JAMES DAVID MYERS v. THE STATE OF TEXAS (2017)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

James David Myers has filed an untimely notice of appeal from a conviction of burglary of a habitation.¹ We dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

This Court may consider a direct appeal only if it is filed within the timetables set out by the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2, 26.2. Under these Rules, a notice of appeal in a criminal case must be filed “within 30 days after the day sentence is imposed or suspended in open court.” TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1). That thirty-day deadline is extended to ninety days if a motion for new trial is timely filed in the trial court. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(2). In the absence of a notice of appeal filed within that time frame, this Court has no jurisdiction to consider the appeal. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); see Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 209 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (per curiam).

The judgment of conviction in this matter indicates that Myers' sentence was imposed on December 5, 2016. Myers timely filed a motion for new trial in the trial court. As a result, the deadline for filing his notice of direct appeal to this Court was March 6, 2017. Myers' pro se notice of appeal was not filed until April 4, 2017, and is, therefore, untimely.

We notified Myers by letter dated April 12, 2017, that his notice of appeal appeared to be untimely and that the appeal was subject to dismissal for want of jurisdiction. We gave Myers ten days to respond to our letter and demonstrate how, notwithstanding the untimeliness of his notice, we had jurisdiction over his appeal. Myers did not respond.

Because Myers has not timely perfected his appeal, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

FOOTNOTES

1.   See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 30.02 (West 2011).

Josh R. Morriss, III Chief Justice