Opinion
No. 08-20-00021-CR
02-12-2021
STATE OF TEXAS, State, v. RODOLFO MORALES, Appellee.
Appeal from the Criminal Court at Law No. 4 of El Paso County, Texas (TC# 20180C06554) ORDER
On December 29, 2020, the Court referred this matter to the trial court for a determination of whether Appellee wished to file a brief in this appeal, given that the Court had previously granted four extensions of time (with two final warnings) and no brief had been filed as of that date.
On January 21, 2020, the trial court held a hearing at which counsel for Appellee, Josh Spencer, explained that difficulties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and other office management issues prevented his timely filing of an Appellee's Brief. He expressed his intention to file a brief with the Court of Appeals "no later than tomorrow", i.e. January 22, 2020. Appellee appeared virtually at the hearing and told the Court he was satisfied with Spencer's performance.
We received the record from this hearing and the trial court's findings on January 28, 2021 and February 3, 2021, respectively. As of this date, counsel for Appellee has not filed a brief or a request for an extension of time.
Therefore, we order counsel for Appellee to, WITHIN TEN DAYS, notify the Court as to the status of the brief. Failure to contact the Court within TEN DAYS OF THIS ORDER may result in this State's appeal being set for submission without the benefit of an Appellee's Brief. See Yeater v. H-Town Towing, L.L.C., 605 S.W.3d 729, (Tex.App.--1st Dist. 2020, no pet.) (appellate court must review merits of appellate issues even where appellee fails to file a brief).
IT IS SO ORDERED this 12th day of February, 2021.
PER CURIAM Before Rodriguez, C.J., Palafox and Alley, JJ.