Opinion
No. 04-14-00175-CV
05-29-2014
IN THE INTEREST OF A.J.P., a Child
From the 407th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2012-PA-02469
Honorable Janet P. Littlejohn, Judge Presiding
ORDER
In this accelerated appeal of the February 14, 2014 order terminating Appellant's parental rights, Appellant's brief was originally due to be filed with this court on April 16, 2014. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.6(a). This court granted Appellant's first and second motion for extension of time to May 27, 2014. On the due date, Appellant filed a third motion for extension of time to file the brief to June 16, 2014, for a total extension of sixty days.
Appellant's motion for extension of time is GRANTED IN PART. Appellant's brief must be filed with this court not later than June 5, 2014, an extension of fifty days and eighty-three days after the notice of appeal was filed. See id.; see also TEX. R. JUD. ADMIN. 6.2, available at http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/ MiscDocket/11/11925100.pdf (directing courts of appeals to dispose of SAPCR suits "[w]ithin 180 days of the date the notice of appeal is filed").
NO FURTHER EXTENSIONS OF TIME TO FILE APPELLANT'S BRIEF WILL BE GRANTED.
If Appellant fails to file the brief as ordered, we will abate this appeal and remand the cause to the trial court for an abandonment hearing. See, e.g., TEX. R. APP. P. 38.8(b); see also TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 107.013 (West 2014) (requiring the trial court to appoint counsel to represent an indigent parent in a parental termination case); In re K.S.M., 61 S.W.3d 632, 633 (Tex. App.—Tyler 2001, no pet.) ("Like indigent criminal appellants, indigent appellants challenging an order terminating their parental rights enjoy a right to counsel on appeal."); cf. TEX. R. APP. P. 38.8(b); Samaniego v. State, 952 S.W.2d 50, 52-53 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1997, no pet.).
__________
Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 29th day of May, 2014.
__________
Keith E. Hottle
Clerk of Court