NUMBER 13-18-00410-CR
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG
____________________________________________________________
VALENTIN TORRES ALVAREZ
AKA VALENTIN TORRES AKA
VALENTIN ALVAREZ TORRES, Appellant,
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
____________________________________________________________
On appeal from the 103rd District Court
of Cameron County, Texas.
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Justices Contreras, Longoria, and Hinojosa
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Hinojosa
Appellant, Valentin Torres Alvarez aka Valentin Torres aka Valentin Alvarez
Torres, attempted to perfect an appeal from a conviction for rape. We dismiss the appeal
for want of jurisdiction.
Sentence in this matter was imposed on June 7, 2018. No motion for new trial
was filed. Notice of appeal was filed on July 27, 2018. On July 30, 2018, 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 has responded
by filing an unopposed motion to reinstate appeal. The motion states failure to file the
notice of appeal was an oversight caused by counsel’s inability to go to her office because
she was assigned three weeks of bed rest.
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 on July 9, 2018. 1 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). Absent
a timely filed notice of appeal, a court of appeals does not obtain jurisdiction to address
1 The thirtieth day after June 7, 2018, fell on Saturday, July 7, 2018. As per TEX. R. APP. P.
4.1(a), the deadline for filing the notice of appeal was extended to Monday, July 9, 2018.
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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). Accordingly, appellant’s unopposed motion to reinstate appeal is DENIED.
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) (West, Westlaw through 2017 1st C.S.); see also Ex parte
Garcia, 988 S.W.2d 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999).
The appeal is DISMISSED FOR WANT OF JURISDICTION.
LETICIA HINOJOSA
Justice
Do not publish.
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
Delivered and filed the
30th day of August, 2018.
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