John O. Thornton, Jr. v. the State of Texas ( 2022 )

In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-22-00265-CR
JOHN O. THORNTON, JR., APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE
On Appeal from the 140th District Court
Lubbock County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2006-412,884, Honorable Douglas H. Frietag, Presiding
October 31, 2022
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and DOSS, JJ.
In 2007, Appellant, John O. Thornton, Jr., was convicted of murder and sentenced
to life imprisonment.1 In 2022, appellant filed post-conviction motions in the trial court
requesting a new trial, the production of documents, appointed counsel, and to vacate the
1 Thornton v. State, No. 07-07-00169-CR, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 5989, at *2 (Tex. App.—Amarillo
July 25, 2007, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (dismissing appeal of conviction because
Appellant waived his right of appeal).
judgment. The trial court denied the motions and appellant appeals the orders,
proceeding pro se. We dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Generally, an appellate court has jurisdiction to consider an appeal by a criminal
defendant only from a judgment of conviction or where appellate jurisdiction has been
expressly granted by law. See Abbott v. State, 271 S.W.3d 694, 696-97 (Tex. Crim. App.
2008). We have found no authority granting this Court jurisdiction to consider an appeal
from the orders denying appellant’s post-conviction motions. See Ragston v. State, 424
S.W.3d 49, 52 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (“Jurisdiction must be expressly given to the courts
of appeals in a statute.”); Carter v. State, No. 07-14-00296-CR, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS
3584, at *3 (Tex. App.—Amarillo Apr. 10, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for
publication) (finding no authority to review the denial of a post-conviction motion seeking
to set aside a final conviction). Rather, only the Court of Criminal Appeals has jurisdiction
over matters seeking post-conviction relief from a final felony conviction. See TEX. CODE.
CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.07 (outlining the procedures for an application for writ of habeas
corpus); Ater v. Eighth Court of Appeals, 802 S.W.2d 241, 243 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991).
By letter of September 20, 2022, we directed appellant to show how we have
jurisdiction over this appeal. Although appellant filed a response, he did not demonstrate
grounds for continuing the appeal.
2
Because appellant has not presented this Court with a judgment of conviction or
an appealable order, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.2 Appellant’s pending
motions are dismissed as moot.
Per Curiam
Do not publish.
2 Appellant may be entitled to habeas relief by filing an application for writ of habeas corpus with
the clerk of the court in which the conviction being challenged was obtained, returnable to the Court of
Criminal Appeals. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.07.
3