NUMBER 13-14-00375-CR
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG
____________________________________________________________
JOHN DOUGLAS EDWARDS, Appellant,
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
____________________________________________________________
On Appeal from the 221st District Court
of Montgomery County, Texas.
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Chief Justice Valdez and Justices Garza and Longoria
Memorandum Opinion Per Curiam
Appellant, John Douglas Edwards, attempts to appeal his conviction for theft from
a nonprofit organization. His appeal was transferred to this Court from the Ninth Court
of Appeals by order of the Texas Supreme Court. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. §
22.220(a) (West Supp. 2011) (delineating the jurisdiction of appellate courts); TEX.GOV'T
CODE ANN. § 73.001 (West 2005) (granting the Supreme Court the authority to transfer
cases from one court of appeals to another at any time that there is “good cause” for the
transfer). This cause is before the Court on the State’s motion to dismiss for want of
jurisdiction.
This Court's appellate jurisdiction in a criminal case is invoked by a timely filed
notice of appeal. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). Absent
a timely filed notice of appeal, a court of appeals does not have jurisdiction to address the
merits of the appeal and can take no action other than to dismiss the appeal for want of
jurisdiction. Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998).
The trial court imposed sentence in this matter on June 5, 2013. Appellant filed
his notice of appeal on June 3, 2014. On August 14, 2014, the Clerk of this Court notified
appellant that it appeared that the appeal was not timely perfected and that the appeal
would be dismissed if the defect was not corrected within ten days from the date of receipt
of the Court’s directive. Appellant has not filed a response to the Court’s directive.
Unless a motion for new trial has been timely filed, a notice of appeal must be filed
within thirty days after the day sentence is imposed or suspended in open court, or after
the day the trial court enters an appealable order. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1). Where a
timely motion for new trial has been filed, the notice of appeal must be filed within ninety
days after the day sentence is imposed or suspended in open court. See id. 26.2(a)(2).
The time within which to file the notice may be enlarged if, within fifteen days after the
deadline for filing the notice, the party files the notice of appeal and a motion complying
with Rule 10.5(b) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See id. 26.3.
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Appellant’s notice of appeal, filed one year after sentence was imposed, was
untimely, and accordingly, we lack jurisdiction over the appeal. See Slaton, 981 S.W.2d
at 210. Accordingly, we GRANT appellee’s motion to dismiss. Appellant may be
entitled to an out-of-time appeal by filing a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus
returnable to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; however, the availability of that remedy
is beyond the jurisdiction of this Court. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.07, §
3(a) (Vernon 2005); see also Ex parte Garcia, 988 S.W.2d 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999).
The appeal is DISMISSED FOR WANT OF JURISDICTION.
PER CURIAM
Do not publish.
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
Delivered and filed the
25th day of September, 2014.
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