### CASE NO.04-14-00542-CV

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

CITY OF LEON VALLEY, TEXAS, UNKNOWN EMPLOYEE(S) OF CITYOF LEON VALLEY and IRENEBALDRIDGE, Individually Appellants 

### v. WM. RANCHER ESTATES JOINTVENTURE, RAFAEL ALFARO, JOSE ALFARO, CARMAN ALFARO, DANIEL BEE,ROBERT CALDWELL, ANNE CALDWELL, DEFERNCE SERVICE BUSINESS, INC., EARL DODERER, SYLVIA DODERER, JAMES DOWDY, BETTY DOWDY, ISSAC ELIZONDO, SUZANNE ELlNZONDO, ROBERTO GALINDO, ERMA GALINDO, SHIRL JACKSON, ANNE

JACKSON, AND RICARDO A. PADILLA Appellees

APPELLEES' SECONDUNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE APPELLEES' BRIEF 

### 0.RENE DIAZ (SBN: 05804775) DIAZJAKOB. LLC The Historic Milam Building 115 

### E. Travis St. Suite 333 

### SanAntonio. TX 

### 78205 

### Tel. (210) 226-4500 

### Fax (210) 226-4502 

### E-mail/E-Service: ORD@diazjakob.com COUNSEL FORAPPELLEES ACCEPTED 04-14-00542-CV FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 12/30/2014 4:38:12 PM KEITH HOTTLE CLERK

### CASE NO.04-14-00542-CV

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

CITY OF LEON VALLEY, TEXAS, UNKNOWN EMPLOYEE(S) OF CITYOF LEON VALLEY and IRENEBALDRIDGE, Individually Appellants 

### v. WM. RANCHER ESTATES JOINT VENTURE, RAFAEL ALFARO, JOSE ALFARO, CARMAN ALFARO, DANIELS. BEE,ROBERT CALDWELL, ANNE CALDWELL, DEFERENCE SERVICE BUSINESS,INC., EARL DODERER, SYLVIA DODERER, JAMES DOWDY,

BETTY DOWDY,ISSAC ELIZONDO, SUZANNE ELINZONDO, ROBERTO GALINDO,ERMA GALINDO, SHIRL JACKSON, ANNE JACKSON, AND RICARDO A. PADILLA Appellees



### APPELLEES' SECONDUNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE APPELLEES' BRIEF

TO THE HONORABLEJUSTICES OF SAJD COURT: NOW COME the APPELLEES. WM. RANCHER ESTATES JOINT VENTURE, RAFAEL ALFARO. JOSE ALFARO, CARMAN ALFARO, DANIEL BEE, ROBERT CALDWELL. ANNE CALDWELL, DEFERENCE SERVICE BUSINESS. INC
.. EARL DODERER, SYLVIA DODERER, JAMES DOWDY, BETTY DOWDY, ISSAC ELIZONDO. SUZANNE ELINZONDO. ROBERTO GALINDO, ERMA GALINDO, Appellees' SecondUnopposed Motion forExtension ofTimeto File Appellees' Brief Page 1 of7SHIRL JACKSON, ANNE JACKSON, AND RICARDO A. PADILLA, Gointly referred to

as "Appellees'') and pursuant to Texas Rules ofAppellate Procedure I0 file this Second Unopposed Motion to Extend Time to File Appellees' Briefand would show tl1e Court as follows: 1. This is the second Motion to Extend time filed by the Appellees, and it is unopposed by the Appellants counsel. Seethe 

