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concluding that Twenty-Second Emergency Order gives appellate courts discretion to modify or suspend appellate deadlines
Summary of this case from Porch v. Daimler Trucks N. Am., LLCOpinion
No. 02-20-00198-CV
09-24-2020
AUDREY JONES, Appellant v. JOAN E. WHITE, Appellee
On Appeal from County Court at Law No. 1 Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2019-008429-1 Before Kerr, Birdwell, and Bassel, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Pro se appellant Audrey Jones attempts to appeal from the trial court's April 2, 2020 final judgment in appellee Joan E. White's favor after a bench trial at which Jones failed to appear. Because no postjudgment motion was filed to extend the notice-of-appeal filing deadline, Jones's notice of appeal was due May 4, 2020, but it was not filed until June 11, 2020, making it untimely. See Tex. R. App. P. 4.1(a), 26.1.
We notified the parties of our concern that we lack jurisdiction over this appeal because Jones's notice of appeal was untimely filed. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. We warned that we could dismiss this appeal absent a response showing grounds for continuing it. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 44.3. Jones has responded.
Our letter mistakenly stated that the notice of appeal was due May 1, 2020.
In her response, Jones claims that she did not timely receive the trial court's hearing notice because it was caught by her email inbox's spam filter. Jones—a hairstylist by trade—implies that because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, she was tasked with being a "teacher, counselor, [and] preacher" to her three school-age children. As a result, her "life was pretty out of order," "she was focused on the situations that we are facing," and "[l]ife is not normal." She asks us to allow her to appeal the judgment because she does not have or owe White anything.
The time for filing a notice of appeal is jurisdictional in this court, and absent a timely filed notice of appeal or a timely filed extension request, we must dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 2, 25.1(b), 26.1, 26.3; Jones v. City of Houston, 976 S.W.2d 676, 677 (Tex. 1998); Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). During this pandemic, the Texas Supreme Court has given us the discretion to "modify or suspend any and all deadlines and procedures, whether prescribed by statute, rule, or order." Supreme Court of Tex., Twenty-Second Emergency Order Regarding the COVID-19 State of Disaster, Misc. Dkt. No. 20-9095 (Aug. 6, 2020). But the fact of the pandemic, standing alone, is not a reasonable explanation for a missed appellate deadline.
Here, Jones's notice of appeal was untimely filed, and she did not timely move for an extension of time to file it. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1, 26.3. Jones does not claim in her response that she did not receive timely notice of the trial court's judgment (as opposed to notice of the hearing) or that she did not have actual knowledge of the judgment's signing. See Tex. R. App. P. 4.2(a)(1). But even if she did make either argument, she made no effort to comply with Rule 306a(5) of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. See Tex. R. App. P. 4.2(b); Tex. R. Civ. P. 306a(5). Nor does she claim that the pandemic or its effects prevented her from timely filing her notice of appeal or timely moving for an extension of time to do so. We thus dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f).
While a notice of appeal in a restricted appeal may be filed within six months after the judgment is signed, see Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(c), Jones's notice of appeal does not contain the information required for a restricted appeal, see Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(d)(7). See generally Tex. R. App. P. 30 ("A party who did not participate—either in person or through counsel—in the hearing that resulted in the judgment complained of and who did not timely file a postjudgment motion or request for findings of fact and conclusions of law, or a notice of appeal within the time permitted by Rule 26.1(a), may file a notice of appeal within the time permitted by Rule 26.1(c)."). We express no opinion whether Jones would prevail on a restricted appeal were she to file one within the applicable time period. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(c), 26.3.
/s/ Elizabeth Kerr
Elizabeth Kerr
Justice Delivered: September 24, 2020