Court Opinion

ID: 9674422
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:28:20.474757+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:27.524196
License: Public Domain

MOTION FOR REHEARING
Before the Court is appellants’ motion for rehearing in cause number 13-83-412-cv and motion for leave to file petition for writ of mandamus in cause number 13-83-521-cv. Appellants’ motion for rehearing relates to this Court’s opinion issued on November 17, 1983, in which we dismissed appellants’ appeal.
The facts of this ease reflect that appellants filed both a timely cash bond and also a paupers’ affidavit on the same day. This court held that an appeal can only be perfected once, either by the giving of a cost bond or by the filing of a proper affidavit, each method being exclusive of the other. We held that since appellant filed a cost bond, their appeal was perfected and the trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider further their affidavit of inability to pay cost. The trial court subsequently increased the bond as permitted by Rule 354(a), Tex.R.Civ.P.1 and since appellants did not file the increased bond set by the trial court, their appeal was dismissed. Rule 354(a) and 387.
*174Appellants assert in their motion for rehearing that they have been denied due process of law by this Court’s action in dismissing their appeal. Appellants affirmatively assert that since a pivotal issue on appeal was the constitutional qualification of the trial judge to preside over the trial “it would seem appropriate that this Court examine that allegation.”2 Appellants have failed to comply with the requirements necessary to present their appeal for our review and thus have not been denied due process of law.
Rule 356(a) provides:
“(a) When a bond for costs on appeal is required, the bond or affidavit in lieu thereof shall be filed with the clerk within thirty days after the judgment is signed ...” (Emphasis Added)
The Rule allows the filing of a bond or an affidavit and not both. Rule 363 provides:
“When a bond is required by law, the appeal is perfected when the bond, cash deposit or affidavit in lieu thereof has been filed or made, or if affidavit is contested, when the contest is overruled.” (Emphasis Added)
Appellants’ assertion that they had no choice but to file their appeal bond and indigency affidavit at the same time to be sure that they would perfect their appeal by one or the other method is contrary to the clear language of the Rules. Appellants would not have been precluded from perfecting an appeal had they relied solely on their affidavit of indigency nor would they have been precluded had they relied solely on the filing of a $500.003 bond or cash in lieu thereof. The Rules of Civil Procedure adequately protect appellant in both instances.
First, had appellants relied solely on an affidavit of indigency as allowed by Rule 355, their appeal would be perfected as of the date of their filing of the affidavit if no contest is filed within ten (10) days. Rule 363. If a contest to the indigency affidavit had been timely filed and timely ruled on, then appellant would have had ten (10) days after the contest was sustained to file his appeal bond. Rule 356(b). If appellants had desired an appellate review of the denial of his indigency status, it is clear that this court would have had mandamus jurisdiction to review the trial court’s action. Williams v. Maynard, 515 S.W.2d 9 (Tex.Civ.App. — Austin 1974, writ dism’d); Johnson v. Barge, 552 S.W.2d 508 (Tex.Civ. App. — Dallas 1977, writ ref’d n.r.e.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1076, 98 S.Ct. 1268, 55 L.Ed.2d 783 (1978); Goffney v. Lowry, 554 S.W.2d 157 (Tex.1977). Indeed, appellants could have sought mandamus review and could have also filed an appeal bond under Rule 356(b) because, if the appellate court would have ultimately sustained appellants’ affidavit, their appeal would have been considered perfected on the date the trial court entered its order on the contest. McCartney v. Mead, 541 S.W.2d 202 (Tex.Civ.App. —Houston [1st Dist.] 1976, no writ). See Rule 363. Thus, the subsequent filing of the appeal bond would have had no legal effect on the appeal which would already have been perfected. McCartney, 541 S.W.2d at 204.
It must be noted that in McCartney the appeal bond was not filed until after the contest to the pauper’s affidavit was filed. (Emphasis added) Thus, the situation did not exist where the filing of the bond would have rendered the affidavit moot. However, in the case before us, the appeal bond was filed before the contest to the affidavit was filed and, therefore, the filing of the bond rendered the affidavit moot. The dissent’s reliance on McCartney, there*175fore, is misplaced and inapplicable to the facts of our case.
Alternatively, appellants could have filed a $500.00 bond under Rule 354 and if timely filed, appellants’ appeal would have been perfected. It is incumbent, however, on an appellant who is contemplating an appeal, to determine the costs of that appeal and, if he is unable to pay or secure the payment of such costs, to file an affidavit of indigency. Dunn v. Dallas County Child Welfare Unit of the Texas Department of Human Resources, 593 S.W.2d 420 (Tex.Civ.App. — Dallas 1980, no writ). If an affidavit of indigency was allowed, then appellant would have been required to make such payment or give such security to the extent of his ability.
Thus, it is clear that the procedure outlined by the Rules of Civil Procedure concerning perfection of appeal is well established and well conceived. To allow appellants to attempt to perfect an appeal by filing, simultaneously, an appeal bond and an affidavit of indigency would be to cause confusion and uncertainty as to when and how the appeal was perfected. This the Rules were not designed to do and we refuse to accept appellants’ invitation to so interpret the Rules of Civil Procedure.
Appellants’ contention that they were denied due process is without merit. The motion for rehearing in cause number 13-83-412-ev is overruled. Appellants’ motion for leave to file Petition for Writ of Mandamus in cause number 13-83-521-cv is denied.
GONZALEZ, J., dissents.

. All references are to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.

. Appellants, in their motion for rehearing, have inappropriately asserted various accusations concerning the trial court’s qualifications and conduct during trial when the only issue presently before this Court is appellants’ failure to file the increased cost bond ordered by the court or otherwise to properly present their appeal for review. We do not approve of collateral assertions on matters which are not directly related to the specific issues on which our opinion is based.

. The Rules of Civil Procedure as amended, effective April 1, 1984, raises the amount of bond to $1,000.00.