Opinion
NO. 14-16-00431-CR
05-02-2017
MICHAEL FERERAS-ALCANTARA, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 183rd District Court Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 1498308
ORDER
Appellant is represented by appointed counsel, Patricia Sedita. Following Sedita's appointment, appellant's brief was due January 23, 2017. We have granted a total of 91 days to file appellant's brief until April 24, 2017. When we granted the last extension, we noted that no further extensions would be granted. No brief was filed.
On April 25, 2017, counsel filed a further request for extension of time to file appellant's brief. We deny the request for extension and issue the following order.
Accordingly, we order Patricia Sedita to file a brief with the clerk of this court on or before May 24, 2017. If counsel does not timely file appellant's brief as ordered, the court will issue an order abating the appeal and directing the trial court to conduct a hearing to determine the reason for the failure to file the brief and the consideration of sanctions, appointment of new counsel, or other appropriate relief.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Boyce, Donovan, and Jewell.
RULE 38. REQUISITES OF BRIEFS
Tex. R. App. P. 38.8. Failure of Appellant to File Brief.
(b) Criminal Cases.
(1) Effect. An appellant's failure to timely file a brief does not authorize either dismissal of the appeal or, except as provided in (4), consideration of the appeal without briefs.
(2) Notice. If the appellant's brief is not timely filed, the appellate clerk must notify counsel for the parties and the trial court of that fact. If the appellate court does not receive a satisfactory response within ten days, the court must order the trial court to immediately conduct a hearing to determine whether the appellant desires to prosecute his appeal, whether the appellant is indigent, or, if not indigent, whether retained counsel has abandoned the appeal, and to make appropriate findings and recommendations.
(3) Hearing. In accordance with (2), the trial court must conduct any necessary hearings, make appropriate findings and recommendations, and have a record of the proceedings prepared, which record—including any order and findings—must be sent to the appellate court.
(4) Appellate Court Action. Based on the trial court's record, the appellate court may act appropriately to ensure that the appellant's rights are protected, including initiating contempt proceedings against appellant's counsel. If the trial court has found that the appellant no longer desires to prosecute the appeal, or that the appellant is not indigent but has not made the necessary arrangements for filing a brief, the appellate court may consider the appeal without briefs, as justice may require.