Opinion
05-21-00916-CV
08-15-2022
IN THE MATTER OF K.Z.S., A JUVENILE
On Appeal from the County Court At Law No. 1 Kaufman County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 20J-043
ORDER
BONNIE LEE GOLDSTEIN, JUSTICE
We REINSTATE this appeal.
Appellant's notice of appeal was filed October 21, 2021. The record was filed, and appellant's brief was originally due December 23, 2021. We notified appellant the brief was overdue and ordered the brief to be filed within ten days. When a brief was not filed, we issued an order dated January 21, 2021 abating the case for a hearing in the trial court to determine why appellant's brief had not been filed. On March 2, 2022, we reinstated the appeal and adopted the trial court's findings including that on February 18, 2022 appellant's counsel obtained authority from appellant to pursue the appeal on certain theories, appellant's counsel was prepared to file the brief in this appeal, and there was no need for the appointment of new counsel. We ordered counsel Casey T. Boyd to file appellant's brief within ten days, and cautioned Mr. Boyd that failure to do so would result in the Court taking whatever action it deemed appropriate to ensure the appeal proceeded in a timely manner. Appellant's brief was not filed as ordered.
Consequently, on May 3, 2022, we issued a second order abating the appeal for a hearing to determine why appellant's brief had not been filed. On July 8, 2022, we received the reporter's record from the hearing. At that hearing, Mr. Boyd testified that after careful discussion with the guardian and his client, they were electing to withdraw the appeal. Mr. Boyd further testified that he would send "a waiver of appeal" to the trial court and to this Court. Although the clerk's office has left voice mails regarding Mr. Boyd's failure to file a motion to dismiss, to date, Mr. Boyd has not filed a motion to dismiss this appeal or otherwise corresponded with the Court regarding the status of this appeal.
We therefore ORDER Casey T. Boyd to file either a motion to dismiss this appeal or appellant's brief BY 5:00 P.M. ON AUGUST 26, 2022. Mr. Boyd is CAUTIONED that the Court will not entertain any motions for extension of time in this case. If Mr. Boyd does not file a motion to dismiss or a brief by August 26, 2022, the Court may initiate contempt proceedings against him for the failure and refusal to obey the Court's order. See Tex.R.App.P. 38.8(a)(2). The Court may also take such other actions as may be appropriate, including filing a grievance against Mr. Boyd and referring this matter to the State Bar of Texas Commission for Lawyer Discipline for further proceedings.
We DIRECT the Clerk of the Court to send a copy of this order to Mr. Casey T. Boyd by certified mail at his address as shown in our records. We also DIRECT the Clerk to send a copy of this order to the Honorable Tracy Gray, Presiding Judge, Kaufman County Court at Law No. 1; and to all parties.