Opinion
No. 05-19-00626-CV
06-24-2019
WILLIAM BIRCHETT, Appellant v. CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 162nd Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. DC-19-06941
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Justices Whitehill, Partida-Kipness, and Pedersen, III
Opinion by Justice Whitehill
Appellant appeals from the trial court's May 23, 2019 order denying his emergency application for temporary restraining order to prevent spoliation of evidence. The Court questioned its jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal. We instructed appellant to file, by June 10, 2019, a letter brief addressing our concern and cautioned him that failure to comply may result in dismissal of the appeal without further notice. As of today's date, appellant has not filed a response.
Generally, appellate courts have jurisdiction only over appeals from final judgments. See Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex. 2001). The legislature has created narrow exceptions to this general rule, allowing appellate courts to review specific interlocutory orders when explicitly permitted by statute. See Stary v. DeBord, 967 S.W.2d 352, 352-53 (Tex. 1998) (per curiam); e.g., TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. §§ 15.003(b), 27.008, 51.014(a), 51.016. There is no statutory exception allowing an appeal from an order denying an application for a temporary restraining order to prevent spoliation of evidence. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a).
/Bill Whitehill/
BILL WHITEHILL
JUSTICE 190626F.P05
JUDGMENT
On Appeal from the 162nd Judicial District Court, Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. DC-19-06941.
Opinion delivered by Justice Whitehill. Justices Partida-Kipness and Pedersen, III participating.
In accordance with this Court's opinion of this date, the appeal is DISMISSED.
It is ORDERED that appellee CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS recover its costs of this appeal from appellant WILLIAM BIRCHETT. Judgment entered June 24, 2019