### Certificate of Conference set forth below· in Paragraph No. 11. 2. The cuiTent deadline for the Appellees brief was December 30, 2014; however, Appellees were not able to complete the briefwithin the time allotted for a combination of reasons, including the following: (a) the hospitalization and convalescence ofthe Appellees' attorney's mother, age 89. for whom he is designated as trustee, attorney-in-fact, and acting legal guardian; (b) the illness ofcounsel for the Appellee; (c) the complexity ofthe legal and factual issues presented by this appeal: and (d) various scheduling complications raised by the active litigation practice ofthe Counsel lor the Appellees combined with numerous hearings, mediations and two complex arbitration hearings. The combination of these factors has prevented a timely completion ofthe Appellees' Briefand additional time is needed to fully and completelyprepare the Appellees· Response to theAppellants' Brief. 3. The Hospitalization and Convalescenceofthe MotherofAppellees' Counsel: The Mother ofAppellees· counsel is Judith F. Diaz; she is 89 years-old, a widow, and cunently convalescing from a hip ti·acture and hip replacement surgery that occmTed in approximately August 3, 2014. Since that time, due to Mrs. Diaz's physical incapacity and recuperation. 0. Rene Diaz, Appellees· Counsel, has become her attorney-in-fact, trustee and legal guardian

Appellees' Second Unopposed Motion forExtension ofTime to File Appellees' Brief Page2 of7pursuant to a duly executed statutorygeneral durablepower ofattorney, trust documents, and a health care power ofattomey. Although she resides in an assisted living facility, she does not have round-the-clock care, and during the week ofDecember 14- December 20, 2014, Mrs. Diaz unexpectedly fell several times due to unexplained and undiagnosed vertigo and dizziness. During one ofthe falls on or about December 17, 2014, Mrs. Diaz sustained what appeared to be severe head injury and was hospitalized. Since that date, considering Mrs. Diaz' age and post-surgical hip condition, herhospitalization required extratime and attention fi·01n Mr. Diaz (Appellee's counsel) in order to obtain emergency medical treatment, for proper diagnosis, to rule out potential complications, and to manage Mrs. Diaz's complex health insurance issues. As her guardian and**attorney-in-i~1ct.** Appellees' counsel had to personally manage all aspects ofhis mother's medical care, interact with hospital and medical personneL arrange for special transportationneeds, and administer health insurance during the same time period mostcriticalto the preparation ofthe Appellees' Response Brief. 4. TheIllness ofCounsel fo1· the Appellee: Additionally, 0. Rene Diaz, counsel for the Appellees, was sick with a severe cold ti·om approximately December 26, 2014 through December 29, 2014, including acute care at the minor emergency, Texas Med Clinic for diagnosis and treatment on December 27, 2014, and he is still recuperating as ofthe date of submission ofthis Second Motion for Extension ofTime. Consequently, Appellees' counsel

was unable to devote the full anwunt oftime needed to complete the Appellees' Response to theAppellants•Briefwithinthe presenttime allotted. 5. The Complexity of the Issues in this Appeal: Additionally, as the Court is well

aware. the issues in this appeal are complex. 'J'his case was officially designated as complex

Appellees' Second Unopposed Motion for Extension ofTime to File Appellees' Brief Page3of7by the Bexar County District Courts shortly after it was tiled. The complexity for the trial court is suggestive ofthe complexity ofthe issues on appeal. The issues in this appeal are not only numerous, but they are also legally and factually complex, dealing not only with jurisdictional issues such as sovereign immunity, absolute immunity, and legislative immunity, but also with an overlap ofstatutO!)' and common law causes ofaction under the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) (with live [5) different statutory violations of TOMA alleged), the Local Govenm1ent Code, the Texas Water Code, the Health & Safety Code, the Natural Resources Code, the Declaratory JudgmentAct, the Texas Constitution. 6. The interrelationship ofthese seven (7) statutory issues combined with the overlap of

nme (9) different common law tort actions, such as tortious interference with existing and prospective business relationships, and conspiracy involve not only the City ofLeon Valley, Texas, but also a former City Council Member (Irene Baldridge), with issues such as conl1ict of interest. failure to disclose and participation in executive meetings, all of which were prohibited by statute. The Appellees contend Baldridge's role in this case as a govemmental employee is severable from her role as aprivate individual. Appellees also assert Baldridge is liable not only in her capacity as a former governmental official (for intentional violations of the Local Government Code and the Texas Open Meetings Act), but that Baldridge is also liable in her non-governmental capacity as a Realtor, as a private business owner. as a representative of the Estate of her late husband, Alie Baldridge, (who was her real estate broker), and as a co-conspirator in committing at least three (3) ditierent torts, in combination with over seven (7) other defendants, who are not govenm1ental entities and who have no immunity whatsoever. Procedurally the case is also complex because of the trial court's

