Stephanie Renee Smith v. the State of Texas ( 2024 )

In the
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
No. 06-24-00051-CR
STEPHANIE RENEE SMITH, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the County Court at Law
Bowie County, Texas
Trial Court No. 22M2076-CCL
Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Rambin
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Stephanie Renee Smith pled guilty to driving while intoxicated (DWI), second offense,
and the trial court adjudicated her guilty, sentenced her to 365 days’ confinement in county jail,
suspended that sentence, and placed Smith on eighteen months’ community supervision. The
trial court also imposed a $2,000.00 general fine and a $4,500.00 “DWI Traffic Fine,” see TEX.
TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 709.001. The trial court certified this to be a plea-bargain case but stated
that it had given Smith permission to appeal. The judgment of conviction in this matter indicates
that the trial court imposed sentence on January 29, 2024; however, the lower court did not sign
its judgment of conviction until February 14, 2024. Smith did not file a motion for new trial and
filed her notice of appeal on March 14, 2024.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has expressly held that, without a timely filed
notice of appeal, we cannot exercise jurisdiction over an appeal. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519,
522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); see Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 209 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App.
1998) (per curiam). When an appellant appeals from a judgment of conviction, the deadline for
filing her notice of appeal runs from the date sentence is imposed in open court, not the date the
judgment was signed. Rodarte v. State, 860 S.W.2d 108 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993); O’Conner v.
State, 266 S.W.3d 575, 577–78 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2008, pet. ref’d). Thus, Smith’s notice of
appeal in this matter was due thirty days after January 29, 2024, or on or before February 28,
2024. Since Smith did not file her notice of appeal until March 14, 2024, it was untimely.
On March 25, 2024, we notified appellant that her notice of appeal appeared to be
untimely, having been filed more than thirty days after the date sentence was imposed. In
2
response, appellant stated that notice of appeal was timely because it was filed within thirty days
after the trial court signed its judgment of conviction. That position is contrary to Rodarte.
Because Smith has not timely perfected her appeal, we dismiss the appeal for want of
jurisdiction.
Jeff Rambin
Justice
Date Submitted: April 3, 2024
Date Decided: April 4, 2024
Do Not Publish
3