Belcher v. State

At a hearing on appellant’s motion for new trial, the trial court noted its concern about an issue raised by the motion and requested additional briefing from counsel. Apparently, the trial court intended to study the issue more before ruling. The trial court then announced an incorrect deadline for ruling on the motion — a date that was past the expiration of the court’s jurisdiction. Although the trial court stated that it would welcome assistance in calculating the deadline, appellant’s counsel failed to bring the miscalculation to the trial court’s attention. Later, the trial court tried…