Opinion
No. 04-17-00061-CV
11-08-2017
Carlos Antonio RAYMOND, Appellant v. Martin Joseph ROY and Pizza Venture of San Antonio, LLC d/b/a Papa Johns Pizza, Appellees
From the County Court At Law No. 10, Bexar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2015CV00935
Honorable David J. Rodriguez, Judge Presiding
ORDER
On October 30, 2017, Appellant Carlos Antonio Raymond, representing himself, filed his reply brief and a motion for permission to file an addendum to his reply brief. Appellant's motion to supplement his reply brief with the filed addendum is GRANTED.
Nevertheless, neither the reply brief nor the reply brief addendum complies with Rule 38.1 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.1.
The brief and addendum fail to comply with numerous form requirements, e.g., margins, spacing, and typeface, and the certificate of compliance fails to state the word count as required by Rule 9.4(i)(3). See id. R. 9.4(c), (d), (e), (i)(3). The brief and addendum consist almost exclusively of alleged facts and complaints about Appellant's attorney and the parties, and they fail to present legal arguments. See id. R. 38.1 ("The brief must contain a clear and concise argument for the contentions made . . . ."). The brief fails to cite even one Texas legal authority, although the addendum cites a few Texas legal authorities, see id. (requiring "appropriate citations to authorities").
Although the formal defects described above constitute flagrant violations of Rule 38, we defer a final determination of whether Appellant has presented any questions for appellate review in his brief, reply brief, or addendum. See Bolling v. Farmers Branch Indep. Sch. Dist., 315 S.W.3d 893, 896 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2010, no pet.) ("To comply with rule 38.1(f), an appellant must articulate the issue we will be asked to decide [and] we must be able to discern what question of law we will be answering. If an appellant is unable to or does not articulate the question to be answered, then his brief fails at that point."); Freeman v. Freeman, 133 S.W.3d 277, 280 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2003, no pet.).
/s/_________
Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 8th day of November, 2017.
/s/_________
KEITH E. HOTTLE,
Clerk of Court