Opinion
01-20-00281-CV
07-27-2021
334th District Court of Harris County, Trial court case number: 2019-68729
ORDER
Peter Kelly Judge
Appellant, Don McCaffety, appeals from a final judgment signed on December 30, 2019. McCaffety filed his motion for new trial timely and thus his notice of appeal was due on March 30, 2020. He filed his notice of appeal on April 6, 2020, a date within 15 days of the deadline.
An extension is implied when the appellant files his notice of appeal within the 15-day period after the notice of appeal is due. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). This Court issued an order requesting an explanation for the delay in filing the notice of appeal. McCaffety filed a response, affirming that he put his notice of appeal in the trial court drop box and stated that this occurred during the early months of the pandemic. McCaffety asks that we consider his notice of appeal timely and find that this Court has jurisdiction.
Because McCaffety filed his notice of appeal within the 15-day period after it was due and explained the reason for the delay in filing it, we conclude that an extension is implied. Accordingly, we set appellant's brief due 30 days from the date of this order.
It is so ORDERED.