Denson v. State

Full title: MACLIN RAY DENSON APPELLANT v. THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE

Court: COURT OF APPEALS SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS FORT WORTH

Date published: Jan 22, 2015

NO. 02-14-00492-CR (Tex. App. Jan. 22, 2015)

Opinion

NO. 02-14-00492-CR

01-22-2015

MACLIN RAY DENSON APPELLANT v. THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE

PER CURIAM

FROM THE 371ST DISTRICT COURT OF TARRANT COUNTY
TRIAL COURT NO. 1295117D
MEMORANDUM OPINION¹

1 See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.

Pursuant to a plea bargain, Appellant Maclin Ray Denson pled true to the State's petition to proceed to the adjudication of his guilt for possession of less than one gram of a controlled substance (cocaine), a state jail felony,² and also waived various rights, including his right to appeal. The trial court adjudicated his guilt, found the enhancement paragraph true, and sentenced him to the agreed-upon two years' confinement in prison.

2 See Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.102(3)(D), .115(b) (West 2010).

Appellant filed a timely pro se notice of appeal. The trial court's certification of Appellant's right of appeal states that this is "a plea-bargain[ed] case, and the defendant has NO right of appeal." Accordingly, we sent a letter to Appellant's appointed counsel, copying it to Appellant, requesting a response by December 18, 2014, showing grounds for continuing the appeal. We have not received a response other than Appellant's pro se "Motion for Extension of Time Within Which to file Appellant's Trial Brief," filed December 16, 2014, and seeking a sixty-day extension.

Despite the trial court's failure to indicate Appellant's waiver on its certification, the signed plea papers reveal that Appellant waived his right of appeal as part of a negotiated plea bargain at the time of adjudication.³

3 See Blanco v. State, 18 S.W.3d 218, 220 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000); see also Dears v. State, 154 S.W.3d 610, 615 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005).

Based on Appellant's waiver, we dismiss this appeal,⁴ and we dismiss Appellant's pending motion as moot.

4 See Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(d), 43.2(f); Blanco, 18 S.W.3d at 220; Richards v. State, No. 02-12-00253-CR, 2012 WL 4121154, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Sept. 20, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication); see also Brooks v. State, No. 02-12-00196-CR, 2012 WL 2036473, at *2 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth June 7, 2012, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (declining to order the trial court to amend a defective certification "because doing so would be a useless act—Brooks would still be unable to appeal his conviction").
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PER CURIAM PANEL: DAUPHINOT, GARDNER, and WALKER, JJ. DO NOT PUBLISH
Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)
DELIVERED: January 22, 2015