Araceli Zapata D/B/A El Super, Veljaco Corp., Inc, D/B/A El Super Meat Market & Taqueria and Carmen Gloria Veljanovich v. Clear Creek Independent School District, the City of Webster, and Harris County

ACCEPTED 01-15-00346-CV FIRST COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 4/17/2015 10:36:30 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK

00346 CASE NO. 01-15-_________________-CV

VELJACO CORP., INC., et al., § IN THE FIRST FILED IN § 1st COURT OF APPEALS Appellants, § HOUSTON, TEXAS § 4/17/2015 10:36:30 PM v. § COURT OF APPEALS CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE § Clerk CLEAR CREEK INDEP. SCH. DIST., et al., § § Appellees. § HOUSTON, TEXAS

APPELLANTS’ MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE NOTICE OF APPEAL TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF THE COURT OF APPEALS:

Appellant asks the Court to extend the time to file the notice of appeal.

INTRODUCTION

1. Appellants are Veljaco Corp., Inc., d/b/a El upper Meat market & Tacqueria and Carmen Gloria Veljanovich, individually; appellees are Clear Creek Independent School District, Harris County, and the City of Webster.

2. This motion is filed with the 15-day period to file a motion to extend the time to file a notice of appeal, as required by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.3.

3. The 165th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas, signed the final judgment in the underlying case, Clear Creek Ind. Sch. Dist., et al. v. GNM Enters., Inc. d/b/a El Super, et al., cause number 2013-04925, on March 2, 2015, in favor of appellees and against appellants.

ARGUMENT & AUTHORITIES

4. The Court has the authority under Rule 26.3 to grant an extension of time to file the notice of appeal.

5. The deadline to file the notice of appeal was April 2, 2015.

6. Appellants filed the notice of appeal in the trial court on April 16, 2015, within 15 days after the deadline. See TEX. R. APP. 26.3; Velasquez v. Teltschik, 932 S.W.2d 666, 667 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1996, writ denied).

7. Appellants request an additional 15 days to file the notice, extending the time until April 17, 2015. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3(b); Brown Mech Servs. v. Mountbatten Sur. Co., 377 S.W.3d 40, 42 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2012, no pet.).

8. Appellants seek additional time to file the notice of appeal because they had timely filed a request for a de novo hearing of the associate judge’s report and recommendation and was waiting to file the notice until after having an evidentiary hearing on the request before the trial court. However, due to the refusal of the trial court to permit an evidentiary hearing on the request, appellants were forced to late file the notice of appeal.

9. No extension has been granted to extend the time to file the notice of appeal.

10. Attached to this motion as Exhibit A is the appellants’ notice of appeal, datestamped by the trial court. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3(b); Ace Ins. v. Zurich Am. Ins., 59 S.W.3d 424, 426 n.1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, pet. denied).

CONCLUSION

11. Appellant requests and additional 15 days to file the notice, extending the time until April 17, 2015. Appellants seek additional time to file the notice of appeal because they had timely filed a request for a de novo hearing of the associate judge’s report and recommendation and was waiting to file the notice until after having an evidentiary hearing on the request before the trial court. However, due to the refusal of the trial court to permit an evidentiary hearing on the request, appellants were forced to late file the notice of appeal. No extension has been granted to extend the time to file the notice of appeal.

PRAYER

12. For these reasons, appellants ask the Court to grant an extension of time to file the notice of appeal to April 17, 2015.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Aronowitz By: ______________________________________ MARK ARONOWITZ Attorney for Appellants State Bar No.: 00793281 P.O. Box 1201 Texas City, TX 77592-1201 Tel: (281) 402-6780 Fax: (281) 715-4284 Email: markaronowitz@hotmail.com

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that I served a copy of the Appellant’s Motion to Extend Time to File Notice of Appeal by a method permitted by Rule 21a of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure on April 17, 2015.

Mark Aronowitz _______________________________________ MARK ARONOWITZ

EXHIBIT A

4/16/2015 9:44:19 PM Chris Daniel - District Clerk Harris County Envelope No. 4925786 By: Phyllis Washington Filed: 4/16/2015 9:44:19 PM

CAUSE NO. 2013-04,925

CLEAR CREEK INDEP. SCH. DIST., et al., § IN THE DISTRICT COURT

Plaintiffs, § § v. § OF HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS § GNM ENTERS. D/B/A EL SUPER, et al., § § Defendants. § 165th JUDICIAL DISTRICT

VELJANOVICH DEFENDANTS’ NOTICE OF APPEAL TO THE HON. ELIZABETH RAY, PRESIDING JUDGE OF SAID COURT:

This Notice of Appeal is filed by Veljaco Corp., Inc., d/b/a El Super Meat Market & Taqueria and Carmen Gloria Veljanovich, collectively the “Veljanovich Defendants,” parties to this proceeding who seek to appeal the trial court’s judgment.

1. The trial court, cause number, and style of this case are as shown in the caption above.

2. The judgment or order appealed from was signed on March 2, 2015.

3. The Veljanovich Defendants desire to appeal from all portions of the judgment.

4. This appeal is being taken to either the First or Fourteenth Court of Appeals.

5. This notice is filed by the Veljanovich Defendants.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Aronowitz By: ________________________________ MARK ARONOWITZ Attorney for Veljanovich Defendants State Bar No.: 00793281 P.O. Box 1201 Texas City, Texas 77592-1201 Tel: (281) 402-6780 Fax: (281) 715-4284 Email: markaronowitz@hotmail.com

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that I sent a copy of the Veljanovich Defendants’ Notice of Appeal to all parties of record through their attorney of record by a method permitted by Rule 21a of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure on April 16, 2015.

Mark Aronowitz _______________________________________ MARK ARONOWITZ