COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH
NO. 02-16-00140-CR
MICHAEL GOWAN APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE
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FROM THE 89TH DISTRICT COURT OF WICHITA COUNTY
TRIAL COURT NO. 30,832-C
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MEMORANDUM OPINION1
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Appellant Michael Gowan attempts to appeal an order granting defense
counsel’s motion to withdraw. The underlying trial court proceeding is
Appellant’s motion for DNA testing. On April 12, 2016, we sent Appellant a letter
informing him that we were concerned that we lacked jurisdiction because there
was not an appealable order. On April 20, 2016, Appellant filed a “Motion to
1
See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.
Appoint Counsel” in which he asked this court to remand his cause back to the
trial court with an order compelling the trial court to appoint counsel for this
appeal. For the reasons given below, we dismiss Appellant’s appeal for want of
jurisdiction.
The standard for determining jurisdiction is whether the appeal is
authorized by law. Abbott v. State, 271 S.W.3d 694, 696–97 (Tex. Crim. App.
2008). A defendant has the right to appeal in every case in which the trial court
enters a judgment of guilt or another order specifically authorized by law. Id. at
697. Appellant is not appealing a judgment of guilt. The question is whether the
order he is attempting to appeal is otherwise specifically designated by law as
appealable.
In this case, Appellant had not directed us to—and we have not found—
any rule, any statute, or any constitutional provision authorizing his appeal from
an order removing appointed counsel. Therefore, we lack jurisdiction to decide
the merits of Appellant’s appeal, and having no jurisdiction over his appeal, we
have no jurisdiction to consider his motion. See id.; see also Gutierrez v. State,
307 S.W.3d 318, 323 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (dismissing appeal of order denying
motion to appoint counsel).
Because we do not have an appealable order, we dismiss both Appellant’s
motion and his appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Anderson v. State, No. 02-14-
00410-CR, 2015 WL 1407575, at *2 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Mar. 26, 2015, no
pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication).
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/s/ Anne Gardner
ANNE GARDNER
JUSTICE
PANEL: GARDNER, WALKER, and MEIER, JJ.
DO NOT PUBLISH
Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)
DELIVERED: May 19, 2016
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