Antone Joseph Czajkowski v. the State of Texas ( 2024 )

In the
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
No. 06-24-00135-CR
ANTONE JOSEPH CZAJKOWSKI, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 71st District Court
Harrison County, Texas
Trial Court No. 23-0302X
Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Stevens
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Antone Joseph Czajkowski pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance in an
amount of less than one gram. See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 481.115 (Supp.). The
trial court imposed a sentence in this matter on June 24, 2024, making the notice of appeal due
on or before July 24, 2024. To avail himself of the fifteen-day grace period contemplated by
Rule 26.3 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, Czajkowski was required to file both a
notice of appeal and a motion for an extension of time within fifteen days after July 24, 2024, or
on or before August 8, 2024. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3. The notice of appeal in this matter was
filed on August 6, 2024, but Czajkowski’s motion for an extension of time was not filed until
August 9, 2024, which is one day after the deadline. Consequently, we denied his motion.
On August 14, 2024, Czajkowski filed a motion to rehear his motion for an extension of
time to file his notice of appeal. In that motion, Czajkowski’s counsel stated that she mistakenly
mis-calendared the due date for the motion and asked the Court to reconsider its ruling to avoid
the need for seeking an out-of-time appeal from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has been clear on this issue: “When a notice of appeal is filed
within the fifteen-day period but no timely motion for extension of time is filed, the appellate
court lacks jurisdiction.” Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); see also
Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 209 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (per curiam). Accordingly, the
Court denied Czajkowski’s motion to rehear his motion for extension of time to file his notice of
appeal.
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On August 16, 2024, we notified Czajkowski of this potential defect in our jurisdiction
over this appeal, giving him ten days to show the Court how it had jurisdiction over this appeal.
We also warned him that, if he did not file a satisfactory response on or before August 26, 2024,
we would dismiss his appeal for want of jurisdiction. The Court did not receive a satisfactory
response.
We, therefore, dismiss Czajkowski’s appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Scott E. Stevens
Chief Justice
Date Submitted: September 17, 2024
Date Decided: September 18, 2024
Do Not Publish
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