Opinion
No. 06-17-00015-CR
07-26-2017
CHRISTOPHER EARL KEETON, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 278th District Court Leon County, Texas
Trial Court No. CM-13-242 Before Morriss, C.J., Moseley and Burgess, JJ. ORDER
The State of Texas, through counsel, has filed a motion to extend the deadline for filing her brief in this matter. The brief was originally due July 20, 2017.
In the motion, counsel indicates, simply, that the State "needs more time to prepare." This statement does not provide the Court with any explanation, much less a reasonable one, of the need for an extension of time. This Court interprets Rule 10.5(b)(1) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure as requiring counsel to provide specific information to justify a requested extension, including the cause numbers of cases in which other briefs were filed; the dates they were filed; the dates, cause numbers, and courts of matters scheduled for trial; the exact dates of trial (if known); the expected duration of trial; etc. Broad, general statements do not provide the required facts and are not adequate to meet the requirements of the rule. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b)(1).
All future motions to extend time must contain case-specific information adequate to justify the request, or they will be denied.
In this instance, we partially grant the State's motion by extending the deadline for filing her brief by thirty days, making the brief now due August 21, 2017. Absent extraordinary circumstances, further requests for extensions of time will not be granted.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
BY THE COURT Date: July 26, 2017