No. 01-14-00229-CR

In the 

Court of Appeals 

For the 

First District of Texas 

At Houston 



No. 1415067

In the 338th District Court 

Of Harris County, Texas 



KELVIN LYNN O'BRIEN 

Appellant 

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

Appellee



STATE’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE BRIEF 



TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS: 

 THE STATE OF TEXAS, pursuant to TEX. R. APP. P. 2 & 10.5, moves for 

an extension of time in which to file its appellate brief and in its motion, would 

show the Court the following: 

1. The appellant was charged with engaging in organized crime from 

August 2007 through April 2013 (CR – 10). He pled “not guilty” to the 

charge, and the case was tried to a jury (CR – 883). The jury found him 

guilty, and the trial court thereafter assessed punishment at life in prison 

on March 6, 2014 (CR – 883). The appellant filed notice of appeal the 

ACCEPTED

01-14-00229-CR

FIRST COURT OF APPEALS

HOUSTON, TEXAS

1/9/2015 8:50:06 AM

CHRISTOPHER PRINE

CLERK

 FILED IN 1st COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 1/9/2015 8:50:06 AM CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE Clerk
same day, and the trial court certified that he had the right to appeal (CR 

– 886-887). 

2. The State’s brief is due on January 9, 2015. The State hereby requests a

30-day extension for the filing of the State’s brief. 

3. The following facts are relied upon to show good cause for an extension

of time to allow the State to file its brief:

a. The record in this case is over 417 megabytes in length split over 

34 volumes and will take an extraordinary amount of time to 

process.

b. The undersigned attorney is responsible for screening every bill 

filed in the Texas Legislature to determine its possible impact on 

the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and this task has 

consumed a large amount of time since pre-filing started in the 

Texas Legislature in November 2014.

c. The undersigned attorney researched and answered by email more 

than fifty legal questions of trial prosecutors since the appellant 

filed his brief. The undersigned attorney researched and answered 

even more such questions by phone during that time period. 

d. The undersigned attorney has been devoting a substantial amount 

of time in abatement proceedings in the 339th District Court 

pursuant to an abatement order in cause number 1327402. Such 

abatement proceedings involved the collection of evidence from 

witnesses, numerous hearings before the trial court on the issues, 

and the drafting of and argument over proposed findings of the 

parties.

e. The undersigned attorney is responsible for supervising six other 

appellate prosecutors, and has spent a substantial amount of time 

reviewing the briefs of those prosecutors, attending their oral 

arguments, and assisting in the preparation of both during that time 

period. The undersigned attorney has also been responsible for 
training a new appellate prosecutor, which requires more intense 

supervision and editing, and therefore, more of a time 

commitment.

f. The undersigned attorney has been involved in completing the 

following written appellate project since the appellant filed his

brief:

(1) Cody Carr v. The State of Texas 

No. 14-14-00087-CR

Brief filed December 22, 2014

(2) Greg Saldinger v. The State of Texas 

No. 14-14-00402-CR

Brief filed December 24, 2014

(3) Stephen Webb v. The State of Texas 

No. 01-14-00174-CR

Brief filed January 5, 2015

(4) Kelvin O’Brien v. The State of Texas 

No. 01-14-00229-CR

Brief due January 9, 2015

(5) Antonio Perez v. The State of Texas 

No. 01-12-01001-CR

Supplemental briefing requested by First Court of 

Appeals due January 12, 2015

(6) Bobby Peyronel v. The State of Texas 

No. 01-13-00198-CR

Brief on PDR due January 16, 2015

(7) Brogan Melchior v. The State of Texas 

No. 14-14-00454-CR

Brief due January 16, 2015
(8) Jose Vasquez v. The State of Texas 

No. 14-12-00096-CR

PDR due January 22, 2015

(9) Alex Gonzalez v. The State of Texas 

No. 01-14-00434-CR

Brief to be filed January 30, 2015

WHEREFORE, the State prays that this Court will grant the requested extension.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Eric Kugler

ERIC KUGLER

Assistant District Attorney

Harris County, Texas

1201 Franklin, Suite 600

Houston, Texas 77002-1923

(713) 755-5826

Kugler_eric@dao.hctx.net

TBC No. 796910

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

This is to certify that a copy of the foregoing instrument will be served by 

efile.txcourts.gov to:

Kyle Sampson

Attorney at Law

917 Franklin, Suite 310

Houston, Texas 77002

kyle@kylesampsonlaw.com

/s/ Eric Kugler

ERIC KUGLER

Assistant District Attorney

Harris County, Texas

1201 Franklin, Suite 600

Houston, Texas 77002-1923

(713) 755-5826

TBC No. 796910

Date: January 9, 2015