Opinion
No. 04-18-00751-CV
11-01-2018
IN RE R.P., III, N.J.P., L.M.P., T.J.P., AND D.D.P.
From the 166th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2017-PA-02162
Honorable Charles E. Montemayor, Judge Presiding
ORDER
Appellant's notice of appeal was due October 9, 2018, but was not filed until October 16, 2018. A motion for extension of time to file a notice of appeal is necessarily implied when an appellant, acting in good faith, files a notice of appeal within fifteen days of the date the notice is due. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 615 (1997). However, the appellant must offer a reasonable explanation for failing to timely file the notice of appeal. See id.; TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b)(1)(C), 26.3; 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 appellant's court-appointed attorney, Shawn Sheffield, to file a response by November 13, 2018 offering a reasonable explanation for failing to timely file the notice of appeal. If appellant fails to satisfactorily respond within the time provided, the appeal may be dismissed or abated for an abandonment hearing. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(c).
/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 1st day of November, 2018.
/s/_________
KEITH E. HOTTLE,
Clerk of Court