Ricardo Cavazos v. State ( 2010 )

NO. 07-10-0391-CR
NO. 07-10-0392-CR
NO. 07-10-0393-CR
NO. 07-10-0394-CR
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
AT AMARILLO
PANEL B
OCTOBER 6, 2010
______________________________
RICARDO CAVAZOS,
Appellant
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS,
Appellee
_________________________________
FROM THE 251ST DISTRICT COURT OF POTTER COUNTY;
NOS. 51,006-C; 51,007-C, 51,008-C, 51,009-C;
HON. PATRICK A. PIRTLE, PRESIDING
_______________________________
Memorandum Opinion
_______________________________
Before QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and HANCOCK, JJ.
Ricardo Cavazos (appellant) filed a document called a “motion for out of time
appeal.” In it, he informs us of his intent to appeal his conviction in various causes of
action. However, he also acknowledges that the period in which to perfect a timely
appeal lapsed long ago. Thus, we treat his “motion” as a notice of appeal and dismiss
the appeals for want of jurisdiction.
According to the information before us, the trial court sentenced appellant on
March 8, 2006. At that point, he allegedly told the court that he wanted to appeal.
However, no notice of appeal was filed within the time necessary to effectively
effectuate his desire. Instead, we received the aforementioned “motion” on September
15, 2010.
It is beyond dispute that a timely notice of appeal is necessary to invoke our
jurisdiction. State v. Riewe, 13 S.W.3d 408, 410 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000); Olivo v. State,
918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). To be timely, the notice must be filed
within thirty days after sentence was pronounced in open court, unless a timely motion
for new trial was filed. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2. Irrespective of whether a motion for new
trial actually was filed and denied here, a notice tendered more than four years after the
trial court sentenced appellant in open court is untimely. So, we have no jurisdiction
over the matter. State v. Riewe, supra.
Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction. However, an
appellant may petition the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals under article 11.07 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure for leave to initiate a belated appeal, as the petitioner
apparently did in Ex parte Garcia, 988 S.W.2d 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999).
Brian Quinn
Chief Justice
Do not publish.
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