Griselda Aza v. State ( 2015 )

ACCEPTED
14-14-00241-CR
FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS
HOUSTON, TEXAS
5/29/2015 9:30:09 AM
CHRISTOPHER PRINE
CLERK
No. 14-14-00241-CR
No. 14-14-00242-CR
In the FILED IN
14th COURT OF APPEALS
Court of Appeals HOUSTON, TEXAS
For the 5/29/2015 9:30:09 AM
First District of Texas CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE
At Houston Clerk

Nos. 1366175 and 1366176
In the 174th District Court
Of Harris County, Texas

GRISELDA AZA
Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS
Appellee

STATE’S MOTION FOR FINAL EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE BRIEF

TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:
THE STATE OF TEXAS, pursuant to TEX. R. APP. P. 2 & 10.5, moves for
an extension of time in which to file its appellate brief and in its motion, would
show the Court the following:
1. The appellant was charged in cause number 1366175 with the
intoxication manslaughter of Darlene Carter committed on October 28,
2012 (CR5 – 17). She was also charged in cause number 1366176 with
the intoxication manslaughter of Alphonse Jackson committed on that
same day (CR6 – 16). She pled guilty to the charges without an agreed
recommendation on punishment, and the trial court thereafter assessed
punishment on February 21, 2014 at fifteen years in prison for each case
(CR5 – 56) (CR5 – 52). The appellant filed notice of appeal the next
week, and the trial court certified that she had waived her right to appeal
(CR5 – 44, 59) (CR6 – 33, 55).
2. The State’s brief was originally due on April 10, 2015, but this Court
granted extensions until June 11, 2015. The State hereby requests a final
30-day extension for the filing of the State’s brief.
3. The following facts are relied upon to show good cause for an extension
of time to allow the State to file its brief:
a. The record in this case is over 120 megabytes in length split over
ten files and is taking some time to process.
b. Extensive rainfall during the last week of May 2014 caused the
undersigned attorney’s office to close for two days during which
the undersigned attorney was told to remain at home and therefore
was unable to work on the brief in this case.
c. The undersigned attorney was responsible for screening every bill
filed in the Texas Legislature to determine its possible impact on
the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and this task has
consumed a large amount of time since pre-filing started in the
Texas Legislature in November 2014.
d. The undersigned attorney researched and answered by email more
than 140 legal questions of trial prosecutors since the appellant
filed his brief. The undersigned attorney researched and answered
even more such questions by phone during that time period. And
the undersigned attorney had an oral argument during this period.
e. The undersigned attorney is responsible for supervising six other
appellate prosecutors, and has spent a substantial amount of time
reviewing the briefs of those prosecutors, attending their oral
arguments, and assisting in the preparation of both during that time
period. The undersigned attorney has also been responsible for
training a new appellate prosecutor, which requires more intense
supervision and editing, and therefore, more of a time
commitment.
f. The undersigned attorney was required to present argument at the
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin on May 20, 2015,
which required several days of preparation, presentation, and
travel.
g. The undersigned attorney has had a family vacation planned from
June 1 through June 11, 2015 since early in 2014. The
undersigned counsel has made many non-refundable expenditures
in an effort to secure favorable rates during the trip
h. The undersigned attorney has been involved in completing the
following written appellate projects since the appellant filed his
brief:
(1) Kelvin O’Brien v. The State of Texas
No. 01-14-00229-CR
Brief filed March 30, 2015
(2) Antonio Perez v. The State of Texas
No. 01-12-01001-CR
Motion for rehearing filed March 31, 2015
(3) Brogan Melchior v. The State of Texas
No. 14-14-00454-CR
Brief to be filed April 13, 2015
(4) Elder Somoza v. The State of Texas
No. 01-14-00716-CR
Brief filed April 15, 2015
(5) In the Interest of B.D.S. v. The State of Texas
No. 01-14-00762-CV
Brief filed April 28, 2015
(6) Jose Vasquez v. The State of Texas
No. PD-0078-15
Brief on PDR filed May 12, 2015
(7) Antonio Perez v. The State of Texas
No. 01-12-01001-CR
PDR filed May 12, 2015
(8) Johnathan Castaneda v. The State of Texas
No. 01-14-00389-CR
No. 01-14-00390-CR
Brief filed May 18, 2015
WHEREFORE, the State prays that this Court will grant the requested extension.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Eric Kugler
ERIC KUGLER
Assistant District Attorney
Harris County, Texas
1201 Franklin, Suite 600
Houston, Texas 77002-1923
(713) 755-5826
Kugler_eric@dao.hctx.net
TBC No. 796910
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that a copy of the foregoing instrument will be served by
efile.txcourts.gov to:
Bob Wicoff
Assistant Public Defender
Harris County, Texas
1201 Franklin, 13th Floor
Houston, Texas 77002
Bob.Wicoff@pdo.hctx.net
/s/ Eric Kugler
ERIC KUGLER
Assistant District Attorney
Harris County, Texas
1201 Franklin, Suite 600
Houston, Texas 77002-1923
(713) 755-5826
Date: May 29, 2015