Opinion
NO. 14-19-00464-CR
06-25-2019
BENNY HERBERT, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 228th District Court Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 1532313
MEMORANDUM OPINION
On May 18, 2017, Benny Herbert pleaded guilty to and was convicted of possession of a controlled substance. Under the terms of a plea-bargain agreement between appellant and the State, the trial court sentenced appellant to two years' imprisonment. Appellant filed a notice of appeal from the judgment of conviction on June 3, 2019.
We lack jurisdiction over this appeal for two reasons: the notice of appeal was not filed timely, and this is a plea bargain case with no appealable matters and appellant has not been granted permission to appeal.
First, a defendant's notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after sentence is imposed if the defendant has not filed a motion for new trial. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a)(1). A notice of appeal that complies with the requirements of Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.2 is essential to vest the court of appeals with jurisdiction. Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998). If an appeal is not timely perfected, a court of appeals does not obtain jurisdiction to address the merits of the appeal. Under those circumstances it can take no action other than to dismiss the appeal. Id. Appellant's notice of appeal was filed more than two years after the sentence was imposed. Therefore, the appeal was not timely perfected.
Second, in a plea bargain case—that is, a case in which a defendant's plea was guilty or nolo contendere and the punishment did not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by the defendant—a defendant may appeal only matters raised by a written, pretrial motion or with the trial court's permission. Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(a)(2). Appellant's punishment does not exceed the agreed length of confinement. The record does not contain any appealable pretrial rulings, and the trial court did not grant appellant permission to appeal.
Accordingly, we DISMISS the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Chief Justice Frost and Justices Spain and Poissant. Do Not Publish — Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).