Gerald Stevens v. State

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-15-00675-CR
NO. 03-15-00676-CR
Gerald Stevens, Appellant
v.
The State of Texas, Appellee
FROM THE COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 5 OF TRAVIS COUNTY
NOS. C-1-CR-15-100025 & C-1-CR-15-100026
HONORABLE NANCY WRIGHT HOHENGARTEN, JUDGE PRESIDING
MEMORANDUM OPINION
A jury in justice court found Gerald Stevens guilty of speeding and of no operator’s
license on demand. The jury assessed a $200 fine in each case. Stevens sought a trial de novo in
the county court at law, then filed a special appearance and plea to the jurisdiction in each case. The
county court at law denied Stevens’s special appearances and pleas to the jurisdiction, and Stevens
filed a Notice of Appeal challenging those decisions in each case. We dismiss these appeals because
we lack jurisdiction to consider their merits in an interlocutory appeal.
Interlocutory appeals—those made before a final judgment is rendered in the
trial court—are generally not permitted in Texas criminal proceedings. Leija v. State, 456 S.W.3d
157, 158 (Tex. Crim. App. 2015). The offenses of which Stevens was convicted carry criminal
penalties. See Tex. Transp. Code §§ 521.025 (failure to display license on demand), 545.351
(speeding); see also id. § 542.301 (general offense level). Stevens appealed the justice court’s
judgments to obtain a trial de novo in the county court at law. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 44.17.
The record contains no final judgments in these cases from the county court at law. We do not find
any grant of authority to review by interlocutory appeal the denial of a plea to the jurisdiction
or special appearance in a criminal case. Stevens cites to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code
section 51.014 but, as the title of that code indicates, that is expressly a civil practice statute; we find
no basis on which to apply it in these criminal cases.
We dismiss these appeals for want of jurisdiction.
Jeff Rose, Chief Justice
Before Chief Justice Rose, Justices Pemberton and Bourland
Dismissed for Want of Jurisdiction
Filed: January 22, 2016
Do Not Publish
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