Opinion
No. 04-21-00032-CV
02-08-2021
Ociele GRIFFIN Jr., Appellant v. VIA METROPOLITAN TRANSIT, Appellee
From the County Court at Law No. 3, Bexar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2019CV09061
Honorable J Frank Davis, Judge Presiding
ORDER
Appellant, Ociele Griffin Jr., seeks to appeal a final judgment signed by the trial court on August 26, 2020. Griffin did not file a motion that extended the appellate timetable and the notice of appeal does not meet the requirements for a restricted appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.1(d)(7), 26.1(a). Therefore, Griffin's notice of appeal was due September 25, 2020 (thirty days after the judgment was signed), or a motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal was due fifteen days later. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1, 26.3. Griffin's notice of appeal was filed by mail and received on February 1, 2021.
The notice of appeal was filed more than four months after it was due. "[O]nce the period for granting a motion for extension of time under Rule [26.3] has passed, a party can no longer invoke the appellate court's jurisdiction." Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 615 (1997) (construing the predecessor to rule 26). We therefore order Ociele Griffin Jr. to file a response by February 18, 2021, establishing that the notice of appeal was timely filed or showing cause why this appeal should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. If Griffin fails to satisfactorily respond within the time provided, the appeal will be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction or pursuant to Rule 42.3(c). See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a), (c).
All deadlines in this appeal are suspended until further order of the court.
/s/_________
Luz Elena D. Chapa, Justice
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 8th day of February, 2021.
/s/_________
MICHAEL A. CRUZ, Clerk of Court