NUMBER 13-19-00023-CR
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG
MATTHEW DAVID LEAL, Appellant,
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
On appeal from the 186th District Court
of Bexar County, Texas.
ORDER
Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Longoria and Hinojosa
Order Per Curiam
Appellant, Matthew David Leal, has filed a notice of appeal with this Court from
his conviction in trial court cause number 2017CR10539. The trial court’s certification of
the defendant’s right to appeal shows that the defendant does not have the right to
appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2). The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure
provide that an appeal must be dismissed if a certification showing that a defendant has
a right of appeal is not made a part of the record. Id. R. 25.2(d); see id. R. 37.1, 44.3,
44.4. The purpose of the certification requirement is to efficiently sort appealable cases
from non-appealable cases so that appealable cases can “move through the system
unhindered while eliminating, at an early stage, the time and expense associated with
non-appealable cases.” Greenwell v. Ct. of Apps. for the Thirteenth Jud. Dist., 159
S.W.3d 645, 649 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005); see Hargesheimer v. State, 182 S.W.3d 906,
912 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006).
Within thirty days of date of this notice, appellant’s lead appellate counsel, Hon.
Michael David Robbins, is hereby ORDERED to: 1) review the record; 2) determine
whether appellant has a right to appeal; and 3) forward to this Court, by letter, counsel’s
findings as to whether appellant has a right to appeal and/or advise this Court as to the
existence of any amended certification. If appellant’s counsel determines that appellant
has a right to appeal, counsel is further ORDERED to file a motion with this Court within
thirty days of this notice, identifying and explaining substantive reasons why appellant
has a right to appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 44.3, 44.4; Dears v. State, 154 S.W.3d 610,
614–15 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005); see also, e.g., Carroll v. State, 119 S.W.3d 838, 841
(Tex. App.—San Antonio 2003, no pet.) (certification form provided in appendix to
appellate rules may be modified to reflect that defendant has right of appeal under
circumstances not addressed by the form). The motion must include an analysis of the
applicable case law, and any factual allegations therein must be true and supported by
the record. See Dears, 154 S.W.3d at 614–15; cf. Woods v. State, 108 S.W.3d 314,
316 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003) (construing former appellate rule 25.2(b)(3) and holding that
recitations in the notice of appeal must be true and supported by the record). Copies of
record documents necessary to evaluate the alleged error in the certification affecting
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appellant’s right to appeal shall be attached to the motion. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.1,
10.2.
PER CURIAM
Do not publish.
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
Delivered and filed the
15th day of January 2019.
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