Joshua Mathews v. State ( 2019 )

In the
Court of Appeals
Second Appellate District of Texas
at Fort Worth
___________________________
No. 02-19-00248-CR
No. 02-19-00249-CR
No. 02-19-00250-CR
___________________________
JOSHUA MATHEWS, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS
On Appeal from the 371st District Court
Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court Nos. 1562642D, 1563061D, 1572256D
Before Kerr, Birdwell, and Bassel, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Kerr
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Joshua Mathews pleaded guilty and judicially confessed to three felony
offenses—murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and tampering with
evidence—in exchange for concurrent sentences of 20 years’ confinement for the first
offense and five years’ confinement for each of the remaining two offenses. See Tex.
Penal Code Ann. §§ 19.02(c), 22.02(a)(2), (b), 37.09(c). As part of his plea-bargain
agreements, Mathews waived all pretrial motions and all rights of appeal.
The trial court sentenced Mathews in accordance with the plea-bargain
agreements. In each case, the “Trial Court’s Certification of Defendant’s Right of
Appeal” states that this “is a plea-bargain case, and the defendant has NO right of
appeal.” See Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(a)(2), (d). Despite these certifications, Mathews has
appealed.
We notified Mathews and his attorney by letter of the trial court’s certifications
and informed Mathews that unless he filed a response showing grounds for
continuing the appeals, we would dismiss them. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(a)(2), (d),
44.3.
Mathews has filed two pro se responses since we sent our letter, but neither
shows grounds for continuing the appeals. Appellate-procedure rule 25.2(a) limits a
plea-bargaining defendant’s right of appeal to (A) matters that were raised by written
motion filed and ruled upon before trial, (B) cases in which the defendant obtained
the trial court’s permission to appeal, or (C) instances in which the specific appeal is
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expressly authorized by statute. Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(a)(2). Here, Mathews waived any
pretrial motions as part of his plea-bargain agreements, and the trial court did not give
him permission to appeal. See Hall v. State, Nos. 02-17-00311-CR, 02-17-00312-CR,
02-17-00313-CR, 02-17-00314-CR, 2017 WL 6615888, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth
Dec. 21, 2017, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication). And no statute
expressly authorizes these appeals. Therefore, we dismiss the appeals in conformity
with the trial court’s certifications. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(a)(2), (d), 43.2(f); Chavez v.
State, 183 S.W.3d 675, 680 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006).
/s/ Elizabeth Kerr
Elizabeth Kerr
Justice
Do Not Publish
Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)
Delivered: August 28, 2019
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