Opinion
No. 05-04-01512-CR
Opinion Filed August 22, 2005. DO NOT PUBLISH. Tex.R.App.P. 47.
On Appeal from the 416th Judicial District Court, Collin County, Texas, Trial Court Cause No. 366-80084-02. Dismissed.
Before Justices WHITTINGTON, MOSELEY, and LANG-MIERS.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Michael J. Ford was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Punishment, following adjudication of guilt, was assessed at five years' imprisonment and a $10,000 fine and was imposed in open court on September 1, 2004. No motion for new trial was filed; thus, appellant's notice of appeal was due by October 1, 2004. See Tex.R.App.P. 26.2(a)(1). Appellant's notice of appeal was filed on October 4, 2004, three days late. We, therefore, directed the parties to file letter briefs addressing our jurisdiction over the appeal. Appellant filed a jurisdictional brief in which he asserts that because the trial court's judgment was not signed until September 15, 2004, that is the operative date for determining when the notice of appeal was due. Therefore, appellant contends, his notice of appeal was not due until October 15, 2004. Appellant's argument is without merit. It has long been held that the date sentence is imposed in open court is the triggering date for filing a notice of appeal, not the date on which the judgment is signed. See Rodarte v. State, 860 S.W.2d 108, 109 (Tex.Crim.App. 1993). Alternatively, appellant asks that we grant his August 16, 2005 motion to extend time to file his notice of appeal. However, a motion to extend time to file a notice of appeal must be filed within fifteen days of the date the notice of appeal is due. See Tex.R.App.P. 26.3(b); Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998) (per curiam); Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 523 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996); Boyd v. State, 971 S.W.2d 603, 605-06 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1998, no pet.). We have no authority to grant an extension motion filed outside that fifteen-day period. See Slaton, 981 S.W.2d at 210; Olivo, 918 S.W.2d at 523; Boyd, 971 S.W.2d at 605-06. Because appellant's October 4, 2004 notice of appeal is untimely, we have no jurisdiction over the appeal. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.