Michael Dean v. State

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                         In The

                                                Court of Appeals

                        Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

 

                                                ______________________________

 

                                                             No. 06-10-00007-CR

                                                ______________________________

 

 

                               MICHAEL DEWAYNE DEAN, Appellant

 

                                                                V.

 

                                     THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

 

 

                                                                                                  

 

 

                                       On Appeal from the 115th Judicial District Court

                                                            Upshur County, Texas

                                                            Trial Court No. 15,390

 

                                                                                                   

 

 

 

                                          Before Morriss, C.J., Carter and Moseley, JJ.

                                              Memorandum Opinion by Justice Carter


                                                      MEMORANDUM OPINION

 

            Michael DeWayne Dean appeals from his conviction for the offense of failure to register as a sex offender.  His sentence was imposed December 10, 2009, and Dean filed no motion for new trial.  Dean filed a notice of appeal by mailing it to the District Clerk of Upshur County.  The post-mark on the envelope shows that the notice of appeal was placed in the United States mail January 12, 2010.

            A late notice of appeal is considered timely and thus invokes the appellate court’s jurisdiction if (1) it is filed within fifteen days of the last day allowed for filing, (2) a motion for extension of time is filed in the court of appeals within fifteen days of the last day allowed for filing the notice of appeal, and (3) the court of appeals grants the motion for extension of time.  Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996).  Further, 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.  Id. (citing Rodarte v. State, 860 S.W.2d 108 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993)).

            The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals interprets Rule 26.3 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure to strictly require an appellant in a criminal case to file his or her notice of appeal and a motion for extension within the fifteen-day period for filing a late notice of appeal.  Id. at 522–26; see Tex. R. App. P. 26.3.  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has expressly held that without a timely-filed notice of appeal or motion for extension of time, we cannot exercise jurisdiction over an appeal.  See Olivo, 918 S.W.2d at 522; see also Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 209 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998).

            According to Rule 26.2 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and the above caselaw, Dean had thirty days after the day sentence was imposed to file a notice of appeal, or timely file a motion for new trial and thereby extend his time to file a notice of appeal.  See Tex. R. App. P. 21.4, 26.2(a)(1).  No motion for new trial was filed.  Dean, therefore, had until January 11, 2010,[1] to file a notice of appeal.  Dean’s notice of appeal was placed in the mail one day late, on January 12, 2010.[2]  Further, no motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal was filed.  Hence, this appeal is untimely, and we are without jurisdiction to hear this case.

            We dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                    Jack Carter

                                                                                    Justice

 

Date Submitted:          February 11, 2010      

Date Decided:             February 12, 2010

 

Do Not Publish



[1]The thirtieth day, January 9, fell on a Saturday, thus extending Dean’s time until the following Monday, January 11, 2010.  Tex. R. App. P.  4.1.

 

[2]We do note that Dean’s certificate of service notes that a copy of the notice of appeal was hand delivered to the district attorney’s office January 11, 2010.  Delivery of the notice of appeal to the district attorney does not constitute filing with the proper authority.  Tex. R. App. P. 9.2.