Opinion
04-23-00968-CV
02-12-2024
Herbert Lawrence POLINARD, Jr. and William Ian Malcomson,Appellants v. WOODLAWN CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF SAN ANTONIO, INC., James Paul Tisdel, Jr.,Carolyn Tisdel, and George Alejos, Appellees
From the 407th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2015-CI-10692 Honorable Tina Torres, Judge Presiding
ORDER
Irene Rios, Justice
The trial court signed a final appealable order on August 4, 2023. Appellants Herbert Lawrence Polinard, Jr. and William Malcomson filed timely motions for new trial on August 30, 2023 and September 5, 2023, respectively. Accordingly, their notices of appeal were due by November 2, 2023. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a).
Appellant Polinard timely filed his notice of appeal on November 1, 2023. That timely notice of appeal allowed appellant Malcomson to file his notice of appeal up to 14 days later, or by November 15, 2023. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(d). Appellant's Malcomson's motion for extension of time to file his notice of appeal was due by November 30, 2023. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3.
Appellant Malcomson filed his notice of appeal on November 21, 2023, within the time allowed for filing a motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal. 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, 617 (Tex. 1997) (construing the predecessor to Rule 26). But "once the period for granting a motion for extension of time under Rule [26.3] has passed, a party can no longer invoke the appellate court's jurisdiction." Id.
Because the notice of appeal was untimely filed but within the fifteen-day grace period, we ORDER appellant Malcomson to file a response presenting a reasonable explanation for failing to file the notice of appeal in a timely manner by March 13, 2024. If appellant Malcomson fails to respond within the time provided, his appeal will be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(c). All other appellate deadlines are suspended until further order of this court.