Opinion
01-24-00587-CV
12-05-2024
John R. "Jack" Christie v. Beatrice A. Heitmann
Trial court: 434th District Court of Fort Bend County Trial court case number: 16-DCV-231515
ORDER
Veronica Rivas-Molloy Judge
Appellant John R. "Jack" Christie filed a notice of appeal from the trial court's final judgment entered on May 9, 2024. On August 16, 2024, Appellant filed in the trial court a Notice of Election stating that "an appendix [would] be filed in lieu of a clerk's record" pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.5a. See Tex. R. App. P. 34.5a (stating an appellant in a civil case may file appendix in lieu of a clerk's record). Appellant did not file the Notice of Election with this Court. Appellant is directed to file a Notice of Election with the Clerk of this Court within 10 days from the date of this order. See id. (stating notice of election to be filed "with the trial court and the court of appeals").
On October 7, 2024, Appellant filed an Unopposed Motion to Extend Time to file his appellate brief, requesting an extension until November 8, 2024 to file his appellate brief. Because Appellant's Notice of Election has not yet been filed with this Court, briefing deadlines have not been set. Appellant's motion for extension of time is thus denied as premature.
The reporter's record was filed on September 9, 2024. On November 6, 2024, Appellant filed a "Motion to Correct Inaccuracies in Court Reporter's Record" requesting that this Court "submit[] this dispute to the trial court for resolution" because "the record does not reflect the testimony of [his] expert witness, who was presented by video deposition and whose testimony forms the primary basis of [his] argument on appeal that the jury's verdict goes against the greater weight and preponderance of the evidence." Appellant also requested that this Court "extend the deadline for [his] [b]rief to allow [him] to include any additions to the [r]eporter's [r]ecord into [the] [b]rief[.]" On November 20, 2024, Appellant filed a supplement to his motion requesting the same relief or, in the alternative, that a new trial be ordered on the basis that "a significant exhibit . . . necessary to the appeal's resolution . . . has been lost or destroyed." And on November 21, 2024, Appellant filed a second supplement to his motion, this time, requesting "a reasonable time for the parties to confer and agree on what portions of the video deposition were played at the trial and submit to this Court a correction to include such testimony[.]"
On November 21, 2014, Appellee Beatrice A. Heitmann filed a response opposing Appellant's requested relief. Appellee argues there "is no evidence of any inaccuracies in the Record from the District Court proceeding" and that "Appellant failed to offer into the Record during or at the close of the trial any of the deposition testimony of his expert witness." Appellee argues that while she "ha[s] agreed to assist Appellant[] . . . with information that might possibly help . . . recreate the testimony of his expert witness . . . [she does not] agree that Appellant is entitled to the relief he seeks."
Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.6 deals with inaccuracies in the reporter's record. When as here, a dispute arises after the reporter's record has been filed in the appellate court, this Court may "submit the dispute to the trial court for resolution." Tex.R.App.P. 34.6(e)(3) (dealing with corrections after the reporter's record is filed). "If the parties cannot agree on whether or how to correct the reporter's record so that the text accurately discloses what occurred in the trial court and the exhibits are accurate, the trial court must-after notice and hearing-settle the dispute." Id. 34.6(e)(2).
Pursuant to Rule 34.6(e), we hereby remand the case to the trial court to settle the dispute between the parties regarding the purported inaccuracies in the reporter's record. See id. 34.6(e)(2)-(3). Within 10 days from the date of this order, the trial court shall conduct a hearing at which the parties shall be present. The court coordinator for the trial court shall set a date for the hearing and notify the parties. If the trial court determines there are inaccuracies in the record, it shall issue an order directing the court reporter to conform the record and file certified corrections of the reporter's record in this Court within 20 days of the trial court's order, together with a copy of the trial court's order. See id.
It is so ORDERED.