Loretta Jewel Douglas and Cornelius Douglas v. Snider Industries, Inc.--Appeal from 71st District Court of Harrison County

In The

Court of Appeals

Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

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No. 06-04-00059-CV

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LORETTA JEWEL DOUGLAS

AND CORNELIUS DOUGLAS, Appellants

V.

SNIDER INDUSTRIES, INC., Appellee

On Appeal from the 71st Judicial District Court

Harrison County, Texas

Trial Court No. 03-0046

Before Morriss, C.J., Ross and Carter, JJ.

Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Morriss

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Loretta Jewel Douglas and Cornelius Douglas have appealed a judgment rendered against them. They are not indigent. The clerk's record in this case was filed June 22, 2004, making the appellants' brief due July 22, 2004.

On July 26, 2004, this Court granted the appellants' first request for extension, extending the deadline for filing the appellants' brief to August 23, 2004. As of September 13, 2004, the appellants had not filed a brief or sought additional time in which to submit a brief. Therefore, on that date we instructed the appellants their appeal would be subject to dismissal for want of prosecution if they did not within fifteen days submit either a brief or an explanation for their failure to file a brief. On September 27, 2004, we received a second request for an extension to file the appellants' brief. This request was overruled, and the appellants were ordered to submit their brief no later than Thursday, October 28, 2004.

On Friday, October 29, 2004, we received a submission from the appellants. The submission did not satisfy the requirements of an appellate brief as outlined in Rule 38.1 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.1. Accordingly, we noted the discrepancies and then directed the appellants to redraw and submit a brief complying with Rule 38.1 by Monday, November 15, 2004.

As of November 30, 2004, the appellants had submitted neither a brief nor a request for additional time. Therefore, on that date we instructed the appellants their appeal would be subject to dismissal for want of prosecution if we did not receive a brief as required by the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure by Wednesday, December 15, 2004.

Apparently ignoring our directives, the appellants filed another request for extension on December 17, 2004. This request is neither responsive to this Court's prior directives nor meritorious to support an extension. In the almost six months the appellants have had to prepare and file their brief, they have failed to do so, and they have failed to show good cause why this case should not be dismissed for want of prosecution. We find that the appellants' failure to pursue the appeal by not making any effort to file a brief that complies with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure in a timely fashion, after being given multiple opportunities and warnings, constitutes a failure to prosecute the case.

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(b), (c).

Josh R. Morriss, III

Chief Justice

Date Submitted: December 20, 2004

Date Decided: December 21, 2004