### IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

No. 10

- 14

- 00237

- CV

MARY ALICE EMANUEL, ERVIN MITCHEL EMANUEL, SHIRLEY ANN RIVERS, JAMES EDWARD EMANUEL, ROY LEONARD EMANUEL, CLAUDIA FAY HASHEMI AND EVELYN M. DUPLES SIS , Appellant s
v.

DARRELL EARL EMANUEL AND CEDRIC ROYDELL EMANUEL , Appellee s

And

No. 10

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- 00 138

- CV

IN THE MATTER OF HELEN C. WOOTEN, CSR

From the 87th District Court Leon County, Texas Trial Court No. 0

- 10

- 465

ORDER

On April 13, 2015 , commencing at 10:00 a.m., a hearing was held in the Tenth
Court of Appeals regarding the delay in filing the reporter’s record in Emanuel v.Emanuel v. Emanuel and In the Ma tter of Wooten Page 2

Emanuel , 10

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- 00237

- CV. On March 24, 2015 Helen Wooten was served by personal
service with an Order to Show Cause to explain her delay in filing the reporter’s record

in the referenced ap peal . Helen Wooten appeared in person, Appellants ( Mary Alice
Emanuel, Ervin Mitchel Emanuel, Shirley Ann Rivers, James Edward Emanuel, Roy
Leonard Emanuel, Claudia Fay Hashemi and Evelyn M. Duplessis ) and Appellees
( Darrell Earl Emanuel and Cedric Roydel l Emanuel ) appeared by counsel.
The Court reviewed the following history of complaints and orders regarding

Helen Wooten:

1. Complaint filed by Honorable J.D. Langley regarding the reporter’s record for Phillips v. State
, 10

- 09

- 00260

- CR;

2. A Board recommendati on for the format of a report required by Rule 13.4 for September 2013 received by transmittal letter dated October 6, 2013 . T his report was the most recent T EX

. R. A PP

. P ROC

. 13.4 report received by the Tenth Court of Appeals from Helen Wooten ;

3. A commitment order and judgment of contempt in Brewer v. Lowe’s , 12

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- 00155

- CV regarding the failure of Helen Wooten to timely file a record in that proceeding

. Additionally, the Court reviewed the timelines of records filed by Helen Wooten in
proceeding s pending in the Tenth Court of Appeals for cases filed in calendar years

2012, 2013, and 2014 as follows:

Style Docket No. Date Due Date Rec’d Delay in Months

Brackens v. Triton Energy 10

- 12

- 00079

- CV 03/19/12 08/13/12 5 Eggins v. State 10

- 12

- 00206

- CR 09/21/12 03/07/13 6 Harris v. State 10

- 12

- 00254 /255

- CR 08/20/12 02/26/13 6 Jackson v. State 10

- 12

- 00483

- CR 02/12/13 08/19/13 8 In the Interest of K.P., a child 10

- 13

- 00108

- CV 04/11/13 07/16/13 3 Maddux v. Reid 10

- 13

- 00174

- CV 07/08/13 07/17/14 12 TC&C Real Estate v. Sherrod 10

- 13

- 00385

- CV 12/02/13 03/31/14 4Emanuel v. Emanuel and In the Ma tter of Wooten Page 3

Thibodeaux v. State 10

- 13

- 00466

- CR 04/21/14 12/04/14 7 Gardner v. State 10

- 14

- 00041

- CR 04/01/14 01/27/15 10 Big Creek Const. v. Kamp 10

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- 00046

- CV 03/18/14 07/07/14 4 Salais v. Mexia State School 10

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- 00152

- CV 06/24/14 10/15/15 4 Emanuel v. Emanuel 10

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- 00237

- CV 09/15/14 03/06/15 6 TOTAL 75
After hearing from counsel for appellants and appellees, the Court solicited an
explanation from Helen Wooten for the late filing of the record in Emanuel v. Emanuel ,

10

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- 00237

- CV. The justices asked additional questions and received additional
explanations in an effort to understand Helen Wooten’s explanation for the late

- filed

record in Emanuel v. Emanuel as well as for other late filings generally

. The hearing was recessed for the Court to deliberate . U pon reconvening the

Court made the following observations:

1. During 2012, 2013, and 2014, the Court did not timely receive a single reporter’s record from Helen Wooten. In every appeal the Court sent at least one notice that the reporter’s record was past due. 1

2. The cumulative amount of time for all the late records filed with the Tenth Court of Appeals by Helen Wooten was approximately 7 5 months.

