DISMISS and Opinion Filed December 23, 2019 

S 

In The 

Court of Appeals 

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas 

No. 05-19-01371-CV 

COREY STEELE, Appellant 

V. 

CRIMSON BUILDING COMPANY, LLC, KYLE HEGE, CARNEGIE HOLDING 

COMPANY, LLC D/B/A CHC DEVELOPMENT, RIAN MAGUIRE, AND RANDY 

PRIMROSE, Appellees 

On Appeal from the 44th Judicial District Court 

Dallas County, Texas 

Trial Court Cause No. DC-19-07661 

MEMORANDUM OPINION 

Before Justices Bridges, Whitehill, and Nowell 

Opinion by Justice Whitehill 

This appeal was filed November 7, 2019 and challenges the trial court’s July 30, 2019 

dismissal orders. Appellant timely filed a motion for new trial, making his notice of appeal due 

October 28, 2019 or, with an extension motion, November 12, 2019. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(a), 

26.3. Recognizing the notice of appeal was filed late but within the extension period, appellant 

included in the notice of appeal a motion for an extension of time. Appellant explains he did not 

file the notice of appeal by October 28th “in an effort to allow the trial court ample time to rule on 

[the] motion for new trial[.]” The motion for new trial was heard October 18, 2019.1

 1

 At the hearing, the trial judge noted the motion for new trial had been overruled by operation of law, see TEX. R. CIV. P. 329b(c), and stated 

“the Court will leave it at that[.]” 
 –2– 

The timely filing of a notice of appeal is jurisdictional. Brashear v. Victoria Gardens of 

McKinney, L.L.C., 302 S.W.3d 542, 545 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2009, no pet.) (op. on reh’g). To 

obtain an extension for filing a notice of appeal, the party appealing must offer a reasonable 

explanation for the delay in filing. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b)(1)(C), 26.3(b). The Texas Supreme 

Court has defined a “reasonable explanation” as “[a]ny plausible statement of circumstances 

indicating that failure to file within the [specified] period was not deliberate or intentional, but was 

the result of inadvertence, mistake, or mischance.” Hone v. Hanafin, 104 S.W.3d 884, 886 (Tex. 

2003) (per curiam) (quoting Meshwert v. Meshwert, 549 S.W.2d 383, 384 (Tex. 1977)). “Any 

conduct short of deliberate or intentional noncompliance qualifies as inadvertence, mistake, or 

mischance[.]” Garcia v. Kastner Farms, Inc., 774 S.W.2d 668, 670 (Tex. 1989). 

We have previously concluded that intentionally waiting for a trial court to hear a motion 

for new trial is not a reasonable explanation. See Daniel v. Daniel, 05-17-00469-CV, 2017 WL 

2645432, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 20, 2017) (mem. op.); Zhao v. Lone Star Engine 

Installation Ctr., Inc., No. 05-09-01055-CV, 2009 WL 3177578, at *2 (Tex. App.—Dallas Oct. 6, 

2009, pet. denied) (per curiam) (mem. op.). Additionally, we note that the hearing on the motion 

for new trial in this case was held ten days before the deadline for filing the notice of appeal. 

Appellant offers no explanation for why he did not file the notice of appeal during that ten-day 

period. 

We conclude appellant’s failure to file the notice of appeal timely was not the result of 

inadvertence, mistake, or mischance. Accordingly, we deny the extension motion and dismiss the 

appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a); Brashear, 302 S.W.3d at 545. 

191371F.P05 

/Bill Whitehill/ 

BILL WHITEHILL 

JUSTICE 
 –3– 

S 

Court of Appeals 

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas 

JUDGMENT 

COREY STEELE, Appellant 

No. 05-19-01371-CV V. 

CRIMSON BUILDING COMPANY, LLC, 

KYLE HEGE, CARNEGIE HOLDING 

COMPANY, LLC D/B/A CHC 

DEVELOPMENT, RIAN MAGUIRE, 

AND RANDY PRIMROSE, Appellees 

 On Appeal from the 44th Judicial District 

Court, Dallas County, Texas 

Trial Court Cause No. DC-19-07661. 

Opinion delivered by Justice Whitehill, 

Justices Bridges and Nowell participating. 

 In accordance with this Court’s opinion of this date, we DISMISS the appeal. 

Judgment entered December 23, 2019