Opinion
07-23-00261-CV
10-19-2023
STEPHEN PATRICK BLACK, APPELLANT v. AMY CURTIS, APPELLEE
On Appeal from the County Court Lamb County, Texas Trial Court No. CC-3442, Honorable James M. DeLoach, Presiding
Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and YARBROUGH, JJ.
ORDER OF ABATEMENT AND REMAND
Per Curiam
Appellant, Stephen Patrick Black, proceeding pro se, appeals from the trial court's summary judgment order in favor of Appellee, Amy Curtis. We previously remanded this cause to the trial court to rule on Black's sworn motion to extend the notice of appeal deadline, then pending in the trial court, pursuant to Rule of Civil Procedure 306a. Black v. Curtis, No. 07-23-00261-CV, 2023 Tex.App. LEXIS 5957, at *2 (Tex. App.-Amarillo Aug. 9, 2023, order) (per curiam). In our order of abatement and remand, we directed the trial court to (1) conduct a hearing, (2) rule on Black's motion, and (3) enter a finding of the date Black received notice or acquired actual knowledge of the signing of the summary judgment order. On September 19, 2023, the trial court held a hearing on the motion. On September 21, 2023, the trial court signed an order finding that Black "did not produce any competent evidence that the [summary judgment order] was not delivered to [him] in a timely manner" and "denied" Black's 306a Motion. The trial court did not, however, enter a finding of the date Black received notice or acquired actual knowledge of the summary judgment order.
The trial court signed the summary judgment order on April 10, 2023. On June 27, 2023, Black filed a notice of appeal and a sworn motion to extend the appellate deadline. In his Rule 306a motion, Black asserts that he did not receive notice or acquire actual knowledge of the order until June 15, 2023, when he received a certified mailing from the trial court clerk.
On September 27, 2023, Black filed a "Notice of Appeal" from the trial court's 306a ruling.
Accordingly, we abate this appeal and remand the cause for the trial court to enter a finding of the date Black received notice or acquired actual knowledge of the signing of the summary judgment order. See Tex. R. App. P. 4.2; Tex. R. Civ. P.306a. The trial court shall enter its findings in a written order and include the order in a clerk's record to be filed with this Court by November 20, 2023.
It is so ordered.