Johns v. State

Full title: ROGER RAY JOHNS, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, State

Court: Court of Appeals of Texas, Second District, Fort Worth

Date published: Oct 27, 2005

No. 2-05-040-CR (Tex. App. Oct. 27, 2005)

Opinion

No. 2-05-040-CR

Delivered: October 27, 2005. DO NOT PUBLISH. Tex.R.App.P. 47.2(b).

Appeal from the 213th District Court of Tarrant County.

Panel D: DAUPHINOT, HOLMAN, and GARDNER, JJ.

MEMORANDUM OPINION ¹ AND JUDGMENT ON PERMANENT ABATEMENT OF APPEAL

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

PER CURIAM.

We have considered appellate counsel's "Motion to Withdraw Appeal upon Death of Appellant," which we construe as a motion to permanently abate this appeal. Exhibit A to the motion is a copy of a letter from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) that states that Appellant Roger Ray Johns died on August 25, 2005, while in the custody of the Institutional Division of the TDCJ. The death of an appellant during the pendency of an appeal deprives this court of jurisdiction. Molitor v. State, 862 S.W.2d 615, 616 (Tex.Crim.App. 1993). Under these circumstances, the appropriate disposition is the permanent abatement of the appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 7.1(a)(2). No decision of this court having been delivered prior to the receipt of this motion, the court finds the motion should be granted. It is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the appeal is permanently abated.