Opinion
06-21-00007-CR
07-09-2021
DOSHEE SWAN TOWERY, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
Do Not Publish
Date Submitted: July 8, 2021
On Appeal from the 102nd District Court Bowie County, Texas Trial Court No. 07F0058-102
Before Morriss, C.J., Burgess and Stevens, JJ.MEMORANDUM OPINION
SCOTT E. STEVENS JUSTICE
In June 2007, Doshee Swan Towery was convicted of murder and was sentenced to fifty years' imprisonment. On January 6, 2021, Towery filed a motion for equitable relief in the trial court. On January 11, 2021, the trial court dismissed the motion for want of jurisdiction. Towery has attempted to appeal from the trial court's decision.
In Texas, a party may only appeal when the Texas Legislature has authorized an appeal. Galitz v. State, 617 S.W.2d 949, 951 (Tex. Crim. App. 1981). When the Legislature passes legislation granting a right of appeal, in addition to granting its citizens that substantive right, it also grants the appellate courts of this State jurisdiction to hear such appeals. In the absence of such authorizing legislation, appellate courts are without jurisdiction and have no authority to act. In the criminal context, the Texas Legislature has authorized appeals from written judgments of conviction and a few orders deemed appealable. See Gutierrez v. State, 307 S.W.3d 318, 321 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010). The trial court's order dismissing Towery's motion for equitable relief is not an order from which the Texas Legislature has authorized an appeal. In the absence of such an authorization, we are without jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
By letter dated March 11, 2021, we informed Towery of this jurisdictional issue. While Towery did respond to our March 11 correspondence, he did not demonstrate how this Court has jurisdiction over his appeal.
Because the trial court's January 11 order denying Towery's motion for equitable relief is not an appealable order, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal. Consequently, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.