Motion Granted; Abatement Order filed March 2, 2017 

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

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NO. 14-16-00982-CR

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CITY OF HOUSTON, Appellant

V.

G.L., Appellee

On Appeal from the 228th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 1435565

ABATEMENT ORDER

This is an attempted appeal of a summary judgment signed May 5, 2016. On 

February 16, 2015, the trial court signed an expunction order that appellant alleges 

is too broad. Appellant’s attempt to obtain review of this order resulted in the 

summary judgment made the subject of this appeal. 

On December 8, 2016, the Harris County District Clerk filed a clerk’s record 

in this appeal. The record contained appellant’s notice of appeal and the District 
Clerk’s letter of assignment. The record does not contain any of the items required 

by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.5 other than the notice of appeal. On 

December 15, 2016, this court issued an order to the District Clerk requesting the 

items required by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.5. 

On January 17, 2017, the District Clerk filed a supplemental clerk’s record 

with an affidavit from the supervisor of Criminal Post-Trial Services of the Harris 

County District Clerk’s office. The affidavit stated that none of the documents 

required by Rule 34.5 were part of the case file. 

Appellant subsequently filed a motion to abate this appeal until June 15, 2017,

to permit appellant time to assist the District Clerk in providing this record. The 

motion to abate is granted.

Rule 34.5(e) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure provides:

If a filing designated for inclusion in the clerk’s record has been lost or 

destroyed, the parties may, by written stipulation, deliver a copy of that 

item to the trial court clerk for inclusion in the clerk’s record or a 

supplement. If the parties cannot agree, the trial court must—on any 

party’s motion or at the appellate court’s request—determine what 

constitutes an accurate copy of the missing item and order it to be 

included in the clerk’s record or a supplement.

Tex. R. App. P. 34.5(e).

Accordingly, the trial court is directed to conduct a hearing to determine 

whether the parties may, by written stipulation, deliver copies of the missing items 

to the trial court clerk for inclusion in the clerk’s record. If the parties cannot agree, 

the trial court is directed to determine what constitutes accurate copies of the missing 

items and order those items to be included in the clerk’s record or a supplement. The 

court is directed to reduce its findings to writing and to have a supplemental clerk’s 
record containing those findings filed with the clerk of this court, together with a 

reporter’s record from the hearing, within 30 days of the date of this order.

The appeal is abated, treated as a closed case, and removed from this court’s 

active docket. The appeal will be reinstated on this court’s active docket when the 

trial court’s findings and recommendations are filed in this court. The court also will 

consider an appropriate motion to reinstate the appeal filed by either party, or the 

court may reinstate the appeal on its own motion. If the parties do not request a 

hearing, the court coordinator of the trial court shall set a hearing date and notify the 

parties of the hearing date.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Chief Justice Frost and Justices Donovan and Wise.