and file the amended brief with this court within ten days of the date of this order.  If another brief that complies with Rule 38.1 is not filed within ten days of the date of this order, the court advises the parties that it may strike appellees’ brief and proceed under Tex. R. App. P. 38.9(a).

The appeal is abated for ten days from the date of this order.

                                                PER CURIAM

June 30, 2011

Panel[1] consists of:  Wright, C.J.,

McCall, J., and Hill, J.[2]

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[1]Rick Strange, Justice, resigned effective April 17, 2011.  The justice position is vacant pending appointment of a successor by the governor.

[2]John G. Hill, Former Justice, Court of Appeals, 2nd District of Texas at Fort Worth, sitting by assignment.