Opinion
NUMBER 13-19-00250-CR
06-27-2019
GEORGE M. RODRIGUEZ, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
On appeal from the 214th District Court of Nueces County, Texas.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Benavides and Longoria
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Benavides
On May 28, 2019, appellant George M. Rodriguez, proceeding pro se, filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. According to this motion, he entered a guilty plea on March 5, 2018 pursuant to a plea agreement, but the State failed to comply with the plea agreement because it included a deadly weapon finding in appellant's judgment of conviction. We construed appellant's motion to withdraw his plea as a notice of appeal, and on May 31, 2019, the Clerk of this Court notified appellant that it appeared that his appeal was not timely perfected. The Clerk advised appellant that the appeal would be dismissed if the defect was not corrected within ten days from the date of receipt of the Court's directive. In response, appellant has advised the Court that he had not intended to file a notice of appeal, but rather, wished to make us aware that his motion to withdraw had been filled in the trial court. Nevertheless, appellant did not request that we dismiss the appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.2(a); id. R. 2; see also Haste v. State, No. 14-18-00500-CR, 2019 WL 2305753, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] May 30, 2019, no pet. h.) (mem. op. per curiam) (not designated for publication).
Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.2 provides that an appeal is perfected when the notice of appeal is filed within thirty days after the day sentence is imposed or suspended in open court, or after the day the trial court enters an appealable order. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1); see Rodarte v. State, 860 S.W.2d 108, 109 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993); Lair v. State, 321 S.W.3d 158, 159 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2010, pet. ref'd). The time to file the notice of appeal may be enlarged if, within fifteen days after the deadline for filing the notice, the party files the notice of appeal and a motion complying with Rule 10.5(b) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3; id. R. 10.5(b). Absent a timely filed notice of appeal, a court of appeals does not obtain jurisdiction to address the merits of the appeal in a criminal case and can take no action other than to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998); Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); Pickens v. State, 105 S.W.3d 746, 748 (Tex. App.—Austin 2003, no pet.).
The Court, having examined and fully considered the documents on file and appellant's response to our defect notice, is of the opinion that we lack jurisdiction over this appeal. See generally TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a). Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal and pending motions, if any, for want of jurisdiction. See Slaton, 981 S.W.2d at 210.
GINA M. BENAVIDES
Justice Do not publish.
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b). Delivered and filed the 27th day of June 2019.