Appellees' Second Unopposed Motion forExiension ofTime to File Appellees' Brief Page4 of7severance ofthe Pleato the Jurisdiction il-om the Motions for Summary Judgment issues, each ofwhich have differing standards ofreview. Due to the complexity ofthe legal, factual and procedural issues, the Appellees need additional time in which to prepare their Appellees' Brie[ 7. Mandator-y Arbitrations for Two Complex CasesHandled During the Same Time Fr·ame bv Counsel For Appellees: During the month of December, 2014, Counsel for Appellees was also involved in two mandatory arbitrations on case that were scheduled on relatively short notice. On December 1L 2014, 

### 0. Rene Diaz, counsel for the Appellees, was involved as lead counsel in an arbitration on several contested issues for Cause No. 2013-CI12731, In the Matter ofthe Marriage ofPaul H. Reed and Karla M. Villafan-Reed and in the Interest ofZoe M. Reed and Jack M. Reed, children. This arbitration took place before the Honorable VictorNegron, On December 15, 2014, Counsel was also involved as lead counsel in the arbitration on contested issues for Cause No. 2012-CI-05052, In the Interest ofDylan Michael Caputo, a child. Both ofthese arbitrations were final and involved considerable time and preparation, similar to a final bench trial, onlythe arbitrators' decisions were generallynot appealable due to the bindingnature ofthe decisions. 8. Appellees request additional time to file said brief: extending the time until at least January 29, 2014, which is an additional 30 days. Appellees need this additional time to tile their briefto allow adequate time for a proper and complete briefdue to a combination ofall ofthe grounds alleged and set forth above in this motion. 9. This motion is not made for the purposes ofdelay but so thatjusticemay be done. I0. The fiiCts recited in this motion arc within the personal knowledge of the Appellees' Second Unopposed Motion for Extension ofTime to FileAppellees' Brief Page5 of7

### undersignedcounsel andtherefore no verification is required underRule 10.2 CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE 11. 

### Appellants do not oppose the reliefsought in this motion. Appellees' counsel conferred viatelephone on December29, 2014, withAppellant's counsel, ClarissaM. Rodriguez, who indicatedAppellants do notopposetbemotion.
PRAYER 

### WHEREFORE PREMISES CONSIDERED. Appellees request tbe Comi extend the time to file theirbriefto January 29. 2015. Respectfully Submitted, DIAZ JAKOB, LLC The Historic MilamBuilding 115 E. Travis St, Suite 333 San Antonio, TX 78205 Tel. (210) 226-4500 Fax (210) 226-4502

State BarNo. 05804775 Attorney for Appellees

Appellees' Second Unopposed Motion forExtension ofTime to File Appellees' Brief Page 6 of7CERTIFICATEOF SERVICE This is to certify that a true and correct copy ofthe foregoing instrument has been served in accordance withtheTexas Rules ofAppellate Procedureon December 30,2014 to the following: PatrickBernal ClarissaM. Rod1iguez DENTON NAVARRO ROCHA BERNALHYDE & ZECH. P.C. A Professional Corporation 2517 N. MainAvenue San Antonio. Texas 78212 210/227-3243 phone 2101225-4481Facsimile Email: patrick.bemalzilTampage-sa.com En1ail: ciarissa.rodriQuez(ffirnmoa!le-sa.cL•m COUNSEL FOR APPELLANTS Darby Riley Riley & Riley, Attorneys at Law 320 Lexington Avenue San Antonio. Texas 78215 JtlorneysforIrene Baldridge

Appellees' Second UnopposedMotion forExtension ofTimeto File Appellees' Brief Page7 of7