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Johnson v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas, Seventh District, Amarillo
Nov 25, 2008
No. 07-08-0433-CR (Tex. App. Nov. 25, 2008)

Opinion

No. 07-08-0433-CR

November 25, 2008.

Appealed from The 320th District Court of Potter County; No. 54,470-D; Hon. Don Emerson, Presiding.

Before QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and HANCOCK, JJ.


MEMORANDUM OPINION


Pursuant to a plea bargain, appellant, Carl Van Johnson, was convicted of burglary of a habitation and sentenced to 20 years incarceration in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Appellant filed a notice of appeal in which he requested appointment of appellate counsel. We dismiss for want of jurisdiction.

Appellant's sentence was imposed on January 7, 2008. His notice of appeal bears a file stamp date from the District Clerk of July 21, 2008. Unless certain post-judgment motions are filed, a defendant must file a written notice of appeal with the trial court clerk within 30 days after the date sentence is imposed. Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a). The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure provide for a 15-day extension in which to file a notice of appeal if it is accompanied by a motion for extension of time. Tex. R. App. P. 26.3. This Court is without jurisdiction to address the merits of an appeal and can take no action other than to dismiss the appeal if it is not timely perfected. See Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998). Appellant's notice, which was filed more than seven months after sentence was imposed, is untimely and does not invoke our jurisdiction.

Appellant's motion for appointment of counsel expresses a desire to appeal the judgment and this Court has deemed it sufficient notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P.25.2(c).

Accordingly, the purported appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

Appellant may have recourse by filing a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus returnable to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for consideration of an out-of-time appeal. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.07 (Vernon Supp. 2007).


Summaries of

Johnson v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas, Seventh District, Amarillo
Nov 25, 2008
No. 07-08-0433-CR (Tex. App. Nov. 25, 2008)
Case details for

Johnson v. State

Case Details

Full title:CARL VAN JOHNSON, APPELLANT v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE

Court:Court of Appeals of Texas, Seventh District, Amarillo

Date published: Nov 25, 2008

Citations

No. 07-08-0433-CR (Tex. App. Nov. 25, 2008)