Opinion
NO. 02-16-00140-CR
05-19-2016
MICHAEL GOWAN APPELLANT v. THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE
FROM THE 89TH DISTRICT COURT OF WICHITA COUNTY
TRIAL COURT NO. 30,832-C MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant Michael Gowan attempts to appeal an order granting defense counsel's motion to withdraw. The underlying trial court proceeding is Appellant's motion for DNA testing. On April 12, 2016, we sent Appellant a letter informing him that we were concerned that we lacked jurisdiction because there was not an appealable order. On April 20, 2016, Appellant filed a "Motion to Appoint Counsel" in which he asked this court to remand his cause back to the trial court with an order compelling the trial court to appoint counsel for this appeal. For the reasons given below, we dismiss Appellant's appeal for want of jurisdiction.
The standard for determining jurisdiction is whether the appeal is authorized by law. Abbott v. State, 271 S.W.3d 694, 696-97 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008). A defendant has the right to appeal in every case in which the trial court enters a judgment of guilt or another order specifically authorized by law. Id. at 697. Appellant is not appealing a judgment of guilt. The question is whether the order he is attempting to appeal is otherwise specifically designated by law as appealable.
In this case, Appellant had not directed us to—and we have not found—any rule, any statute, or any constitutional provision authorizing his appeal from an order removing appointed counsel. Therefore, we lack jurisdiction to decide the merits of Appellant's appeal, and having no jurisdiction over his appeal, we have no jurisdiction to consider his motion. See id.; see also Gutierrez v. State, 307 S.W.3d 318, 323 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (dismissing appeal of order denying motion to appoint counsel).
Because we do not have an appealable order, we dismiss both Appellant's motion and his appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Anderson v. State, No. 02-14-00410-CR, 2015 WL 1407575, at *2 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Mar. 26, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication).
/s/ Anne Gardner
ANNE GARDNER
JUSTICE PANEL: GARDNER, WALKER, and MEIER, JJ. DO NOT PUBLISH
Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b) DELIVERED: May 19, 2016
See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.