Varkonyi v. State

Full title: THOMAS VARKONYI, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

Court: Court of Appeals of Texas, Eighth District, El Paso

Date published: Sep 23, 2009

No. 08-08-00160-CR (Tex. App. Sep. 23, 2009)

Opinion

No. 08-08-00160-CR

September 23, 2009. DO NOT PUBLISH.

Appealed from the 120th Judicial District Court of El Paso County, Texas, (TC# 20040D05081).

Before CHEW, C.J., McCLURE, and RIVERA, JJ.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

DAVID WELLINGTON CHEW, Chief Justice.

Pending before the Court is a motion to permanently abate this appeal due to Appellant's death. The motion was filed by Appellant's counsel on July 20, 2009, and states that Appellant died on July 2, 2009. The motion includes duplicate of Appellant's death certificate indicating the same. The death of an appellant during the pendency of an appeal deprives this Court of jurisdiction. See Ryan v. State, 891 S.W.2d 275 (Tex.Crim.App. 1994); Barrera v. State, No. PD-1642-07, 2008 WL 5050552 *1 (Tex.Crim.App. 2008) (not designate for publication). When an appellant dies after an appeal has been perfected, but before this Court issues the mandate, the appeal is to be permanently abated. See Tex.R.App.P. 7.1(a)(2). Accordingly, we order the appeal be permanently abated.