Jeffrey R. Vaughan v. Raul Medina and Law Office of Raul Medina, P.C. ( 2023 )

NUMBER 13-23-00017-CV
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG
JEFFREY R. VAUGHAN, Appellant,
v.
RAUL MEDINA AND LAW
OFFICE OF RAUL MEDINA, P.C., Appellees.
On appeal from the 430th District Court
of Hidalgo County, Texas.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Silva and Peña
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Silva
Appellant Jeffrey R. Vaughan timely filed a notice of appeal from a final judgment
signed in trial court cause number C-5229-16-J-1 in the 430th District Court of Hidalgo
County, Texas on January 13, 2023. The clerk’s record for the appeal was subsequently
filed. On May 19, 2023, the court reporter notified the Court that appellant had not
requested the reporter’s record. Consequently, the Clerk of the Court notified appellant
that the reporter’s record was past due, and if no response or record was filed within thirty
days from the date of the letter, the matter would be referred to the Court. On June 9,
2023, appellant was notified that any issues not requiring a reporter’s record would be
decided accordingly, and his brief was expected to be filed by July 10, 2023. On July 13,
2023, having received neither a reporter’s record, appellant’s brief, or response from
appellant, the Clerk of the Court informed appellant that the appeal was subject to
dismissal ten days from the date of receipt of the Court’s notice unless appellant
reasonably explained his failure to timely file a brief and the appellee was not significantly
injured by appellant’s failure. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(b), (c). Appellant did not respond
to the Clerk’s notice or file a brief in this matter.
Appellate courts possess the authority to dismiss an appeal on their own initiative
after giving ten days’ notice to all parties for want of prosecution when an appellant in a
civil case fails to timely file the appellant’s brief and gives no reasonable explanation for
the failure. See id. R. 42.3(b); see also Walker v. Humphrey, No. 13-20-00452-CV, 2021
WL 2231930, at *1 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi–Edinburg June 3, 2021, no pet.) (mem.
op.).
The Court, having examined and fully considered the documents on file and
appellant’s failure to file a brief, is of the opinion that this appeal should be dismissed.
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution. See id. R. 38.8(a), 42.3(b),
(c).
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CLARISSA SILVA
Justice
Delivered and filed on the
3rd day of August, 2023.
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