Opinion
01-24-00442-CV
06-27-2024
Yolanda D. Munoz and Eucaris E. Rodriguez v. Miguel A. Maravilla and Yesenia Del Carmen Rodriguez
Trial court: County Civil Court at Law No. 1 of Harris County Trial court case number: 1180190
ORDER
AMPARO MONIQUE GUERRA JUDGE
On June 7, 2024, appellants, Yolanda D. Munoz and Eucaris E. Rodriguez, filed a notice of appeal from the trial court's February 21, 2024 Final Judgment. On June 21, 2024, appellants filed an "Unopposed Motion to Extend Time to File Notice of Appeal."
Absent a timely filed notice of appeal, this Court lacks jurisdiction over an appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.1. Generally, a notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days of the date of the trial court's judgment unless a party files certain post-judgment motions, in which case the deadline is extended to ninety days. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a). Based on the Court's records, appellants filed a post-judgment motion with the trial court. Accordingly, appellants' deadline to file a notice of appeal was May 21, 2024.
However, the rules allow for an extension of the deadline to file a notice of appeal if, within fifteen days after the deadline for filing a notice of appeal, a party files a notice of appeal in the trial court, and a motion for extension of time to file a notice of appeal in the appellate court. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3. Taking this extension into account, appellants' notice of appeal and motion for extension of time to file a notice of appeal were due no later than June 5, 2024. Neither appellants' June 7, 2024 notice of appeal, nor their June 21, 2024 motion to extend time to file a notice of appeal were filed within the extended period.
In their motion to extend time to file a notice of appeal, appellants contend that their deadline to file a notice of appeal was June 10, 2024, which is thirty days after the trial court entered its "Final Order denying [Appellants'] Amended Motion to Vacate Final Judgment." Appellants argue that appellate deadlines were extended pursuant to Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 329b(h), which provides that "[i]f a judgment is modified, corrected or reformed in any respect, the time for appeal shall run from the time the modified, corrected, or reformed judgment is signed." Tex.R.Civ.P. 329b(h). However, nothing in the Court's records indicates that the trial court "modified, corrected or reformed" the judgment. Accordingly, the appellate deadlines were not extended, and appellants' notice of appeal was due May 21, 2024, ninety days after the date of the trial court's judgment, or accounting for the extended period provided by Rule 26.3, June 5, 2024. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a), 26.3.
Because neither appellants' notice of appeal nor their motion to extend time to file a notice of appeal were filed within the extended period provided by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.3, appellants' notice of appeal was not timely, and appellants' "Unopposed Motion to Extend Time to File Notice of Appeal" is denied.
Further, because appellants' notice of appeal was not timely filed, the Court does not appear to have jurisdiction over the appeal. See Tex.R.App.P. 25.1. Accordingly, appellants are ordered to, within ten days of the date of this order, file a written response, with citation to law and the record, demonstrating that the Court has appellate jurisdiction over this appeal. Failure to timely respond will result in dismissal of the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), (c).
It is so ORDERED.