Opinion
No. 10-17-00107-CR
10-18-2017
JOHN TREMAINE JONES, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
From the 66th District Court Hill County, Texas
Trial Court No. 39,241
ORDER
Appellant's brief was originally due on August 18, 2017. An extension of time of 48 days was granted, and appellant's brief was due October 5, 2017. Now, counsel for appellant has requested an additional 60 days for a total of 138 days to file a brief. The Rules of Appellate Procedure establish the norm that a brief should be filed in 30 days. We cannot, in good conscience, grant counsel almost five times the amount of time allowed by the rules to file appellant's brief without some showing of good cause other than simply needing more time.
Counsel also suggests that the extension should be granted because this case has not yet been submitted. We cannot submit the case until counsel has filed a brief and, if it is an Anders brief, appellant has had time to file a pro se response; or if it is not an Anders brief that is ultimately submitted, until the State had the opportunity to file a brief in response. See TEX. R. APP. P. 39.8. Thus, the fact that it has not yet been submitted is no justification to support additional time to file a brief which is a condition precedent to submission.
Accordingly, appellant's Second Motion to Extend Time to File Appellant's Brief is denied. Appellant's brief is due no later than November 16, 2017. This will effectively give counsel substantial additional time as requested and should be more than enough to review any issue to determine if an Anders brief is appropriate, as opposed to a brief on the merits, as is suggested by counsel.
PER CURIAM Before Chief Justice Gray, Justice Davis, and Justice Scoggins
Motion denied
Order issued and filed October 18, 2017