Opinion
No. 06-20-00044-CR
05-05-2020
MELANIE SUE KNIGHTEN, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 102nd District Court Bowie County, Texas
Trial Court No. 13F0483-102 Before Morriss, C.J., Burgess and Stevens, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Melanie Sue Knighten has filed an untimely notice of appeal from a conviction of possession of less than one gram of a penalty-group-one controlled substance and the resulting two-year sentence. We dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
The judgment of conviction in this matter indicates that Knighten's sentence was imposed on February 4, 2020, and that her notice of appeal was filed on March 9, 2020, thirty-four days after imposition of sentence. See TEX. R. APP. P. 9.2(b); Taylor v. State, 424 S.W.3d 39, 43-44 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (under "prisoner mailbox rule," pro se inmate's notice is deemed filed when document is received by prison authorities for mailing).
There is nothing in the appellate record to indicate that Knighten filed a motion for new trial. In the absence of a timely motion for new trial, Knighten, to perfect her appeal, was required to file her notice of appeal within thirty days of the date sentence was imposed, or on or before March 5, 2020. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1). The notice of appeal, therefore, was untimely.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has expressly held that, without a timely filed notice of appeal, we cannot exercise jurisdiction over an appeal. See Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); see also Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 209 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (per curiam).
We notified Knighten by letter that her notice of appeal appeared to be untimely and that the appeal was subject to dismissal for want of jurisdiction. We gave Knighten twenty days to respond to our letter and to demonstrate how we had jurisdiction over the appeal notwithstanding the noted defect. Knighten filed a response that failed to demonstrate how this Court has jurisdiction over this appeal.
Because Knighten did not timely perfect her appeal, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Ralph K. Burgess
Justice Date Submitted: May 4, 2020
Date Decided: May 5, 2020 Do Not Publish