Tommy Le v. Ernesto Antonio Villatoro

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: July 26, 2022
• Docket: 14-22-00456-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order filed July 26, 2022

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-22-00456-CV ____________

TOMMY LE, Appellant

V.

ERNESTO ANTONIO VILLATORO, Appellee

On Appeal from the 333rd District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2019-65323

ORDER

This is an appeal from a judgment signed March 15, 2022. Appellant timely filed a post judgment motion. The notice of appeal was due June 13, 2022. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed the notice of appeal on June 22, 2022, a date within 15 days of the due date for the notice of appeal. A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when the perfecting instrument is filed within 15 days of its due date. Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Appellant did not file a motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal. While an extension may be implied, appellant is still obligated to come forward with a reasonable explanation to support the late filing. See Miller v. Greenpark Surgery Center Assocs., Ltd., 974 S.W.2d 805, 808 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, no pet.). Accordingly, we order appellant to file a proper motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal within ten (10) days of the date of this order. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3;10.5(b). If appellant fails to do so, the appeal is subject to dismissal without further notice for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a).

PER CURIAM

Panel Consists of Justices Bourliot, Hassan, and Wilson.