3. Much of the delay in timely filing records has been the result of communication failures, some of which were the result of contact information that was either inaccurate or that were not routinely and timely monitored by Helen Wooten.

4. Helen Wooten provided the f ollowing current contact information:

a. Mailing address: P.O. Box 990, Fairfield, Texas 75840 b. Cell phone number: 972/489

- 2698

c. Email address: helenwooten@windstream.net

The Court now renders the followi ng warnings, admonitions, and orders:

1 The referenced review and observations did not include reporter’s records for proceedings transferred to other courts of appeals pursuant to docket equalization orders for which no reporter’s record was required

.Emanuel v. Emanuel and In the Ma tter of Wooten Page 4

1. Helen Wooten is ordered to provide the Court copies of every order which has been issued against her by the Judicial Branch Certification Commission and any of its predecessors during the past 10 years. The copies are ordered to be provided to the Court by May 15, 2015;

2. Helen Wooten is ordered to prepare the report required by T EX

. R. A PP

. P ROC

. 1 3.4 no later than the fifth business day of the month for the immediately preceding month and is ordered to deliver the report to the trial court judge for the 87 th Judicial District and file a copy with the Tenth Court of Appeals by the 15 th day of each month;

3. Helen Wooten is warned that late records will not be tolerated and that the timely filing of records is im p erative;

4. Helen Wooten is admonished to communicate more effectively, and in particular, file a motion requesting an extension of time before the due date for a record, whether the due date is set by rules of appellate proced ure, notice from the clerk of the C ourt, order of this Court or the trial court, or by agreement.

5. Helen Wooten is admonished to seek the assistance of other court reporters regarding the equipment, software, and training necessary to timely file reporter’ s records with this or any other court.

6. Helen Wooten is ordered to use her best efforts to cause the websites for Freestone, Limestone, Leon, and Anderson Counties, as well as any website for the 87 th District Court, to accurately reflect contact informat ion for Helen Wooten.

7. Helen Wooten is ordered to timely respond to communications from this Court, the trial court, and parties to any proceeding for which she acted as the court reporter. For purposes of this order, “timely respond” means within three business days of the date the communication was delivered to any of the addresses or numbers she has designated as current contact information noted above

.

8. The Clerk of this Court is ordered to file a copy of this order with the Judicial Branch Certifica tion Commission as a formal complaint.Emanuel v. Emanuel and In the Ma tter of Wooten Page 5

The Clerk of this Court is ordered to create a new proceeding styled: In the
Matter of Helen C. Wooten CSR , and place therein copies of the following documents

from Emanuel v. Emanuel , 10

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- 00237

- CV:

1. Notice of app eal; 2. Notice (10/06/14); 3. Letter from Judge Evans (12/18/14) ; 4. Notice (02/11/15); 5. Letter from Helen Wooten (02/25/15); 6. Order (03/03/15); 7. Show Cause Order and Citation & Notice of Hearing (03/19/15); 8. Letter to Judge Evans (04/01/15); 9. Letter to the parties (04/09/15); 10. Response of Appellant (04/10/15); 11. Letter from Helen Wooten with JBCC Compliance Order (04/13/15); and 12. This Order.
In the Matter of Helen C. Wooten CSR , cause number 10

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- 00 138

- CV is severed

from Emanuel v. Emanuel , 10

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- 00237

- CV.

In the Ma tter of Helen C. Wooten CSR will remain pending until further order of

this Court.

TOM GRAY Chief Justice
Before Chief Justice Gray, Justice Davis, and Justice Scoggins Order issued and filed April 16, 2015