Sheracasha Lyeadee Darthard v. State ( 2015 )

Opinion issued May 19, 2015
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
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NO. 01-14-00154-CR
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SHERACASHA LYEADEE DARTHARD, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 176th District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Case No. 1341688
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Pursuant to an agreement with the State, appellant, Sheracasha Lyeadee
Darthard, pleaded guilty to the offense of murder.1 The trial court accepted the plea
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See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.02 (Vernon 2011).
agreement, assessed appellant’s punishment at confinement for forty-five years,
and certified that this is a plea-bargained case and she has no right of appeal.
Appellant filed a pro se notice of appeal. We dismiss the appeal.
In a plea-bargained case, a defendant may appeal only those matters that
were raised by written motion and ruled on before trial or after obtaining the trial
court’s permission to appeal. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 44.02 (Vernon
2006); TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2). An appeal must be dismissed if a certification
showing that the defendant has a right of appeal has not been made part of the
record. TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d).
Here, the trial court’s certification is included in the record and states that
this is a plea-bargained case and appellant has no right of appeal. See TEX. R. APP.
P. 25.2(a)(2). The record supports the trial court’s certification. See Dears v. State,
154 S.W.3d 610, 615 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005). Appellant’s notice of appeal
suggests that the basis of her appeal is that her guilty plea was not voluntary.
Appellant, however, cannot raise the voluntariness of her plea as an issue on direct
appeal. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 44.02 (Vernon 2006); Woods v.
State¸ 108 S.W.3d 314, 316 & n.6 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003); Cooper v. State, 45
S.W.3d 77, 77-82 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001). Because appellant has no right of
appeal, we must dismiss this appeal. See Chavez v. State, 183 S.W.3d 675, 680
(Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (“A court of appeals, while having jurisdiction to ascertain
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whether an appellant who plea-bargained is permitted to appeal by Rule 25.2(a)(2),
must dismiss a prohibited appeal without further action, regardless of the basis for
the appeal.”).
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. We dismiss all
pending motions as moot.
PER CURIAM
Panel consists of Justices Jennings, Bland, and Brown.
Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
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