Opinion
No. 04-17-00183-CV
04-13-2017
IN THE MATTER OF J.M.L., J.L.B., E.L., R.M.B., AND M.E.L., CHILDREN
From the 285th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2014-PA-02870
Honorable Charles E. Montemayor, Judge Presiding
ORDER
This is an accelerated appeal from the trial court's March 9, 2017 order terminating parental rights. A notice of appeal was due on March 29, 2017. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(b), 28.1(b). Appellant S.B. electronically filed a notice of appeal on March 30, 2017. A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when an appellant, acting in good faith, files a notice of appeal beyond the time allowed by Rule 26.1 but within the fifteen-day grace period provided by rule 26.3 for filing a motion for extension of time. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 615 (1997). However, the appellant must offer a reasonable explanation for failing to file the notice of appeal timely. See id.; TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3, 10.5(b)(1)(C); see Hone v. Hanafin, 104 S.W.3d 884, 886-87 (Tex. 2003) (holding "a reasonable explanation" is any plausible statement of circumstances indicating that failure to timely file was not deliberate or intentional, but was the result of inadvertence, mistake or mischance, and that "any conduct short of deliberate or intentional noncompliance qualifies as inadvertence, mistake or mischance").
We therefore order S.B.'s counsel, Shawn Sheffield, to file a response to this order by April 24, 2017 offering a reasonable explanation for failing to file a timely notice of appeal. If appellant fails to satisfactorily respond within the time provided, the appeal will be dismissed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(c). If any additional pleadings or orders were filed in the trial court and are necessary to establish this court's jurisdiction, appellant has the burden to request the trial court clerk prepare a supplemental clerk's record containing those necessary pleadings and orders. Appellant must file a copy of any such request with this court.
/s/_________
Luz Elena D. Chapa, Justice
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 13th day of April, 2017.
/s/_________
Keith E. Hottle
Clerk of Court