## Court of Appeals

First District

301 Fannin Street Houston, Texas 77002

- 2066 S HERRY R ADACK C HIEF J USTICE

T ERRY J ENNINGS
E VELYN K EYES
L AURA C ARTER H IGLEY
J ANE B LAND
M ICHAEL M ASSENGALE
H ARVEY B ROWN
R EBECA H UDDLE
R USSELL L LOYD
J USTICES C HRISTOPHER A. P RINE C LERK OF THE C OURT

J ANET W ILLIAMS C HIEF S TAFF A TTORNEY

P HONE : 713

- 274

- 2700

F AX : 713

- 755

- 8131

www.txcourts.gov/1stcoa.aspx

February 9, 2016

Walter Francisco Salinas 8282 Park Place Blvd, Apt D6

Hou ston, TX 77017 Marsha I. Reed

Law Office of Marsha Reed

3303 Louisiana St Ste 140
Houston, TX 77006

- 6624

* DELIVERED VIA E

- MAIL *

RE: Court of Appeals Number: 01

- 15

- 00702

- CV

Trial Court Case Number: 2009

- 09626

Style: Walter Francisco Salinas v. Patricia Melton

GENERAL INFORMATION

On F ebruary 8 , 201 6 , a letter of assignment from the 246th District Court trial

- court clerk and a copy of the notice of appeal filed by Walter Francisco Salinas in the trial court was

received and docketed as Caus e Number 01

- 15

- 00702

- CV . This Notice contains information about some of the rules and procedures that govern prosecution of an appeal pending before the First Court of Appeals.

Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.6 requires parties and counsel to commu nicate about a pending appeal only through the Clerk’s office and they may not communicate with either the justices or their staff about a case. It is also improper to send a document to the Court about an appeal unless a copy of it is served on all other parties to the appeal at the same time.

See T EX

. R. A PP

. P . 9.5(d), (e).

Effective January 1 , 201 4

, all attorneys in civil cases and criminal cases must electronically file all documents (except a document submitted under seal or subject to a motion to seal) through the EfileTexas.gov electronic filing system. A party representing themselves pro se (without an attorney) in a civil case, is encouraged to e

- file documents, but is not required to do so. Electronically filed documents must conform to T E X . R. A PP . P. 9.4 and must be completed through EfileTexas.gov, http://www.efiletexas.gov . Electronically filed briefs must comply with T EX . R. A PP . P. 9.4 and with the Texas Supreme Court's Redaction Guidelines

found at http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/ebriefs/RedactionGuidelines.pdf

.2 INFORMATION ABOUT THE APPELLATE RECORD

This letter is NOTICE to the appellant that the Court may dismiss an appeal for want of prosecution, if the clerk’s record is not filed and it is appellant’s fault. See TE X. R. APP. P. 37.3(b); 42.3. This letter is also NOTICE to the appellant that if it is appellant’s fault that the reporter’s record is not filed, the Court may decide the appeal on those issues or points that do not require a reporter’s record for a decis ion. See TEX. R. APP. P. 37.3(c). Any motion related to informalities in the manner of bringing this appeal must be filed within thirty (30) days after the appellate record is filed. TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(a).

Unless an appellant has established indigen ce under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 20.1, the trial

- court clerk and court reporter are not required to file the clerk’s and reporter’s records until appellant has paid the required fees to prepare and certify the records, or has made satisfactory ar rangements to pay the fees. See TEX. R. APP. P. 35.3(a)(2), (b)(3).

From information currently available, it appears that the trial court signed the final judgment or other appealable order on February 8, 2016. Because the notice of appeal indicates

t hat a post

-

judgment motion was not filed , unless the Court receives information to the contrary, the trial court clerk is due to file the clerk’s record and the court reporter is due to file the reporter’s record on or before D ecember 11 , 2016

.

The appe llant and/or appellee should inform the Court as soon as possible if (1) this appeal is accelerated or (2) if there is disagreement about (a) the date the trial court signed the final judgment or appealable order or (b) whether a post

- judgment motion or re quest for findings of fact and conclusions of law was timely filed in the trial court.

