Samuel Crego v. Guillermo Lash & John Hoysick

                              NUMBER 13-12-00143-CR

                              COURT OF APPEALS

                   THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

                      CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG
____________________________________________________________

BRIAN WILSHUSEN,                                                          Appellant,

                                          v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS,                                 Appellee.
____________________________________________________________

             On appeal from the 148th District Court
                   of Nueces County, Texas.
____________________________________________________________

                        MEMORANDUM OPINION
                 Before Justices Benavides, Vela, and Perkes
                      Memorandum Opinion Per Curiam

       Appellant, Brian Wilshusen, attempted to perfect an appeal from a conviction for

possession of cocaine in trial court cause number 06-CR-0643-E. We dismiss the

appeal for want of jurisdiction.

       Sentence in this matter was imposed on January 23, 2012. No motion for new

trial was filed. Notice of appeal was filed on February 27, 2012. On March 1, 2012, the
Clerk of this Court notified appellant that it appeared that the appeal was not timely

perfected. Appellant was advised 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’s

counsel has not responded to this notice.

         Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.2 provides that an appeal is perfected when

notice of appeal is filed within thirty days after the day sentence is imposed or suspended

in open court unless a motion for new trial is timely filed. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1). 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. R. 26.3.

         Appellant’s notice of appeal was due to have been filed on or before February 22,

2012. See id. R. 26.2(a)(2). Within the fifteen day time period, appellant did not file a

motion for extension of time to file his notice of appeal and did not file his notice of appeal.

         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). “When a

notice of appeal is filed within the fifteen-day period but no timely motion for extension of

time is filed, the appellate court lacks jurisdiction.” Olivo, 918 S.W.2d at 522.     Absent a

timely filed notice of appeal, a court of appeals does not obtain jurisdiction to address the

merits of the appeal in a criminal case 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).

         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

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availability of that remedy is beyond the jurisdiction of this Court. See TEX. CODE CRIM.

PROC. ANN. art. 11.07, § 3(a) (West 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
3rd day of May, 2012.




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