Jeffrey Lynn Lewis v. State ( 2010 )

COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH
NO. 2-10-046-CV
JEFFREY LYNN LEWIS APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS APPELLEE
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FROM THE 211TH DISTRICT COURT OF DENTON COUNTY
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MEMORANDUM OPINION 1
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On March 8, 2010, we notified Appellant Jeffrey Lynn Lewis that we
were concerned that this court may not have jurisdiction over this appeal
because it appeared that his notice of appeal was not timely filed. We stated
that the appeal might be dismissed for want of jurisdiction unless Lewis or any
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 See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.
party desiring to continue the appeal filed with the court a response showing
grounds for continuing the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 44.3.
Lewis filed a response to our jurisdiction letter stating that the State did
not notify him of the default judgment “until late in January of 2010” and that
he had immediately filed a request for permission to appeal. However, Lewis’s
“Request For Extension Of Time To File An Appeal,” which was filed on March
9, 2010, is defective because it was filed over a year after the fifteen-day
deadline for filing a motion for extension of time to file a notice of appeal and
because he failed to pay the filing fee and failed to provide a certificate of
conference and a certificate of service. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3.
The trial court’s final judgment was signed on October 17, 2008. Lewis
did not file a motion for new trial, so his notice of appeal was due November
17, 2008. Lewis, however, did not file his notice of appeal until February 8,
2010.
The time for filing a notice of appeal is jurisdictional in this court, and
absent a timely-filed notice of appeal or extension request, we must dismiss the
appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 2, 25.1(b), 26.3; Jones v. City of Houston, 976
S.W.2d 676, 677 (Tex. 1998); Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex.
1997); Chilkewitz v. Winter, 25 S.W.3d 382, 383–84 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth
2000, no pet.).
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Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R.
App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f).
PER CURIAM
PANEL: WALKER, MCCOY, and MEIER, JJ.
DELIVERED: April 8, 2010
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