NUMBER 13-11-00343-CR
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG
____________________________________________________________
ANGELICA M. MARTINEZ, Appellant,
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
____________________________________________________________
On appeal from the 105th District Court
of Kleberg County, Texas.
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Justices Benavides, Vela, and Perkes
Memorandum Opinion Per Curiam
This cause is before the Court on appellant's motion for leave to file notice of
appeal. Appellant, Angelica M. Martinez, attempted to perfect an appeal from a
conviction for possession of marihuana. We dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Sentence in this matter was imposed on November 18, 2010. No motion for new
trial was filed. Appellant filed a pro se appeal on April 15, 2011. On June 2, 2011, 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. On June
13, 2011, appellant’s counsel filed a motion for extension of time to file notice of appeal.
The motion states that it was appellant’s understanding that her trial attorney would file in
a timely manner a notice of appeal.
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. 26.3.
Appellant’s notice of appeal was due to have been filed on or before December 20,
2010. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(2). Appellant did not file a motion for extension of
time to file her notice of appeal within the 15-day time period as permitted by Texas Rule
of Appellate Procedure 26.3 and did not file her notice of appeal until April 15, 2011.
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). 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
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remedy is beyond the jurisdiction of this Court. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art.
11.07, § 3(a) (West Supp. 2010); see also Ex parte Garcia, 988 S.W.2d 240 (Tex. Crim.
App. 1999). Accordingly, appellant’s motion for extension of time to file notice of appeal
is DENIED. The appeal is DISMISSED FOR WANT OF JURISDICTION.
PER CURIAM
Do not publish.
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
Delivered and filed
the 14th day of July, 2011.
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