Opinion
04-21-00559-CV
05-25-2022
In re JOHN KENNETH WILSON V
From the 408th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2020EM502226 Honorable Nick Catoe Jr., Judge Presiding
Sitting: Rebeca C. Martinez, Chief Justice Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice Luz Elena D. Chapa, Justice
MEMORANDUM OPINION
PER CURIAM
DISMISSED FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION
In this case, the trial court signed the judgment on November 9, 2021. Because this is a regular appeal, the notice of appeal was due to be filed on December 9, 2021. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. On December 16, 2021, appellant filed her notice of appeal. Although appellant filed a notice of appeal within the fifteen-day grace period allowed by Rule 26.3, she did not file a motion for extension of time.
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). However, the appellant must offer a reasonable explanation for failing to file the notice of appeal in a timely manner. See id.; Tex. R. App. P. 26.3, 10.5(b)(1)(C); see also Hone v. Hanafin, 104 S.W.3d 884, 886-87 (Tex. 2003) (holding "a reasonable explanation" is any plausible statement of circumstances indicating that failure to timely file was not deliberate or intentional but was the result of inadvertence, mistake or mischance, and that "any conduct short of deliberate or intentional noncompliance qualifies as inadvertence, mistake or mischance") (citation omitted). This court ordered appellant to show cause in writing by April 28, 2022, why this appeal should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. We advised appellant that failure to respond timely would result in dismissal of this appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(c). Appellant did not file a response.
Accordingly, because appellant did not provide a reasonable explanation for failure to file a timely notice of appeal, this appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3, 10.5(b)(1)(C), 42.3(b), (c); Verburgt, 959 S.W.2d at 615.