Opinion
04-24-00413-CV
07-30-2024
Samuel Reyna MONTALVO and Danco Construction, Inc.,Appellants v. Michelle GIBBONS, Appellee
From the 73rd Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2020CI23307 Honorable Angelica Jimenez, Judge Presiding
ORDER
Luz Elena D. Chapa, Justice
This is an appeal from the trial court's March 21, 2024 order. Appellants Samuel Reyna Montalvo and Danco Construction, Inc. filed a motion for new trial, and the notice of appeal was therefore due June 19, 2024. Tex.R.App.P. 26.1(a)(1). Appellants filed their notice of appeal on June 20, 2024. Appellants did not file a motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal. The court may grant an extension of time to file the notice of appeal if the notice and a motion for extension of time are filed within fifteen days of the deadline for filing the notice of appeal. Tex.R.App.P. 26.3, 28.1(b). 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) (construing predecessor to Rule 26). 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 result of inadvertence, mistake or mischance, and "any conduct short of deliberate or intentional noncompliance qualifies as inadvertence, mistake or mischance").
We therefore order a response due by August 14, 2024 offering a reasonable explanation for failing to file the notice of appeal timely. If appellants fail to satisfactorily respond within the time provided, the appeal will be dismissed. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), (c). Appellants have the burden to request the trial court clerk prepare a supplemental clerk's record containing all necessary pleadings and orders to establish this court's jurisdiction. Appellants must file a copy of any such request with this court.
All deadlines in this matter are suspended until further order of the court.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 30th day of July, 2024.