In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-15-00077-CR
STEVE GAITHER, APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE
On Appeal from the 364th District Court
Lubbock County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2013-438,077, Honorable William R. Eichman II, Presiding
September 25, 2015
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before CAMPBELL and HANCOCK and PIRTLE, JJ.
Appellant, Steve Gaither, seeks to appeal a plea bargained judgment of
conviction for the offense of possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) in an
amount of less than one gram1 in a drug-free zone.2 Appellant further pled true to one
prior felony conviction, which enhanced the applicable punishment range to that of a
1
See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 481.115 (West 2010).
2
See id. § 481.134(b) (West Supp. 2014).
second-degree felony.3 In accordance with the terms of the plea bargain, appellant was
sentenced to twenty years confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice. Because appellant has no right of appeal, we will
dismiss.
An appeal must be dismissed unless a certification showing that the defendant
has the right of appeal has been made part of the record. TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d). The
trial court noted on “Trial Court’s Certification of Defendant’s Right of Appeal” that this
was “a plea-bargain case and the defendant has NO right of appeal.” Based upon our
review of the record, we find that appellant voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently
entered into a plea bargain and that the terms of this plea bargain were accepted by the
trial court. See Dears v. State, 154 S.W.3d 610, 615 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005).
By letter dated June 30, 2015, this Court notified appellant that the certification of
defendant’s right of appeal indicated that this was a plea-bargain case and that
appellant had no right of appeal. This notification further advised appellant that the
appeal must be dismissed unless an amended certification reflecting that appellant has
the right of appeal is received. Appellant was given until July 20 to file a response. On
July 21, appellant requested an extension of time to file his response, which extended
the deadline for appellant’s response to September 11. To date, appellant has failed to
file his response or an amended certification.
Because appellant has no right of appeal, we must dismiss this appeal. See
Chavez v. State, 183 S.W.3d 675, 680 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (en banc) (“A court of
3
See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 12.42(a) (West Supp. 2014).
2
appeals, while having jurisdiction to ascertain whether an appellant who plea-bargained
is permitted to appeal by Rule 25.2(a)(2), must dismiss a prohibited appeal without
further action, regardless of the basis for the appeal.”).
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. Any pending motions
are dismissed as moot.
Per Curiam
Do not publish.
3