Ex Parte: Brandon Berry ( 2022 )

COURT OF APPEALS
EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
EL PASO, TEXAS
§ No. 08-22-00186-CR
EX PARTE:
§ Appeal from the
BRANDON BERRY,
§ 409th Judicial District Court
Appellant.
§ of El Paso County, Texas
§ (TC#20150D02564)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant, Brandon Berry, pro se, attempts to appeal the denial of his pre-trial application
for writ of habeas corpus heard by the trial court on September 20, 2022. We dismiss for want of
jurisdiction.
On October 3, 2022, upon receipt of Appellant’s notice of appeal, the Clerk of this Court
issued a letter informing the parties no appealable order was found. Further, the letter gave notice
of our intent to dismiss in ten days for lack of jurisdiction unless any party could show grounds
for continuing the appeal. On October 12, 2022, Appellant filed a response, asserting that the trial
court had verbally denied his pre-trial habeas writ application. Appellant does not provide the
purportedly appealed-from order, nor does he assert in his response that a written order denying
the pre-trial writ application has been entered.1
A pre-trial application for writ of habeas corpus must be denied with a written order to
properly invoke our jurisdiction. State v. Wachtendorf, 475 S.W.3d 895, 903-04 (Tex.Crim.App.
2015). When, as here, there is no written order from which to appeal, the court of appeals lacks
jurisdiction over the appeal. See State v. Sanavongxay, 407 S.W.3d 252, 258-259 (Tex.Crim.App.
2012) (concluding that lack of written order leaves court of appeals without jurisdiction over
appeal); Nikrasch v. State, 698 S.W.2d 443, 450 (Tex.App.--Dallas 1985, no pet.) (court of appeals
has no jurisdiction over appeal absent written judgment or order).
Here, by Appellant’s own admission, there is no written order denying Appellant’s habeas
application but merely a verbal pronouncement of denial by the trial court. Accordingly, we
dismiss Appellant’s appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Wachtendorf, 475 S.W.3d at 903-04;
Sanavongxay, 407 S.W.3d at 258; Payne v. State, No. 12-17-00143-CR, 2017 WL 2570829, at *1
(Tex.App.--Tyler, June 14, 2017 no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op., not designated for publication)
(dismissing appeal from pretrial habeas application for want of jurisdiction absent written order);
Walton v. State, No. 02-18-00396-CR, No. 02-18-00397-CR, No. 02-18-00398-CR, 2018 WL
6424242, at *1 (Tex.App.--Fort Worth Dec. 6, 2018, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op., not
designated for publication) (dismissing appeal for want of jurisdiction because appellate court had
not received “a written order from the trial court—a prerequisite to appealability”); Ex parte Wiley,
949 S.W.2d 3, 4 (Tex.App.--Fort Worth 1996, no pet.). All pending motions are denied as moot.
1
Appellant insists we have jurisdiction in cause number 20150D00501, the underlying trial-court cause number in
companion appellate docket number 08-22-00185-CR. He does not make the same assertion regarding trial-court
cause number 20150D02564, the cause underlying the instant appeal.
2
JEFF ALLEY, Justice
October 19, 2022
Before Rodriguez, C.J., Palafox, and Alley, JJ.
(Do Not Publish)
3