James Edward Lewis v. Janie Cockrell, Director, TDCJ--Appeal from 125th District Court of Harris County

In The
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
______________________________
No. 06-03-00015-CV
______________________________
JAMES EDWARD LEWIS, Appellant
V.
JANIE COCKRELL, Appellee
On Appeal from the 125th Judicial District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court No. 200165257
Before Morriss, C.J., Ross and Carter, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Carter
MEMORANDUM OPINION

James Edward Lewis has appealed from a judgment rendered against him in his civil lawsuit against Janie Cockrell, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice. This is an appeal transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme Court as part of docket equalization among the courts of appeals.

The information available to this Court indicates the judgment was signed on August 22, 2002, and Lewis' notice of appeal was filed on December 5, 2002.

Lewis seeks a restricted appeal from the judgment. As such, the record was due no later than January 6, 2003. See Tex. R. App. P. 35.3(c). Lewis has not been found indigent and is responsible for paying or making adequate arrangements to pay the costs of preparing the record. See Tex. R. App. P. 35.3(a), (b); 37.3(b), (c). The district clerk has informed Lewis and this Court that she would not prepare a record in the absence of a deposit. As set out above, her action is explicitly authorized by the rules.

In the absence of an appellate record, this Court cannot proceed with the appeal. On January 29, 2003, we contacted Lewis by letter. We gave him an opportunity to cure the defect and warned him that, if we did not receive an adequate response within ten days, his appeal would be subject to dismissal for want of prosecution. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(b), (c).

Shortly thereafter, we received a document from Lewis in which he attempts to proceed as an indigent under Tex. R. App. P. 20.1. That rule requires the affidavit and claim of indigence to be filed in the trial court with or before the notice of appeal. Tex. R. App. P. 20.1(c)(1). The information before this Court does not indicate that Lewis did so, and the document filed with this Court was prepared and filed on January 29, 2003, a date well after the filing of his notice of appeal. Even if it had been filed in the proper court, it was not filed in accordance with the rules. Accordingly, on February 11, 2003, we overruled his motion to proceed as an indigent. Lewis has not taken the necessary steps to proceed as an indigent on appeal or to obtain a free record and has not since contacted this Court to show he is taking the necessary steps to obtain a record.

No record has been filed, and despite our warning, Lewis has provided this Court with no information to indicate that a record will be provided.

Pursuant to Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(b), we dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution.

 

Jack Carter

Justice

 

Date Submitted: March 4, 2003

Date Decided: March 5, 2003