Opinion
06-22-00055-CR
06-16-2022
DOSHEE SWAN TOWERY, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
Do Not Publish
Date Submitted: June 15, 2022
On Appeal from the 102nd District Court Bowie County, Texas Trial Court No. 07F0058-102
Before Morriss, C.J., Stevens and van Cleef, 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 March 29, 2022, Towery filed a document titled "Collateral
Attack/Impeachment of Void Judgment Entered July 9, 2007[, ] in Clear Absence of Jurisdiction." On March 30, 2022, 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 "Collateral Attack/Impeachment of Void Judgment" 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 May 31, 2022, we informed Towery of this jurisdictional issue. While Towery did respond to our May 31 correspondence, he did not demonstrate how this Court has jurisdiction over his appeal.
Because the trial court's March 30 order denying Towery's "Collateral Attack/Impeachment of Void Judgment" is not an appealable order, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal. Consequently, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.