The opinion
COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE
FIRST DISTRICT OF TEXAS AT HOUSTON
ORDER ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
Appellate case name: Robert Lee Lyles v. The State of Texas
Appellate case number: 01-14-00859-CV
Trial court case number: 2009-63597
Trial court: 151st Judicial District Court of Harris County
The panel has voted to deny appellant’s motion for rehearing.1
It is ordered that the motion for rehearing is denied.
Judge’s signature: /s/ Laura C. Higley
Acting for the Court
Panel consists of: Justices Keyes, Higley, and Brown
Date: April 14, 2015
1
Because appellant is pro se, we note that none of the cases in appellant’s motion address
his situation here where his untimely notice of appeal deprived this Court of jurisdiction
to consider the merits of his appeal, and we clarify that our memo opinion noted he must
file a bill of review in the trial court, not here. After the trial court’s plenary power
expired, appellant’s only legal recourse is to file “[a] bill of review [which] is a new suit
filed in the same court rendering the original judgment.” Urso v. Lyon Fin. Servs., Inc.,
93 S.W.3d 276, 280 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2002, no pet.) (citation omitted).
Generally, a bill-of-review plaintiff must file his claim within four years of rendition of
the judgment he attacks. See PNS Stores, Inc. v. Rivera, 379 S.W.3d 267, 275 (Tex.
2012). Thus, appellant still has an available remedy by filing a bill of review in the trial
court until four years after the October 4, 2013 final judgment, where he can try to prove
lack of timely service of that judgment and, if unsatisfied, can then appeal any adverse
bill-of-review decision to this Court.