Williams M. Walls v. Harris County

Opinion

Order filed June 10, 2014

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-14-00260-CV ____________

WILLIAMS M. WALLS, Appellant

V.

HARRIS COUNTY, ET AL, Appellee

On Appeal from the 80th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2009-20004A

ORDER

This is an appeal from a judgment signed December 20, 2013. The notice of appeal was due March 20, 2014. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed his notice of appeal on April 1, 2014, 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 fifteen 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 on or before June 20, 2014. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3;10.5(b). If appellant does not comply with this order, we will dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3.

PER CURIAM

Order filed , .