Opinion issued May 16, 2019
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
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NO. 01-19-00244-CR
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ROCKY ANNIS, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 23rd District Court
Brazoria County, Texas
Trial Court Case No. 73315
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Pursuant to an agreement with the State, appellant, Rocky Annis, pleaded
guilty to the felony offense of driving while intoxicated, third offense.1 The trial
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See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. §§ 49.04(a), 49.09(b)(2).
court found appellant guilty, assessed his punishment at confinement for eight years,
suspended the sentence, and placed appellant on community supervision for eight
years. Appellant filed a pro se notice of appeal. The State has filed a motion to
dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. We grant the State’s motion and dismiss
the appeal.
We cannot exercise jurisdiction over an appeal without a timely filed notice
of appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a); see also Castillo v. State, 369 S.W.3d 196,
198 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012); Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App.
1996). A defendant’s notice of appeal is timely if filed within thirty days after the
date sentence is imposed or suspended in open court or within ninety days after that
date if the defendant timely files a motion for new trial. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a); see
Harkcom v. State, 484 S.W.3d 432, 434 (Tex. Crim. App. 2016); Bayless v. State,
91 S.W.3d 801, 806 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002); Lair v. State, 321 S.W.3d 158, 159
(Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2010, pet. ref’d).
Here, the trial court suspended appellant’s sentence on July 2, 2015, and
signed the judgment of conviction on July 10, 2015. The record filed in this Court
does not show that appellant filed a motion for new trial. See TEX. R. APP. P. 21.4(a).
Appellant’s notice of appeal, therefore, was due to be filed no later than August 3,
2015. See id. 4.1, 26.2(a)(1); Olivo, 918 S.W.2d at 522. His notice of appeal, filed
more than three and one-half years later, on March 27, 2019, was untimely to perfect
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an appeal, and we have no basis for jurisdiction over the appeal. See Olivo, 918
S.W.2d at 522; Lair, 321 S.W.3d at 159. In his response to the State’s motion to
dismiss the appeal, appellant states that he was “victimized” and “not well” when
his case was in litigation, he attempted “to gather information” to pursue an appeal,
and his trial-court counsel was ineffective. However, this Court has no authority to
allow the late filing of a notice of appeal except as provided by Texas Rule of
Appellate Procedure 26.3. See Olivo, 918 S.W.2d at 522; Lair, 321 S.W.3d at 159.
If an appeal is not timely perfected, we do not obtain jurisdiction to address the
merits of the appeal and “can take no action other than to dismiss the appeal.” Slaton
v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998).
Accordingly, we grant the State’s motion and dismiss the appeal for want of
jurisdiction. We dismiss all other pending motions as moot.
PER CURIAM
Panel consists of Justices Lloyd, Landau, and Countiss.
Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
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