Crae Robert Pease v. State ( 2016 )

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-16-00534-CR
Crae Robert Pease, Appellant
v.
The State of Texas, Appellee
FROM THE COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 9 OF TRAVIS COUNTY
NO. C-1-CR-15-153365, HONORABLE KIM WILLIAMS, JUDGE PRESIDING
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant Crae Robert Pease, appearing pro se, filed an interlocutory appeal from the
trial court’s denial of his right to defend himself in a criminal hearing. In criminal cases, unless
expressly authorized by statute, appellate courts only have jurisdiction to review final judgments of
conviction. Abbott v. State, 271 S.W.3d 694, 696-97 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) (standard for
determining jurisdiction is not whether appeal is precluded by law but whether appeal is authorized
by law). In criminal cases, an appeal is authorized only when a trial court “enters a judgment of guilt
or other appealable order.” Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(a)(2); see Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 44.02 (“A
defendant in any criminal action has the right of appeal under the rules hereinafter prescribed . . . .”).
“[A] defendant’s right of appeal is a statutorily created right.” See Bayless v. State, 91 S.W.3d 801,
805 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002). No statute authorizes an interlocutory appeal of a defendant’s request
for self-representation. Cf. Blankenship v. State, 673 S.W.2d 578, 583-84 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984)
(addressing denial of right to self-representation in appeal from final judgment and
applying standards set out in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 819 (1975)); Ex parte Ahmad,
No. 14-16-00175-CR, ___ S.W.3d ___, 2016 WL 3362633, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.]
June 16, 2016) (per curiam) (holding courts of appeals lack jurisdiction to consider appeal of trial
court’s denial of pretrial habeas corpus because claim for self-representation was not cognizable on
pretrial habeas). Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App.
P. 43.2(f).
__________________________________________
Cindy Olson Bourland, Justice
Before Chief Justice Rose, Justices Goodwin and Bourland
Dismissed for Want of Jurisdiction
Filed: September 14, 2016
Do Not Publish
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