It is mandatory that both the clerk’s record and the reporter’s record be filed electronically. Both the trial

- court clerk and the court reporter are asked to comple te the information sheet on the “Forms” page of the Court’s website, http://www.txcourts.gov/1stcoa/practice

- before

- the

- court/forms.aspx

, and file it with the Court

within ten (10) days of the date of this Notice. The parties do not need to file a motion to extend time to file either the clerk’s record or the reporter’s record. See Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 34.5(b)(1), (c)(2), 35.3(c), and 35.6(b)(1) and Appendix C of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure for electronic filing related to preparation of the appellate record.

Parties are encouraged to work together and with the trial court clerk and court reporter to properly designate all necessary items and portions of the testimony to be included in the initial records. The Court generally will not grant a motion to extend time to file a brief because a party requests to supplement the record with an item or portion of the testimony that the party did not

t imely designate for inclusion in the initial clerk’s record or reporter’s record. See T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 10.5(b), 34.5(c)(1), 34.6(d), 38.6(d).3 INFORMATION ABOUT FILING DOCUMENTS

Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.3 controls the number of paper copies and

document s filed in paper form. All documents must include a certificate of service. See Tex. R. App. P. 9.5(d), (e). All civil motions must include a certificate of conference, TEX. R. APP. P. 10.1(a)(5), and require a $10 filing fee, unless the mov ant has established indigence or is exempt from the advance payment of filing fees, e.g., the State or a political subdivision of the State.

See TEX. R. APP. P. 5; FEES CIV. CASES B (3); Op. Tex Att’y Gen. No. DM

- 459 (1997). The

Court treats a civil moti on requesting multiple types of relief as separate motions and requires a separate $10 filing fee for each motion.

INFORMATION ABOUT BRIEFS

Effective January 1, 2014, all attorneys in civil cases and criminal cases must electronically file all documents (except a document submitted under seal or subject to a motion to seal) through the EfileTexas.gov electronic filing system. A party representing themselves pro se (without an attorney) in a civil case, is encouraged to e

- file documents, but is not required to do so. Electronically filed documents must conform to T EX . R. A PP . P. 9.4 and must be completed through EfileTexas.gov, http://www.efiletexas.gov . Electronically filed briefs must comply with T EX . R. A PP . P. 9.4 and with the Texas Supreme Court's Redaction Guidelines

found at http://www.txcourts.gov/media/124902/redactionguidelines.pdf

.

INFORMATION ABOUT ATTORNEYS AP PEARING BEFORE THE COURT

Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 6 governs matters related to an attorney’s representation of a party before the Court. Attorneys must promptly notify the Clerk’s office of any change of address or change in designation of the lead counsel for a party. A nonresident attorney who is not a member of the State Bar of Texas must satisfy the requirements for participation in a Texas legal matter found on the Board of Law Examiners’ website http://www.ble.state.tx.us

.

INFORMATION ABOUT NOTICES TO PARTIES

Notice must be sent to all parties of any judgment, mandate, or order issued. See Tex. R. App. P. 12.6. If a party is represented by an attorney, notice will be sent to the party’s lea d

counsel. See T EX

. R. A PP

. P . 9.5(b). Information available to the public about a case may be found on the “Case Information” page of the Court’s website. Parties may sign up for e

- mail notices about activity in their case on the “CaseMail” page of the website.

STANDARDS OF APPELLATE CONDUCT

The Court follows the Standards of Appellate Conduct adopted by the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals. All attorneys and parties

— including pro se litigants

— are expected to fully comply w ith these standards, as well as all applicable provisions of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, and4

the Code of Judicial Conduct. See the “Court Rules” page, “Other Rules Governing Attorneys”

of t he Texas Supreme Court’s website, http://www.txcourts.gov/supreme.aspx , or call and ask that a copy be mailed to you.

Should you have questions at any time throughout the appellate process of your cas e, please do not hesitate to call the Clerk's office at 713

- 274

- 2700.

Sincere ly,

Christopher A. Prine, Clerk of the Court