Wilbert L. Clewis v. Safeco Insurance Company of America

COURT OF APPEALS SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS FORT WORTH NO. 2-06-258-CV WILBERT L. CLEWIS APPELLANT V. SAFECO INSURANCE COMPANY                                              APPELLEE OF AMERICA ------------ FROM THE 96TH DISTRICT COURT OF TARRANT COUNTY ------------ MEMORANDUM OPINION[1] ------------ Appellant Wilbert L. Clewis attempts to appeal the trial court=s March 20, 2006 order dismissing his cause of action against appellee Safeco Insurance Company of America. Appellant timely filed a motion for new trial in the trial court, so his notice of appeal was due June 19, 2006; however, he did not file his notice of appeal until July 24, 2006. On that same day, Appellant also filed a motion for extension of time to file his notice of appeal, but an appellate court may extend the time to file the notice of appeal only if the appellant files an extension request within fifteen days after the deadline for filing the notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3. Thus, neither Appellant=s notice of appeal nor his extension request was timely filed. We notified Appellant on July 31, 2006, of our concern that the court may not have jurisdiction over this appeal. We also informed him that unless he or any party desiring to continue the appeal filed with the court, on or before August 10, 2006, a response showing grounds for continuing the appeal, the appeal was subject to dismissal for want of jurisdiction. Appellant filed a response, but nothing in the response shows jurisdictional grounds for continuing the appeal. The times for filing a notice of appeal are jurisdictional in this court, and absent a timely filed notice of appeal or extension request, we must dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 2, 25.1(b), 26.3; Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997) (holding that once extension period has passed, a party can no longer invoke an appellate court=s jurisdiction). Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f). PER CURIAM PANEL D: MCCOY, J.; CAYCE, C.J.; and LIVINGSTON, J. DELIVERED: August 31, 2006 [1]See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.